Harold Basil Christian

Harold Basil Christian (28 October 1871 – 12 May 1950) was a Cape Colony-born Rhodesian farmer, horticulturist, and botanist. Christian attended Eton College in the United Kingdom, where he was a distinguished athlete. He served in the Imperial Light Horse of the British Army during the Second Boer War, during which he fought in the Siege of Ladysmith. In the decade after the war, he worked in what is now South Africa for De Beers and later as an engineer for a mining company. In 1911, Christian moved to Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe). There, he purchased a sizable farm, which he named Ewanrigg. He was best known for his study and cultivation of aloe on his extensive estate, which was donated to the state upon his death and became a national park.

Christian initially attempted to grow imported European plants on his farm, but these tree species, which tend to be conifers, were not well-suited to the region's heat, dryness, and low altitude. In 1916, after it proved impossible to remove an unsightly rock from a spacious lawn in front of the house, Christian took an Aloe cameronii from a nearby hill and planted it in front of the stone. He was very impressed when the aloe flowered the next year despite not having been watered, and decided to focus thereafter on aloes rather than imported trees. During the 1930s, he expanded his garden and publishing his research on aloes in periodicals like the Rhodesian Agricultural Journal. Over the years, he became recognized by botanists around the world as an authority on African aloe species. One species was named Aloe christianii in his honor. In his later years, Christian focused on the cultivation of cycads as well.