his post was abolished as the expenditure was found to exceed the revenues obtained. Ridley returned briefly to England but the removal of the post was however objected to by William Turner Thiselton-Dyer and Ridley went back to Selangor to advise on forest reservation. Ridley spent many years promoting rubber as a commercial product, which he was known for being passionate; therefore, he was nicknamed "Mad Ridley". In 1895, he discovered a means of tapping which did not seriously damage the rubber trees. Ridley was also largely responsible for establishing the rubber industry on the Malay peninsula, where he resided for twenty years. The area under Pará rubber slowly increased after 1898 when a Chinese landowner, Tan Chay Yan, grew 40 acres successfully, leading to more people taking to rubber cultivation. Ridley was also working on the botany of the region, collecting widely. He then returned to England in 1911 and stayed at Kew to work on a botanical treatise of the region. This five-volume Flora was published from 1922 to 1925. In 1930, he published a seminal and comprehensive work on plant dispersal. This work was the culmination of his own observations over several years, and a review of widely scattered literature on the subject. On his 100th birthday in 1955 he received a visit from the High Commissioner of the soon-to-be independent Malaya. He married Lily Eliza Doran when he was 83 years old. Ridley died in Kew, short of his 101st birthday on 24 October 1956. Publications A near-complete list of publications can be found in the 80th birthday dedication issue of the Gardens' Bulletin (1935). The following are a few selected publications. Eponymous species Several species are named after Henry Ridley, including Diospyros ridleyi, Stenolepis ridleyi, and Amphisbaena ridleyi. It has been claimed that the olive ridley sea turtle is named after him, but this has been questioned as there is insufficient evidence. It is more likely that the turtle's common name comes from the word "riddle". In 1913, botanist Rudolf Schlechter published Ridleyella, a monotypic genus of flowering plants from the orchid family, Orchidaceae. The sole species is Ridleyella paniculata, which is endemic to New Guinea. Then in 1998, botanists A.Weber & B.L.Burtt published Ridleyandra, a genus of about 30 species of flowering plants from Borneo, Malay and Thailand, belonging to the family Gesneriaceae and it also was named in Ridley's honour. See also References