Edith Layard Stephens (1884-1966) was a South African botanist, a leading authority on algae and fungi, particularly edible and poisonous mushrooms.
In 1906, Stephans completed the BA degree with honours in botany being awarded by the Cape of Good Hope and was awarded with the gold medal for science and the Queen Victoria Scholarship and the 1881 Exhibition Scholarship in 1907, which led her to Cambridge University.
[3][4] In 1908, Stephens published A preliminary note on the embryo-sac and embryo of certain Penaeaceae in the Annals of Botany, which was based on her research that she started since the South African College.
Though her studies did not lead to a qualification since the Cambridge University did not award degrees to women during those years, she was elected as a fellow of the Linnean Society of London.
She used this grant to buy an area called Isoetes Vlei, which she then presented to the National Botanic Gardens, known as the Edith Stephens Cape Flats Flora Reserve.