Lawrence James Metcalf (1928–2017) was a New Zealand horticulturalist, botanist, conservationist and author of gardening and plant identification books.

[1] Metcalf popularized and advocated for the planting of native or indigenous plant species in both public and private gardens and pioneered their propagation techniques (horticulture).

[2][3] In 1991 the British Royal Horticultural Society recognized his work on the cultivation of New Zealand's native plants, with the Gold Veitch Memorial Medal.

Metcalf was a global authority on the ''Hebe'' (plant) genus, indigenous to New Zealand,[5] and planted widely around the world in public gardens with temperate climates[6][7][8][9]As the Assistant Curator (later Assistant Director) of Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Metcalf founded and expanded its International Seed Exchange programme.

[10][11] After more than 20 years at Christchurch Botanic Gardens, Metcalf became the Director of Parks and Recreation at the Invercargill City Council until his retirement in 1992.