Theodora Lisle Prankerd (21 June 1878 – 11 November 1939) was a British botanist.
Theodora Lisle Prankerd was born in Hackney, London, the daughter of general practitioner Orlando Reeves Prankerd and his second wife, Clementina Soares. She attended Brighton High School and studied botany Royal Holloway, University of London, graduating with 2nd Class Honours in 1899. In 1912 she became a part-time Reader in Botany at Birkbeck College, London, and in 1917 was appointed Reader in Botany at the University of Reading, where she lectured until her death. She gained her Doctor of Sciences degree from the University of London in 1929. Between 1922 and 1936 she published a series of pioneering studies in the growth of ferns in response to gravity (geotropism). Although she was credited with all the research and authorship of the published papers, her work was presented at various scientific meetings by male colleagues.
Prankerd died in Reading in 1939.
Prankerd, T. L. (1911), On the Structure and Biology of the Genus Hottonia. Annals of Botany os-25 (1): 253-268.view extract on publisher's website
Prankerd, T. L. (1912), On the Structure of the Palæozoic Seed Lagenostoma ovoides, Will. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany, 40: 461–490. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1912.tb00880.x view extract
Prankerd, T. L. (1915), Notes on the Occurrence of Multinucleate Cells. Annals of Botany os-29 (4): 599-604. view extract on publisher's website
PRANKERD, T. L., Preliminary observations on the nature and distribution of the statolith apparatus in plants. Rep. Brit. Ass., Manchester Meeting, 1915, p. 722, Publ. London, 1916
Prankerd, T. L. (1920), Statocytes of the Wheat Haulm. Botanical Gazette 70(2): 148-152 view on JSTOR
Prankerd, T. L. (1922), On the Irritability of the Fronds of Asplenium bulbiferum, With Special Reference to Graviperception. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 93(650): 143-152; doi:10.1098/rspb.1922.0010 view full text
Prankerd, T. L. (1925), The Ontogeny of Graviperception in Osmunda regalis. Annals of Botany os-39 (4): 709-720. view extract on publisher's website
Prankerd, T. L. (1929), Studies in the Geotropism of Pteridophyta. IV. On Specificity in Graviperception. Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany, 48: 317–336. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.1929.tb00590.x view abstract
Prankerd, T. L. (1935), Studies in the Geotropism of the Pteridophyta. V. Some Effects of Temperature on Growth and Geotropism in Asplenium bulbiferium. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 116(800): 479-493 doi:10.1098/rspb.1935.0004 view full text
Prankerd, T. L. (1936), Studies in the Geotropism of Pteridophyta. VI. On Rhythm in Graviperception and Reaction to Gravity. Proc. R. Soc. Lond. B 120(817): 126-141 view full text
