Legacy
Cunningham was a hard worker as a botanist, and barely had time between his journeys to give evidence of his scientific prowess, though a few of his papers will be found in journals of the period. His immense collections of specimens mostly went to Kew Gardens and eventually to the British Museum. He also takes high rank among Australian explorers, for though his parties were small in number and comparatively poorly equipped, his courage, resourcefulness, and knowledge, enabled him to achieve what he set out to do, and his journeys opened up much country for settlement.
Some of Australia's plants: Araucaria cunninghamii (hoop pine), Archontophoenix cunninghamiana (Bangalow palm), Banksia cunninghamii, Bauhinia cunninghamii, Casuarina cunninghamiana (river sheoak), Centipeda cunninghamii (old man weed), Ficus cunninghamii, Medicosma cunninghamii (bone wood), Nothofagus cunninghamii (myrtle tree, Tasmania), Pennantia cunninghamii (brown beech), and Polyosma cunninghamii commemorate Allan and his brother Richard, a botanist. The Cunningham Highway is named in honour of Allan. The genus Alania was created by Endlicher in Cunningham's honour.
The Australian federal seat of Cunningham, which stretches from Port Kembla in the south of Wollongong to Heathcote in Southern Sydney, was named after him in honour of his being the first European explorer to visit the Illawarra region.
The standard author abbreviation A.Cunn. is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.Read more about this topic: Allan Cunningham (botanist)
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“What is popularly called fame is nothing but an empty name and a legacy from paganism.”
—Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)