Wild studied at Imperial College, University of London. In 1945, he wrote his Ph.D. thesis in which he examined the lettuce pathogen, Bremia lactucae. From 1945, he worked as the government botanist in Southern Rhodesia, and soon became head of the Government Herbarium of Southern Rhodesia. In 1960, Wild started the Herbarium botanical journal 'Kirkia', named for John Kirk (1832–1922), African explorer and companion of David Livingstone. In the ensuing years, he worked as its chief editor. Wild, along with Arthur Wallis Exell, initiated the Flora Zambesiaca project, a series of monographs on the flora of Africa. In 1965, Wild was appointed professor at Salisbury University College, now known as the University of Zimbabwe.
In 1980, due to ill-health, he resigned as professor at Salisbury and moved to Cape Town, South Africa.
Personal life
Hiram was the son of Hiram Wild (*July 1895, Sheffield, Yorkshire) and Margaret Hawksworth (*13 May 1896 Sheffield, Yorkshire)
He married Kathleen Mabel Jean Osborne (*8 July 1918 Cape Town) in 1945. They had 6 children.[2]
Selected publications
Wild, H. 'Vegetation of copper-bearing soils' - Salisbury, 1968. - 71 p.
Wild, H. 'The vegetation of nickel-bearing soils' - Causeway, 1970. - 62 p.
