Payne, Theodore–(d. 1963)–Los Angeles, California–started working for Eugene Germain in 1896, and became manager of Germain’s in 1902.  In 1903, he resigned and established his own nursery specializing in California native plants.  He grew between four and five hundred species of native plants.  He planted many gardens using native plants that were adapted to southern California conditions.  In 1960, about a year before his retirement, friends established a foundation in his honor, the Theodore Payne Foundation for Wild Flowers and Native Plants.  It offered seeds and native plants in containers.  He died May 6, 1963.
Sources: CHSJ-Jul. 1968