Society president Anthony Wright, who is also director of the Canterbury Museum, presented her with the award at a recent meeting of the society's Otago branch, at the University of Otago.
She said she was "very grateful and appreciative" to receive the award, which is recognised as one of New Zealand's highest awards for botanical achievement.
She has written eight botanical works and recently wrote and illustrated Eagle's Trees and Shrubs of New Zealand, which featured detailed watercolour paintings of all 800 New Zealand trees and shrubs.
Mr Wright said the award recognised more than 50 years of devoted work and reflected "a pretty amazing achievement".
At the meeting, the society's Otago branch also announced that the Audrey Eagle Publishing Fund had been established, to assist developing authors to publish works of a botanical nature.
The fund had resulted from a donation by Audrey Eagle.
