William Aiton
Scottish botanist (1731-1793)
William Aiton | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1731 Hamilton, Scotland |
| Died | 2 February 1793(1793-02-02) (aged 61–62) Kew, England |
| Resting place | St. Anne's Church, Kew, England |
| Known for | Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew |
| Children | William Townsend Aiton |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Botany |
| Author abbrev. (botany) | Aiton |
William Aiton (1731 – 2 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist.[1]
Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants cultivated there.[2][3] He is buried at nearby St. Anne's Church, Kew.
A second and enlarged edition of the Hortus was brought out in 1810–1813 by his eldest son, William Townsend Aiton.[2]
Aiton is commemorated in the specific epithet aitonis.[4]
In 1789, he classified the Sampaguita plant to the Jasminium genus and also named it as Arabian Jasmine because it was believed that the plant originated from The Arabian Peninsula[5] although the plant didn't originate from Arabia.
Selected publications
- Aiton, W. (1789). Hortus Kewensis. London: George Nicol.
The standard author abbreviation Aiton is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[6]
References
- ^ "William Aiton from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info.
- ^ a b
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aiton, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 448. - ^ Aiton 1789.
- ^ Eggli, Urs; Newton, Leonard E. (2004). Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. p. 4. ISBN 978-3-540-00489-9. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
- ^ "Study of the Sampaguita Flower - The National Pride of Philippines". Gardenerdy. 9 March 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. Aiton.
Bibliography
- Pagmenta, Frank (2009) The Aitons: Gardeners to their Majesties. Richmond Local History Society. ISBN 9780955071751
Wikisource has the text of the 1885–1900 Dictionary of National Biography's article about William Aiton.
- Taylor, George (1970). "Aiton, William". Dictionary of Scientific Biography. Vol. 1. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. pp. 88–89. ISBN 0-684-10114-9.
- Brummitt, R. K.; C. E. Powell (1992). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-085-4.
Further reading
- Chambers, Robert; Thomson, Thomas Napier (1857). "Aiton, William" . A Biographical Dictionary of Eminent Scotsmen. Vol. 1. Glasgow: Blackie and Son. p. 41 – via Wikisource.
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