James Dickson

James Dickson, lithograph after a drawing by Henry Perronet Briggs , 1820

James J. Dickson , also Jacobus , Jacobi Dickson , (* 1738 in Kirkhouse near Traquair , Scottish Borders , Scotland , † August 14, 1822 in Croydon ) was a Scottish-British gardener, botanist and mycologist .

Life

The son of a gardener learned gardening in the gardens of the Earl of Traquair (see Traquair House ), then worked - literature and web links differ a little here - with different families or ran his own gardening business, first in Perth and then moved to London, where he worked in nurseries in Kensington and Hammersmith . In 1772 he opened his own plant and seed shop in Covent Garden and became acquainted with William Forsyth , whom he supplied with plants. With a special focus on mosses and other non-flowering plants, he went on several botanical excursions to Scotland and the Hebrides . Dickson was friends with Joseph Banks , who gave him access to his botanical book collection and entrusted him with the care of the British Museum's botanical garden .

Between 1785 and 1801 he published his four-volume main work Fasciculus plantarum cryptogamicarum Britanniae , in which he described 400 species of mosses, algae and fungi that occur in the British Isles .

After the death of his wife, Dickson married the sister of the explorer Mungo Park in 1786 . He brought Mungo Park into contact with Joseph Banks, who funded Park's expedition to West Africa in 1795. In 1788 Dickson was a co-founder of the Linnean Society and in 1804 the Royal Horticultural Society . He spent his old age as a wealthy man in Croydon.

Honor taxon

The genus Dicksonia of tree ferns is named after him. Its botanical author abbreviation is “ Dicks. "

Fonts

Fasciculus Plantarum Cryptogamicarum Britanniae . London, 1785, 1801, 4 °.
A Collection of Dried Plants, named on the authority of the Linnaean Herbarium, and other original collections . London, 1787-1799, small folio.
Botanical Catalog alphabetically arranged according to the Linnaean System . London, 1797, 8 °.
Observations on Polyposium Oreopteris, accompanied with a Specimen from Scotland . Trans. Linn. Soc. i. 181. 1791.
An Account of some Plants newly discovered in Scotland . Ibid. ii. 286.1794.
Observations on the Genus of Porella, and the Phascum Caulescens of Linnaeus . Ibid. 238.1797.
On a variety of the Brassica Napus, or Rape, which has long been cultivated upon the continent . Trans. Hortic. Soc. i. 26th 1815.
Observations on, and an Account of the Tubers of the Lathyrus Tuberosus, with Instructions for the Cultivation of the Plant in a Garden . Ibid. ii. 359. 1817.
On the Cultivation of the Rampion . Ibid. iii. 19th 1818.

literature

George William Johnson: A history of English gardening , London 1829, p. 285 f.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Dickson, James
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Dickson, Jacobus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British gardener, botanist and mycologist
DATE OF BIRTH	1738
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kirkhouse at Traquair
DATE OF DEATH	August 14, 1822
Place of death	Croydon