Nathaniel Lord Britton

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Nathaniel Lord Britton

Nathaniel Lord Britton (born January 15, 1859 in New Dorp , Staten Island , † June 26, 1934 in New York ) was an American geologist and botanist . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Britton ". His wife Elizabeth Gertrude Britton (1858–1934), née Knight, was also a botanist.

Life

Britton, the son of Jasper Alexander Hamilton Britton and Harriet Lord Turner, was supposed to study theology according to his parents' wishes, but found himself drawn to natural history from an early age. He graduated from Columbia University School of Mines and then taught geology and botany at Columbia University. After graduating, he joined the Torrey Botanical Club, a member of which he remained for life.

On August 27, 1885, he married the bryologist Elizabeth Gertrude Knight. They went on their honeymoon to Europe in 1888 and on the occasion of a visit to Kew Gardens , his wife was enthusiastic about the idea, which she proposed to the Torrey Club after returning to create a botanical garden in New York. The couple launched a successful campaign and so both left Columbia in 1895 when Britton became the first director of the newly created New York Botanical Garden . He stayed at his post until 1929. Together with him were Andrew Carnegie , J. Pierpont Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt II on the first board of directors of the Botanical Gardens. Britton found sponsors by naming newly discovered plant species after them. Britton was also a co-founder of the Staten Island Institute of Arts & Sciences . He has authored several botanical books and worked together with Joseph Nelson Rose in the research of the North American flora and especially the cacti .

Honors

Britton was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1925, to the American Philosophical Society in 1928 and to the National Academy of Sciences in 1914.

The following plant genera are named after him:

Brittonia magazine is also named after Britton.

Fonts (selection)

further reading

  • Peter Philip Mickulas: Britton's botanical empire: The New York Botanical Garden and American botany, 1888–1929 . Volume 94 of the Memoirs of the New York Botanical Garden , New York Botanical Garden, 2007, ISBN 978-0-89327-479-5 .
  • ED Merrill: Biographical Memoir of Nathaniel Lord Britton, 1859-1934 . With Bibliography by JH Barnhart. Ed .: National Academy of Sciences (=  Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences . Volume 19 ). Washington, DC 1938, p. 147-202 ( nasonline.org [PDF]).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Member History: Nathaniel L. Britton. American Philosophical Society, accessed May 20, 2018 .
  2. ↑ Lotte Burkhardt: Directory of eponymous plant names . Extended Edition. Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum Berlin, Free University Berlin Berlin 2018. [1]
personal data
SURNAME Britton, Nathaniel Lord
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American geologist and botanist
DATE OF BIRTH January 15, 1859
PLACE OF BIRTH New Dorp , Staten Island
DATE OF DEATH June 26, 1934
Place of death New York City