William Griffith (botanist)

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William Griffith (March 1810 in Ham (London) in Surrey , † February 10, 1845 ) was a British botanist who was particularly concerned with the plants of India and Burma. Its official botanical author's abbreviation is “ Griff. "

William Griffith

Life

Griffith was raised privately and took an early interest in botany. He studied medicine and botany (with John Lindley and Robert Brown ) in London. In 1830 he received the Linnean Gold Medal from the Society of Apothecaries in the botanical class. From 1832 he was a surgeon (Assistant Surgeon) with the East India Company in Madras , but also worked there as a botanist. In 1835 he accompanied Nathaniel Wallich and John McClelland (1805-1883) on the inspection of tea plantations in Assam , and then he explored the flora of the Lohit Valley and the Mishmi Mountains on behalf of the provincial administration of Assam. In 1837 he explored Burma and was part of Major Pemberton's mission in Bhutan , studying the plants in the Indus Valley and Afghanistan from 1839. During Wallich's absence in South Africa, he directed the Botanical Garden in Calcutta and was professor of botany at the Medical College from 1842 to 1844. He died soon after of liver disease while on a business trip to the Strait of Malacca .

He named for example Nipoideae , Fragrant Mango , Eugeissona , Calamoideae , Sapria , Aesculus assamica , Vanda coerulea , Vanda coerulescens , Taxus contorta and Thismia .

He was editor of the Calcutta Journal of Natural History and a Fellow of the Linnean Society of London. He was also a member of scientific academies in Bonn, Turin and the Botanical Society in Regensburg . In 1838 he became a member of the Leopoldina .

Honors

A memorial plaque in St. George's Cathedral in Madras commemorates him. The genera Griffithia Wight & Arn are named after him . from the family of the redness plants (Rubiaceae), Griffithella (Tul.) Warm. from the family Podostemaceae and Griffithianthus Merr. from the family of the Annonaceae . The species Hoya griffithii and Cephalotaxus griffithii were named in his honor .

Fonts

literature

  • Anonymous: Obituary, in: Madras Journal of Literature and Science , Volume 14, 1847, pp. 187-197, Biodiversity Library
  • WH Lang: William Griffith, in: Francis W. Oliver, Makers of British Botany , Cambridge University Press 1913, 178–191

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Member entry by John William Griffith at the German Academy of Natural Scientists Leopoldina , accessed on October 19, 2015.
  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 Griffith, William
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Handle. (botanical author abbreviation)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British botanist
DATE OF BIRTH March 1810
PLACE OF BIRTH Ham (London) , Surrey
DATE OF DEATH February 10, 1845