William Harris (botanist)

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

William Harris (born November 15, 1860 in Enniskillen , † October 11, 1920 in Kansas City ) was an Irish botanist and plant collector . Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Harris ".

Live and act

William Harris went to Kew in June 1879 after a brief gardening training in Liverpool to study botany and horticulture at the Royal Botanical Gardens . Just two years later, in 1881, he was sent to Jamaica to work as superintendent of the Botanical Department of Jamaica. Here he was responsible for the administration of various gardens: Kings House Gardens and Grounds (1881-1884), Castelton Botanic Gardens (1884-1887), Hope Gardens (1887-1891), Hill Gardens and Chichona Plantations (1891-1900).

From 1884 Harris undertook numerous collecting trips to Jamaica and discovered a number of new species, which he described mostly together with Nathaniel Lord Britton . The first descriptions include, for example, the two cactus species Opuntia jamaicensis and Rhipsalis jamaicensis .

In recognition of his achievements, he was accepted as a member of the Linné Society in 1899 .

From 1908 to 1917 he was superintendent of the Public Gardens and Plantations of Jamaica. In 1917 he became a Government Botanist and in April 1920 he was appointed Assistant Director of Agriculture.

In September 1920 he had to leave Jamaica for the first time to receive treatment for an inflammation of the esophagus . Harris died on October 11, 1920 at his son's home in Kansas City.

Honor taxon

Nathaniel Lord Britton named the genus Harrisia of the cactus family (Cactaceae) in his honor .

Also the genus Harrisella Fawc. & Rendle from the orchid family (Orchidaceae) was named after him.

Fonts

  • List of orchids grown in the Public Gardens, Jamaica . 1896

swell

  • DS Johnson: William Harris . In: Botanical Gazette . Volume 71, No. 4 (April, 1921), pp. 331-333
  • Ignaz Urban : Symbolae Antillanae, seu, Fundamenta florae Indiae . Volume 3, 1902, pp. 56-57
  • Ray Desmond: Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists and Horticulturists . CRC Press Inc., 1994, p. 320. ISBN 0-85066-843-3
  • Umberto Quattrocchi: CRC World Dictionary of Plant Names: Common Names, Scientific Names, Eponyms, Synonyms, and Etymology . CRC Press Inc., 2000, p. 1165. ISBN 0-8493-2676-1

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club . Volume 35, pp. 561, 1908
  2. ↑ Harrisia Britton. In: NL Britton , JN Rose The Cactaceae. Descriptions and Illustrations of Plants of the Cactus Family . Washington, 1920, Volume II, pp. 147ff.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Harris, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Irish botanist
DATE OF BIRTH November 15, 1860
PLACE OF BIRTH Enniskillen
DATE OF DEATH October 11, 1920
Place of death Kansas City