William Aiton

William Aiton (* 1731 in Hamilton, Scotland, † February 1, 1793 in Kew, England ) was a British botanist. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Aiton "; formerly it was also abbreviated " Ait. ".

Life

William Aiton was trained by the botanist Philip Miller and subsequently his assistant. In 1754, he traveled to Hawaii. After his return he became head gardener of the Chelsea Physic Garden, the second oldest botanical garden in England. 1759, he was superintendent of the Botanical Gardens at Kew, which he supports with untiring zeal of royal liberality, raised to the richest in the world.

His Hortus Kewensis, or, a catalog the plants cultivated in the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew (London 1789, three volumes with illustrations) contains the description of 6,000 plants, among which 14 new genera and nearly 500 new species were located. Brevity, accuracy and security of the pattern make this work as a model. Editor of the 1810 to 1813 published the second edition of this work was his son William Townsend Aiton ( 1766-1849 ), who was a gardener and succeeded his father as head of the Botanical Gardens at Kew.

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