Daniel Oliver, FRS (6 February 1830,

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

– 21 December 1916) was an English botanist. He was

Librarian A librarian is a person who works professionally in a library providing access to information, and sometimes social or technical programming, or instruction on information literacy to users. The role of the librarian has changed much over time, ...

of the

Herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 ...

from 1860–1890 and Keeper there from 1864–1890, and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who pr ...

of Botany at

University College, London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = � ...

from 1861–1888. In 1864, while at UCL, he published ''Lessons in Elementary Biology'', based upon material left in manuscript by

John Stevens Henslow John Stevens Henslow (6 February 1796 – 16 May 1861) was a British priest, botanist and geologist. He is best remembered as friend and mentor to his pupil Charles Darwin. Early life Henslow was born at Rochester, Kent, the son of a solici ...

, and illustrated by Henslow's daughter,

Anne Henslow Barnard Anne Henslow Barnard (1833–1899) was a 19th-century botanical artist. Biography Anne Henslow was born in 1833. She was the youngest daughter of botanist and Cambridge University professor John Stevens Henslow and Harriet Jenyns, who was the ...

of Cheltenham. With a second edition in 1869 and a third in 1878 this book was reprinted until at least 1891. Oliver regarded this book as suitable for use in schools and for young people remote from the classroom and laboratory. He was elected a member of the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

, awarded their Gold Medal in 1893, and awarded a Royal Medal by the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

in 1884. He married in 1861 and was the father of two daughters and a son,

Francis Wall Oliver Francis Wall Oliver Fellow of the Royal Society, FRS (10 May 1864 – 14 September 1951) was an English botanist. He was educated at Bootham School, York. He was Quain Professor of Botany at University College London 1890–1925 where he supervi ...

. In 1895, botanist Tiegh published '' Oliverella'', a genus of

flowering plant Flowering plants are plants that bear flowers and fruits, and form the clade Angiospermae (), commonly called angiosperms. The term "angiosperm" is derived from the Greek words ('container, vessel') and ('seed'), and refers to those plants th ...

s from East Africa, belonging to the family

Loranthaceae Loranthaceae, commonly known as the showy mistletoes, is a family of flowering plants. It consists of about 75 genera and 1,000 species of woody plants, many of them hemiparasites. The three terrestrial species are '' Nuytsia floribunda'' (the ...

and named in honour of Daniel Oliver. He died of heart failure at his house on

Kew Green Kew Green is a large open space in Kew in west London. Owned by the Crown Estate, it is leased to the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is roughly triangular in shape, and its open grassland, framed with broadleaf trees, extends to abo ...

on 21 December 1916.

References

External links

Daniel Oliver, Keeper of the Herbarium, Royal Gardens, Kew (1864–1890) , Art UK
1830 births 1916 deaths Academics of University College London English botanists Botanists active in Kew Gardens British pteridologists Botanists with author abbreviations Fellows of the Royal Society Royal Medal winners English librarians Taxon authorities of Hypericum species {{England-botanist-stub