William Botting Hemsley (29 December 1843, in

East Hoathly {{GeoGroup Populated places in East Sussex East Sussex East Sussex is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England on the English Channel coast. It is bordered by Kent to the north and east, West Sussex to the west, and S ...

– 7 October 1924, in Kent) was an English botanist and 1909

Victoria Medal of Honour The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society. The award was established in 1897 "in per ...

recipient. He was born in East Hoathly, Sussex and in 1860 started work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as an Improver, then Assistant for India in the Herbarium, finally Keeper of Herbarium and Library. He wrote a number of botanical works. In 1888, a genus of flowering plants from south-east Asia, belonging to the family

Cucurbitaceae The Cucurbitaceae, also called cucurbits or the gourd family, are a plant family consisting of about 965 species in around 95 genera, of which the most important to humans are: *''Cucurbita'' – squash, pumpkin, zucchini, some gourds *'' Lagen ...

was named ''

Hemsleya ''Hemsleya'' is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. Its native range is Eastern Himalayas to southern China and Papuasia. It is native to the countries of Assam (in India), Bismarck Archipelago (island group, part ...

'' in his honour. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1889.

Publications

* * ''Biologica Centrali-Americana Botany. Vol. I '', 1879–1888 *
Biologica Centrali-Americana Botany. Vol. III
', 1882–1886 * ''Botany of the Bermudas and various other Islands of the Atlantic and Southern Oceans'', 1885 * ''Botany of Juan Fernandez, South-eastern Molluccas, and the Admiralty Islands'', 1885 * ''An Enumeration of All the Plants Known from China Proper, Formosa, Hainan, Corea, the Luchu Archipelago, and the Island of Hong Kong.'' with Francis B. Forbes, 1887

Designation

References

External links

William Botting Hemsley finding aid
collection held at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew archives. English botanists Botanists active in China 1843 births 1924 deaths People from East Hoathly Fellows of the Royal Society 19th-century English people 19th-century British botanists {{UK-botanist-stub