James Sinclair (1913–1968) was a Scottish

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, who worked at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Singapore Botanic Gardens.

Life

Sinclair was born in the Bu of Hoy

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

, Scotland on 29 November 1913. He received a degree in botany from the

Edinburgh University The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1582 ...

. He served as a radar operator in the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

from 1941 to 1945. In 1968 he succumbed to cancer and was buried in Hoy.

Work

He was a botanist at the Edinburgh Royal Botanical Garden where he oversaw the herbarium. In 1948 he became the herbarium curator at the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Much of his work focused on the flowering plant families ''

Annonaceae The Annonaceae are a Family (biology), family of flowering plants consisting of trees, shrubs, or rarely lianas commonly known as the custard apple family or soursop family. With 108 accepted genera and about 2400 known species, it is the largest ...

'' and ''

Myristicaceae The Myristicaceae are a family of flowering plants native to Africa, Asia, Pacific islands, and the Americas and has been recognized by most taxonomists. It is sometimes called the "nutmeg family", after its most famous member, ''Myristica fragra ...

'', though he also had an interest in marine plants and mosses.

Legacy

He is the authority for at least 192

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

including:
His life and works have been honored as part of the Hoy Heritage project.

References

1913 births 1968 deaths Scottish botanists Royal Air Force personnel of World War II {{Botanist-stub