Philip Barker Webb (10 July 1793 – 31 August 1854) was an English

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 ...

Life

Webb Mausoleum, Milford churchyard, Surrey 08

Webb was born to a wealthy, aristocratic family; his father was the lord of the manors of

Witley Witley is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Waverley in Surrey, England centred south west of the town of Godalming and southwest of Guildford. The land is a mixture of rural (ranging from woodland protected by the Surrey Hills AO ...

and

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

, in Surrey, England. Webb was educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

. He collected plants in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and was the first person to collect in the Tetuan Mountains of Morocco. En route to Brazil he made what was intended to be a brief visit to the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; es, Canarias, ), also known informally as the Canaries, are a Spanish autonomous community and archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, in Macaronesia. At their closest point to the African mainland, they are west of Morocc ...

, but he stayed for a considerable time, returning after his Brazil expedition. The results can be seen in the nine-volume '' Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries'' (''Natural History of the Canary Islands''), which he co-authored with

Sabin Berthelot Sabin Berthelot (4 April 1794 – 10 November 1880) was a French naturalist and ethnologist. He was resident on the Canary Islands for part of his life, and co-authored ''L'Histoire Naturelle des Îles Canaries'' (1835–50) with Philip Barker We ...

. In company with Berthelot, who had lived on the islands for some time, Webb collected specimens on the islands between 1828 and 1830. The text of ''Histoire Naturelle des Iles Canaries'' took 20 years to complete. Specialists such as

Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart Pierre-Justin-Marie Macquart (8 April 1778 – 25 November 1855) was a French entomologist specialising in the study of Diptera. He worked on world species as well as European and described many new species. Biography Early years Macquart was ...

wrote appropriate parts. Webb's

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 ...

was bequeathed to the

Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze The Museo di Storia Naturale di Firenze is a natural history museum in 6 major collections, located in Florence, Italy. It is part of the University of Florence. Museum collections are open mornings except Wednesday, and all day Saturday; an adm ...

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy. He settled in Paris, but returned to Italy in the later years of his life, before being struck by illness while travelling in Europe. He died in England in August 1854.Webb, Philip Barker (1793-1854), JSTOR Global Plants
The former

genera Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nomenclat ...

'' Barkerwebbia'' and '' Webbia'' were named after him.BHL
Taxonomic literature: a selective guide to botanical publications

Works

References

External links

* * * * 1793 births 1854 deaths Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford Botanists active in Africa Botanists with author abbreviations English botanists Fellows of the Royal Society People educated at Harrow School Phycologists Place of birth missing Pteridologists Tétouan {{England-botanist-stub