William Jameson, por Antonio Salas (1842)

William ("Gulielmo") Jameson (1796–1873) was a Scottish-

Ecuadorian Ecuadorians ( es, ecuatorianos) are people identified with the South American country of Ecuador. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Ecuadorians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are colle ...

botanist. He was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

and studied at the

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd) is a professional organisation of surgeons. The College has seven active faculties, covering a broad spectrum of surgical, dental, and other medical practices. Its main campus is located o ...

. He made several voyages as a ship's surgeon, first to Baffin Bay, then to

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...

. In 1826 he settled in Quito,

Ecuador Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ' ...

. He was then appointed

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

of chemistry and

botany 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 w ...

Universidad Central del Ecuador The Central University of Ecuador ( es, Universidad Central del Ecuador) is a national university located in Quito, Ecuador and is the oldest and largest university in Ecuador, and one of the oldest in the Americas. The enrollment at Central Univ ...

. He went back to

in 1869, returned to Quito in 1872, and died shortly thereafter. Jameson made botanical investigations and collections in

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and in other

n countries. He began writing a

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

, ''Synopsis Plantarum Aequatoriensium'', of which Volumes 1 and 2 were published in 1865. The work was not completed. Jameson is commemorated in the name of the Andean snipe, ''Gallinago jamesoni'', and a species of

Buddleja ''Buddleja'' (; ''Buddleia''; also historically given as ''Buddlea'') is a genus comprising over 140 species of flowering plants endemic to Asia, Africa, and the Americas. The generic name bestowed by Linnaeus posthumously honoured the Revere ...

bush found in Ecuador, '' Buddleja jamesonii''. As well as '' Jamesonia'' by in the

Pteridaceae Pteridaceae is a family of ferns in the order Polypodiales, including some 1150 known species in ca 45 genera (depending on taxonomic opinions), divided over five subfamilies. The family includes four groups of genera that are sometimes recogni ...

family, first published in 1830, and '' Jamesoniella'', which is a genus of liverworts in the family Adelanthaceae, published in 1881.

References

External links

Biography
at the Archives of the Gray Herbarium Library Scottish botanists Botanists active in the Arctic Botanists active in South America 1796 births 1873 deaths Scottish emigrants to Ecuador {{UK-botanist-stub