Aylmer Bourke Lambert (2 February 1761 – 10 January 1842) was a British botanist, one of the first fellows 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 ...

Early life

Aylmer Bourke Lambert was born at Bath, England on 2 February 1761, the son of Edmund Lambert of Boyton House and Bridget Bourke who was the daughter of the 8th Viscount Mayo. Lambert's mother died in 1773, the same year that he started school and through her family he inherited estates in Jamaica and Ireland. Lambert went to

Newcome's School Newcome's School was a fashionable boys' school in Hackney, then to the east of London, founded in the early 18th century. A number of prominent Whig families sent their sons there. The school closed in 1815, and the buildings were gutted in 182 ...

for the sons of gentlemen at Hackney, and then attended Oxford University for three years.

Writings

He is best known for his work ''A description of the

genus 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 nom ...

Pinus A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garden ...

'', issued in several parts 1803–1824, a sumptuously illustrated

folio The term "folio" (), has three interconnected but distinct meanings in the world of books and printing: first, it is a term for a common method of arranging sheets of paper into book form, folding the sheet only once, and a term for a book ma ...

volume detailing all of the conifers then known. A second folio edition was produced between 1828 and 1837, and a third, smaller (

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

) edition in 1832. Individual books even of the same edition are often very different from one another, which causes problems when the illustrations have been used as types to fix the application of names. A full description of the publication history is given in: Renkema, H. W. & Ardagh, J. (1930). Aylmer Bourke Lambert and his 'Description of the Genus Pinus'. ''Journal of the Linnean Society of London – Botany'' 48: 439–466. Many of the new conifers discovered by David Douglas and others, including the

Coast Redwood ''Sequoia sempervirens'' ()''Sunset Western Garden Book,'' 1995:606–607 is the sole living species of the genus '' Sequoia'' in the cypress family Cupressaceae (formerly treated in Taxodiaceae). Common names include coast redwood, coastal ...

, were described for the first time in Lambert's books; several of these were actually described by collaborating authors, notably

David Don David Don (21 December 1799 – 15 December 1841) was a Scottish botanist. Biography David Don was born on 21 December 1799 at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland to Caroline Clementina Stuart, and her husband George Don of Forfar. His olde ...

, who included their work in Lambert's book.

Herbarium

Lambert acquired a number of significant herbarium collections including those of

Johann Reinhold Forster Johann Reinhold Forster (22 October 1729 – 9 December 1798) was a German Reformed (Calvinist) pastor and naturalist of partially Scottish descent who made contributions to the early ornithology of Europe and North America. He is best known ...

Archibald Menzies Archibald Menzies ( ; 15 March 1754 – 15 February 1842) was a Scottish surgeon, botanist and naturalist. He spent many years at sea, serving with the Royal Navy, private merchants, and the Vancouver Expedition. He was the first recorded Euro ...

and Henry de Ponthieu. He also amassed a large collection of specimens and drawings from Australia in the era immediately following the arrival of the First Fleet. Contributors included Governor Arthur Phillip, Surgeon-General John White, Colonel William Paterson, Major Robert Ross, Major Francis Grose and

Philip Gidley King Captain Philip Gidley King (23 April 1758 – 3 September 1808) was a British politician who was the third Governor of New South Wales. When the First Fleet arrived in January 1788, King was detailed to colonise Norfolk Island for defence ...

. Lambert's collection of 50,000 preserved plant specimens, along with his extensive library, was consulted by authors and botanists including Robert Brown,

De Candolle Augustin Pyramus (or Pyrame) de Candolle (, , ; 4 February 17789 September 1841) was a Swiss botanist. René Louiche Desfontaines launched de Candolle's botanical career by recommending him at a herbarium. Within a couple of years de Candolle ...

, Martius,

George Don George Don (29 April 1798 – 25 February 1856) was a Scottish botanist and plant collector. Life and career George Don was born at Doo Hillock, Forfar, Angus, Scotland on 29 April 1798 to Caroline Clementina Stuart and George Don (b.1756), p ...

and

. It was auctioned following his death in 317 lots and specimens can be found in botanical collections around the world.

Linnean Society

Lambert was one of the founding fellows of the Linnean Society in 1788. In 1796 Lambert was appointed by

James Edward Smith James Edward Smith may refer to: * James Edward Smith (botanist), English botanist and founder of the Linnean Society * James Edward Smith (murderer), American murderer * James Edward Smith (politician), Canadian businessman and mayor of Toronto * ...

as one of the four Vice-Presidents of the

Linnean Society of London 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 ...

. He held this position until his death in 1842.

Royal Society

In 1791, Lambert was elected to the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge and Joseph Banks made him a member of its Council in 1810. "He was a friend and correspondent of Sir Joseph Banks, and took a great interest in the botanical and zoological discoveries emerging from New Holland in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as they were transmitted back to London, whether as living or dead specimens, as seeds, or as drawings. Lambert compiled the collection from Surgeon General John White's specimens and drawings brought from Sydney to London in 1795."

Honours and memorials

Lambert is honoured in the scientific name of the Sugar Pine (''Pinus lambertiana)'', the genus '' Lambertia'', and the

variegated fairywren The variegated fairywren (''Malurus lamberti'') is a fairywren that lives in eastern Australia. In a species that exhibits sexual dimorphism, the brightly coloured breeding male has chestnut shoulders and azure crown and ear coverts, while non ...

(''Malurus lamberti''). The standard botanical author abbreviation Lamb. is applied to

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

he described.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Elbert L. Little, Jr. "Lambert's 'Description of the Genus Pinus,' 1832 Edition". Madrono, 10:33–47. 1949. * H. W. Renkema and John Ardagh. "Aylmer Bourke Lambert and his 'Description of the Genus Pinus'". ''The Journal of the Linnaean Society of London'', 48:439–466. 1928–1931.

External links

Aylmer Bourke Lambert FLS
at www.barnelms.com
The TAL & Dai-ichi Life Derby Collection
at the State Library of New South Wales {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert, Aylmer Bourke English taxonomists 1761 births 1842 deaths Botanists with author abbreviations Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Society 18th-century British botanists 19th-century British botanists