Thomas Anderson FLS (26 February 1832 – 26 October 1870) was a Scottish

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

who worked in India. He was involved in research on cinchona cultivation in India.

Life

Anderson was born in

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

in 1832. He studied medicine at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

, graduating with an MD in 1853. While at University he became interested in

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

, and earned a gold medal for the best local collection of plants, and assisted in arranging the Indian

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, 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 sh ...

. In 1854 he entered the

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

medical service, and went to

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

. Subsequently, he went to

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

, where he was actively engaged during the

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military or a crew) to oppose, change, or remove superiors or their orders. The term is commonly used for insubordination by members of the military against an officer or superior, ...

, returning to Calcutta in 1858. His health failing, he came home, and, the steamer being detained at

Aden Aden () is a port city located in Yemen in the southern part of the Arabian peninsula, on the north coast of the Gulf of Aden, positioned near the eastern approach to the Red Sea. It is situated approximately 170 km (110 mi) east of ...

for some days, he made collections of the plants of that region, upon which he based his ''Florula Adenensis'' (1860). About this time he returned to India, taking temporary charge of the

Calcutta Botanic Garden The Acharya Jagadish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, previously known as Indian Botanic Garden and the Calcutta Botanic Garden, is a botanical garden situated in Shibpur, Howrah near Kolkata. They are commonly known as the Calcutta Botanica ...

during the absence of Dr Thomas Thomson, whom he afterwards succeeded as director. His brother, John Anderson was a zoologist. Anderson introduced valuable medicinal plants, especially

cinchona ''Cinchona'' (pronounced or ) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae containing at least 23 species of trees and shrubs. All are native to the Tropical Andes, tropical Andean forests of western South America. A few species are ...

and ipecacuanha at the Sibpur botanical gardens and conducted experiments on their culltivation. He was involved in organizing the forest department in Bengal from 1864 but gave up after two years due to other work pressures and in 1868 poor health forced him to take leave. He returned to Scotland and worked on his herbaria towards a flora of India. The difficult order

Acanthaceae Acanthaceae () is a Family (biology), family (the acanthus family) of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species. Most are Tropics, tropical Herbaceous plant, herbs, shrubs, or twining vines; some are epip ...

received his special attention; but before his work could be completed he was again attacked by illness, and died at Edinburgh of disease of the liver on 26 October 1870. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

in western Edinburgh. The grave lies facing the east–west path pointing at the pyramid, but is set behind the front line of stones. Botanical specimens collected by Anderson are cared for at the

National Herbarium of Victoria The National Herbarium of Victoria (Index Herbariorum code: MEL) is one of Australia's earliest herbaria and the oldest scientific institution in Victoria. Its 1.56 million specimens of preserved plants, fungi and algae—collectively known ...

(MEL),

Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria (RBGV) are botanical garden, botanic gardens across two sites–Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne, Melbourne and Royal Botanic Gardens, Cranbourne, Cranbourne. Melbourne Gardens was founded in 1846 when land w ...

Family

He was married to Elizabeth Cleghorn (1830-1914).

References

External links

* Florula Adenensis (1860) {{DEFAULTSORT:Anderson, Thomas 1832 births 1870 deaths 19th-century Scottish botanists Scientists from Edinburgh Alumni of the University of Edinburgh Medical School 19th-century Scottish medical doctors Burials at the Dean Cemetery