William Aiton

William Aiton (1731 – 2 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist.

For other people named William Aiton, see William Aiton (disambiguation).

William Aiton
Born1731
Hamilton, Scotland
Died2 February 1793(1793-02-02) (aged 61–62)
Kew, England
Resting placeSt. Anne's Church, Kew, England
Known forDirector of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
ChildrenWilliam Townsend Aiton
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
InfluencesPhilip Miller

Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants cultivated there.[1][2] He is buried at nearby St. Anne's Church, Kew.[3]

A second and enlarged edition of the Hortus was brought out in 1810–1813 by his eldest son, William Townsend Aiton.[1]

Aiton is commemorated in the specific epithet aitonis.[4]

Selected publications
  • Aiton, W. (1789). Hortus Kewensis. London: George Nicol.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)

References
  1.  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Aiton, William". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 448.
  2. Aiton 1789.
  3. Nisinger, Connie (31 October 2001). "William Aiton". Find a Grave. Retrieved 16 January 2013.
  4. Eggli, Urs; Newton, Leonard E. (2004). Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer. p. 4. ISBN 978-3-540-00489-9. Retrieved 10 November 2018.
  5. IPNI.  Aiton.

Bibliography

Further reading
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