William Hemsley (botanist)

William Botting Hemsley (29 December 1843, in East Hoathly – 7 October 1924, in Kent) was an English botanist and 1909 Victoria Medal of Honour recipient. The standard author abbreviation Hemsl. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[1]

He was born in East Hoathly, Sussex and in 1860 started work at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew as an Improver,[2] then Assistant for India in the Herbarium, finally Keeper of Herbarium and Library. He wrote a number of botanical works.

In 1888, a genus of flowering plants from south-east Asia, belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae was named Hemsleya in his honour.[3]

He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in June 1889.[4]

  1. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Hemsl.
  2. ^ Hemsley, William (1893). "Early Reminiscences of Kew". The Journal of the Kew Guild. 1 (1): 31–38. Retrieved 10 August 2013.
  3. ^ "Hemsleya Cogn. ex F.B.Forbes & Hemsl. | Plants of the World Online | Kew Science". Plants of the World Online. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  4. ^ "Library and Archive Catalogue". Royal Society. Retrieved 18 November 2010.