Abstract
SEPTEMBER 10 is the fiftieth anniversary of the death of George Bentham, whose Genera Plantarum is still regarded as the standard work on the subject. Born in 1800 at Stoke, near Portsmouth, Bentham (who was a nephew of Jeremy Bentham, the distinguished jurist) in his earlier years studied law and philosophy. Though called to the Bar, he soon abandoned law for botany. He was elected a fellow of the Linnean Society in 1828, and in the following year became honorary secretary of the Horticultural Society. He travelled extensively, making botanical collections, which he ultimately presented to the Herbarium at Kew. Between 1832 and 1836 he published his important Labiatarum, Genera and Species. He became friendly with Sir Joseph Hooker, director of Kew Gardens, who assisted him in the compilation of his greatest work, the Genera Plantarum, which appeared at intervals between 1865 and 1883. From 1854, he was engaged at Kew, working quietly and systematically at the description of flowering plants. Here he assisted in the preparation of floras of the British Colonies. Benthams Handbook of the British Flora (published in 1858) is still the standard guide to the naming of the native plants of Great Britain. He tells us that he amused himself by writing it before breakfast. He was president of the Linnean Society from 1861 until 1874, and was made a fellow of the Royal Society in 1864. In 1878, on the completion of his labours on the Australian flora, he was made C.M.G. He died at Kew.
Article PDF
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
George Bentham (1800–84). Nature 134, 351 (1934). https://doi.org/10.1038/134351b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/134351b0