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Boott, Francis M.B. (1792-1863)

Date Updated: 19 April 2013

Herbarium
Natural History Museum (BM)
Collection
Plant Collectors
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Contributor
Natural History Museum (BM)
First name(s)
Francis M.B.
Last name
Boott
Initials
F.M.
Life Dates
1792 - 1863
Collecting Dates
1814 - 1856
Specification
Plant collector
Groups collected
Spermatophytes
Organisation(s)
K (main), B, BM, BR, BUF, CGE, E, G, NY, P, PH
Countries
North American region: United StatesEurope: United Kingdom
Associate(s)
Bigelow, Jacob (1787-1879) (co-collector)
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882) (correspondent)
Gray, Asa (1810-1888) (correspondent)
Hooker, William Jackson (1785-1865) (co-author)
Biography
Born in Boston, Massachussetts, the son of a British businessman and brother of Kirk Boott (1790-1837) who was one of the founders of Lowell Massachussetts and the Boott Cotton Mill. Francis Boott trained at Harvard College (1806-1810) intending a career similar to his father but became interested in science on visiting his father's town of Derby and later trained at Edinburgh University (1820-1824) in medicine. He practised at Gower Street, London (1825-1832) as a physician with ideas ahead of his time, introduced the first use of anaesthetics to the country (1846) and abandoned the traditional black physician's coat in favour of a blue coat with brass buttons and a yellow waistcoat. As a botanist he was the foremost authority on the genus Carex and contributed to W.J. Hooker's Flora Boreali-Americana. Boott was elected Sectretary to the Linnean Society (1832-1839) and later Treasurer (1856-1861). The genus Boottia Wall. in the Hydrocharitaceae was named in his honour.
References
Brummitt, R.K. & Powell, C.E., Authors Pl. Names (1992): 76; Jackson, B.D., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew (1901): 9; Kent, D.H. & Allen, D.E., Brit. Irish Herb. (1984): 98; Lanjouw, J. & Stafleu, F.A., Index Herb. Coll. A-D (1954): 86; Stafleu, F.A. & Cowan, R.S., Taxon. Lit., ed. 2, 1 (1976): 277;

Date Updated: 19 April 2013

Herbarium
Natural History Museum (BM)
Collection
Plant Collectors
Resource Type
Reference Sources
Contributor
Natural History Museum (BM)
First name(s)
Francis M.B.
Last name
Boott
Initials
F.M.
Life Dates
1792 - 1863
Collecting Dates
1814 - 1856
Specification
Plant collector
Groups collected
Spermatophytes
Organisation(s)
K (main), B, BM, BR, BUF, CGE, E, G, NY, P, PH
Countries
North American region: United StatesEurope: United Kingdom
Associate(s)
Bigelow, Jacob (1787-1879) (co-collector)
Darwin, Charles Robert (1809-1882) (correspondent)
Gray, Asa (1810-1888) (correspondent)
Hooker, William Jackson (1785-1865) (co-author)
Biography
Born in Boston, Massachussetts, the son of a British businessman and brother of Kirk Boott (1790-1837) who was one of the founders of Lowell Massachussetts and the Boott Cotton Mill. Francis Boott trained at Harvard College (1806-1810) intending a career similar to his father but became interested in science on visiting his father's town of Derby and later trained at Edinburgh University (1820-1824) in medicine. He practised at Gower Street, London (1825-1832) as a physician with ideas ahead of his time, introduced the first use of anaesthetics to the country (1846) and abandoned the traditional black physician's coat in favour of a blue coat with brass buttons and a yellow waistcoat. As a botanist he was the foremost authority on the genus Carex and contributed to W.J. Hooker's Flora Boreali-Americana. Boott was elected Sectretary to the Linnean Society (1832-1839) and later Treasurer (1856-1861). The genus Boottia Wall. in the Hydrocharitaceae was named in his honour.
References
Brummitt, R.K. & Powell, C.E., Authors Pl. Names (1992): 76; Jackson, B.D., Bull. Misc. Inform. Kew (1901): 9; Kent, D.H. & Allen, D.E., Brit. Irish Herb. (1984): 98; Lanjouw, J. & Stafleu, F.A., Index Herb. Coll. A-D (1954): 86; Stafleu, F.A. & Cowan, R.S., Taxon. Lit., ed. 2, 1 (1976): 277;
Boott, Francis M.B. (1792-1863)
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