William Jack (botanist)
Encyclopedia
William Jack was a Scottish
botanist.
Jack was employed by the East India Company as a surgeon in India, where he also studied botany and corresponded extensively with Nathaniel Wallich
. In 1818 he accompanied Stamford Raffles
to Sumatra
where he extensively documented the rich flora of that region until his untimely death in 1822. Much of his work, including manuscripts, drawings, and collections were destroyed by fire in 1824.
Three plant genera are named after him:
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
botanist.
Jack was employed by the East India Company as a surgeon in India, where he also studied botany and corresponded extensively with Nathaniel Wallich
Nathaniel Wallich
Nathaniel Wallich was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later joined the East India Company...
. In 1818 he accompanied Stamford Raffles
Stamford Raffles
Sir Thomas Stamford Bingley Raffles, FRS was a British statesman, best known for his founding of the city of Singapore . He is often described as the "Father of Singapore"...
to Sumatra
Sumatra
Sumatra is an island in western Indonesia, westernmost of the Sunda Islands. It is the largest island entirely in Indonesia , and the sixth largest island in the world at 473,481 km2 with a population of 50,365,538...
where he extensively documented the rich flora of that region until his untimely death in 1822. Much of his work, including manuscripts, drawings, and collections were destroyed by fire in 1824.
Three plant genera are named after him:
- Jakkia BlumeCarl Ludwig BlumeCharles Ludwig de Blume or Karl Ludwig von Blume was a German-Dutch botanist.He was born at Braunschweig in Germany, but studied at Leiden University and spent his professional life working in the Dutch East Indies and in the Netherlands, where he was Director of the Rijksherbarium at Leiden...
, 1823, in family Polygalaceae - Jackia Wall.Nathaniel WallichNathaniel Wallich was a surgeon and botanist of Danish origin who worked in India initially in the Danish settlement near Calcutta and later joined the East India Company...
, 1824, a synonym of Jackiopsis Ridsdale, in family Rubiaceae - Jackia Spreng.Carl SprengelKarl or Carl Philipp Sprengel was a German botanist from Schillerslage ....
, nom. illeg., 1826, a synonym of EriolaenaEriolaenaEriolaena is a flowering plant genus. Traditionally included in the family Sterculiaceae, it is included in the expanded Malvaceae in the APG and most subsequent systematics.Species include:* Eriolaena candollei* Eriolaena glabrescens...
in family Malvaceae
Published works
- Descriptions of Malayan Plants 1820–1822. Originally published in Malayan Miscellanies, and reprinted in various forms at later dates.
- William Jack, communicated by Robert Brown (1823) On the Malayan Species of Melastoma, Transactions of The Linnean Society of London 14(1): 1-22
- William Jack, communicated by Aylmer Bourke Lambert (1823) On Cyrtandraceae, a new Natural Order of Plants, Transactions of The Linnean Society of London 14(1): 23-45
- William Jack, communicated by Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1823) Account of the Lansium and some other Genera of Malayan Plants, Transactions of The Linnean Society of London 14(1): 114-130