In the 21st century, many residents and guests of the city do not know that the old New York Botanical Garden was founded by the prominent biologist Nathaniel Lord Britton. During the 19th and early 20th centuries, Britton was one of the most influential biologists of his days, not only in New York and the United States but also abroad. He was born in 1859 in Staten Island. From a very young age, he was particularly attracted to plants and nature. This passion determined his life’s work. Learn more at new-york.name.
Britton’s botanical career
Britton’s career as a botanist began with studying at the Columbia University School of Mines. After graduating, he obtained an education and an academic degree at Columbia University. There, he studied geology and botany. After finishing university, he became a member of one of the most distinguished botanical societies of the second half of the 19th century, the Torrey Botanical Club.
There is one interesting fact from Britton’s life. When he became a member of the popular American biologists club, Britton met his future life partner Elizabeth Knight. They weren’t just husband and wife and a loving couple but shared their passion for botany. All their life they studied plants together.
Scientific research and creation of the New York Botanical Garden
In the late 19th century, Britton and his wife were actively exploring the flora of the Caribbean. Together, they did a tremendous job of research and documentation, which became the basis for a completely pioneering work, The Bahama Flora. In addition, Britton and his wife did a lot of research on the following territories:
- New Jersey
- Northern states of Canada
- Jamaica
- Yukon
- West Indies
- Bermuda Islands
- United States Virgin Islands and other areas.
They recorded and published all their research. Britton, with his wife, opened the world to new knowledge about the flora of the country and the surrounding territories. They contributed profoundly to science by describing Cuban plants, new to the 19th and 20th centuries. They also carried out detailed studies of cactaceous. The projects of the Britton couple were truly monumental, they intended to catalogue all the plants in North America.
The couple also traveled a lot around the world. In the 1880s, Britton and his wife visited Great Britain, specifically the magnificent Kew Gardens. The spouses were so impressed and inspired that they decided to create a botanical garden in their hometown of New York City. The Torrey Botanical Club helped Britton to create a garden in New York. It was supposed to be a world-class facility in the very center of the city. In 1895, Britton was appointed the first director of the Botanical Garden. From that moment on, the garden quickly became an American research center.
While working at the Garden, Britton led the creation of a large herbarium that contained over 7 million specimens. So, it became one of the largest and most complete botanical collections in the world. Britton also played a crucial role in developing garden research programs.
Britton’s contribution to botany was enormous and diverse. He is the author of more than 200 scientific articles and several books on botany. Apart from the Botanical Garden, he is one of the founders of numerous scientific societies, for example, the American Code of Botanical Nomenclature.
Besides his scientific achievements, Britton was also a conservationist. He advocated the preservation of the natural environment and the protection of endangered plant species.
In the 21st century, Nathaniel Britton’s legacy lives in the New York Botanical Garden, in his countless experiments and research works. He remains an outstanding figure in the field of botany. His contribution to the perception of the natural world continues to be studied by many people around the world in the 21st century.