Hooker, SirJosephDalton

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Hooker, SirJosephDalton (1817–1911)A British botanist, who graduated in medicine at the University of Glasgow in 1839 and was then appointed assistant surgeon on board the Erebus, as a member of the Antarctic expedition led by Sir James Ross. On his return, in 1843, he published Flora Antarctica (1844–7), Flora Novae Zelandiae (1853–5), and Flora Tasmanica (1855–60). He explored the northern frontiers of India (1847–51), and published the Flora of British India (1855–97). The large number of rhododendrons he brought from India provided raw materials for many hybrids, which became popular ornamentals, transforming many British gardens. He prepared the fifth and sixth editions of Bentham'sHandbook of the British Flora, which then became known to generations of students as ‘Bentham and Hooker’. He was appointed assistant director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in 1855 and succeeded his father, Sir William JacksonHooker, as director in 1865.