William Aiton

For other people named William Aiton, see William Aiton (disambiguation).

William Aiton
File:William Aiton.jpg
Born	1731 Hamilton, Scotland
Died	Kew, England
Resting place	St. Anne's Church, Kew, England
Fields	Botany
Known for	Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Influences	Philip Miller
Author abbrev. (botany)	Aiton
Children	William Townsend Aiton

William Aiton (1731 – 2 February 1793) was a British botanist.

Aiton was born near Hamilton,South Lanarkshire. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants cultivated there. He is buried at nearby St. Anne's Church, Kew.

A second and enlarged edition of the Hortus was brought out in 1810–1813 by his eldest son, William Townsend Aiton.

Aiton is commemorated in the specific epithet aitonis.

In 1789, he classified the Sampaguita plant to the Jasminium genus and also named it as Arabian Jasmine because it was believed that the plant originated from The Arabian Peninsula although the plant didn't originate from Arabia.

Bibliography

• Pagmenta, Frank (2009) The Aitons: Gardeners to their Majesties. Richmond Local History Society. ISBN 9780955071751