1-158-222 - Oxford Science Archive/Heritage Images

Joseph Dalton Hooker, English botanist, c1880. Hooker (1817-1911) was a botanist and plant collector who travelled on several scientific expeditions in the 1840s, including a three year trip to the Himalayas in 1848-1850. He brought back 7000 specimens from the expedition. Amongst these were 25 new species of rhododendron, half as many again as were then known, leading to something of a rhododendron craze amongst British gardeners. In 1855 Hooker became Assistant Director of Kew, and took over the post of Director from his father, Sir William Hooker, in 1865. From Men of Mark. (London, 1881).