Joseph Hooker

"Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) was a groundbreaking botanist who circled the globe discovering, describing, naming, or introducing over 12,000 plants that have since changed the makeup of our gardens and landscape. His plant collecting expeditions, first to Antarctica and later to India and the Himalayas, and his publications, many of which were illustrated by the prolific Victorian botanical artist Walter Hood Fitch, secured his reputation in the scientific community and attracted the attention of Charles Darwin, who became a friend and confidante. In 1865 Hooker succeeded his father Sir William…