3-057-097 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, Director of Royal Gardens at Kew, 1881. 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 at Kew, and took over the post of Director from his father, Sir William Hooker, in 1865.