Bartram, John (1699–1777)

US botanist described by Linnaeus as the greatest ‘natural botanist’ in the world. He made many expeditions in order to study the native flora and its environment, and his research included the first plant hybridizing experiments to be carried out in America.

Bartram was born in Marple, Pennsylvania and became a farmer and collector of North American plants. He corresponded with the botanist and businessman, Peter Collinson, in England and sold his plants through Collinson to botanists in Europe. In 1728, he was responsible for the formation of the Botanical Garden at Kingsessing on the banks of the Schuylkill River. He travelled to West Virginia and the Blue Ridge Mountains in 1738, to the Catskill Mountains in 1755, and to the Carolinas in 1760. By 1765 he had been appointed royal botanist and in this capacity he travelled from Charleston, South Carolina to St Augustine, Florida. As part of this expedition, he explored the St John's River by canoe. His published work includes Observations on the Inhabitants, Climate, Soil, etc. ... made by John Bartram in his travels from Pennsylvania to Lake Ontario.