Salisbury, Edward James (1886-1978)

English botanist and economist. His research was primarily on the woodland ecology of Hertfordshire and the reproductive capacity of plants (especially their seed production). His most famous work The Living Garden 1935 was enormously popular.

Salisbury was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire and obtained a second class degree in botany from University College, London 1905. In 1913, he gained a DSc with a thesis on fossilized seed. In 1914, he was appointed a senior lecturer at East London College (now Queen Mary's College), but returned as a senior lecturer to University College, where he was made a reader in plant ecology 1924, and Quain professor of botany 1929.

In 1943 he became the director of Kew Gardens, the first Director to be appointed without the traditional background in taxonomic botany. He was responsible for the post-war restoration of the gardens before his retirement 1956. He was a Fellow of the Royal Society and won their Royal Medal. He was also awarded the Veitch medal by the Royal Horticultural Society 1936. In 1939 he received the CBE and was knighted 1946.