Aylmer Bourke Lambert

Who was Aylmer Bourke Lambert?

Aylmer Bourke Lambert was a British botanist, one of the first fellows of the Linnean Society.

He is best known for his work A description of the genus Pinus, issued in several parts 1803-1824, a sumptuously illustrated folio volume detailing all of the conifers then known. A second folio edition was produced between 1828–1837, and a third, smaller edition in 1832. Individual books even of the same edition are often very different from one another, which causes problems when the illustrations have been used as types to fix the application of names. A full description of the publication history is given in: Renkema, H. W. & Ardagh, J.. Aylmer Bourke Lambert and his 'Description of the Genus Pinus'. Journal of the Linnean Society of London - Botany 48: 439-466.

Many of the new conifers discovered by David Douglas and others, including the Coast Redwood, were described for the first time in Lambert's books; several of these were actually described by collaborating authors, notably David Don, who included their work in Lambert's book.

Lambert acquired a number of significant herbarium collections including those of Johann Reinhold Forster, Archibald Menzies and Henry de Ponthieu. He also amassed a large collection of specimens and drawings from Australia in the era immediately following the arrival of the First Fleet. Contributors included Governor Arthur Phillip, Surgeon-General John White, Colonel William Paterson, Major Robert Ross, Major Francis Grose and Philip Gidley King.