John Lindley is honoured nowadays as the foremost British orchidologist of the 19th century, indeed by some as "the father of orchidology". He is especially remembered for his fundamental achievement in the classification, description and naming of orchids. He established more than 120 genera of Orchidaceae. However, he was also among the most industrious and productive of the 19th-century botanists. As administrator, professor, horticulturalist, taxonomist, editor, journalist and botanical artist, he used his time to the full. His forthright report on the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew saved it from destruction and provided a view of the potentialities which led ultimately to the development of Kew into a world-important institution. This volume commemorates the bi-centenary of his birth. William Stearn sketches Lindley's career as a whole and the distinguished panel of contributors he has brought together then give more detailed treatment to Lindley's roles as orchidologist, as palaeobotanist and as horticulturalist.
