William Aiton

{{short description|Scottish botanist (1731-1793)}}

{{other people}}

{{use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = William Aiton

| image = William Aiton.jpg

| birth_date = 1731

| birth_place = Hamilton, Scotland

| death_date = {{death date and age|1793|02|02|1731|df=yes}}

| death_place = Kew, England

| resting_place = St. Anne's Church, Kew, England

| fields = Botany

| author_abbrev_bot = Aiton

| known_for = Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

| children = William Townsend Aiton

}}

William Aiton (1731{{snd}}2 February 1793) was a Scottish botanist.{{cite web |title=William Aiton from The Gazetteer for Scotland |url=https://www.scottish-places.info/people/famousfirst1430.html |website=www.scottish-places.info |language=en-gb}}

File:Kew, St Anne's Churchyard, The Aiton family tomb.jpg

Aiton was born near Hamilton. Having been regularly trained to the profession of a gardener, he travelled to London in 1754, and became assistant to Philip Miller, then superintendent of the Chelsea Physic Garden. In 1759 he was appointed director of the newly established botanical garden at Kew, where he remained until his death. He effected many improvements at the gardens, and in 1789 he published Hortus Kewensis, a catalogue of the plants cultivated there.{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Aiton, William|volume=1|page=448}}{{sfn|Aiton|1789}} He is buried at nearby St. Anne's Church, Kew.

A second and enlarged edition of the Hortus was brought out in 1810–1813 by his eldest son, William Townsend Aiton.

Aiton is commemorated in the specific epithet aitonis.{{cite book |last=Eggli |first=Urs |last2=Newton |first2=Leonard E. |title=Etymological Dictionary of Succulent Plant Names |publisher=Springer |location=Berlin, Heidelberg |year=2004 |isbn=978-3-540-00489-9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2n5vusQ1DEC&pg=PA4 |accessdate=10 November 2018 |page=4}}

In 1789, he classified the Sampaguita plant to the Jasminium genus and also named it as Arabian Jasmine because it was believed that the plant originated from The Arabian Peninsula{{Cite web|date=2009-03-09|title=Study of the Sampaguita Flower - The National Pride of Philippines|url=https://gardenerdy.com/study-of-sampaguita-flower/|accessdate=25 March 2021|website=Gardenerdy|language=en-US}} although the plant didn't originate from Arabia.