Britton, Elizabeth Knight (1858–1934)

American botanist. Born Elizabeth Gertrude Knight in New York City, on January 9, 1858; died in New York City on February 25, 1934, daughter and one of five children of James (operator of a furniture factory and sugar plantation) and Sophie (Compton) Knight; attended elementary school in Cuba; graduated from Normal College (later Hunter College), New York, 1875; married Nathaniel Britton, 1885.

Author of close to 350 scientific papers, Elizabeth Britton helped establish and manage the New York Botanical Gardens and was a driving force in conservation efforts. Given the level of Britton's contribution to her field, her ranking as an amateur botanist remains perplexing.

Britton spent most of her childhood in Cuba, where her father ran a furniture factory and sugar plantation. As a teenager, she divided her time between Cuba and New York. In 1875, she graduated from Normal College (later Hunter College) and for ten years served on the staff there, the last two years as assistant in natural science. By 1883, her botanical studies were focused on mosses (bryology), and she had published the first of her numerous scientific papers.

In 1885, Britton married Nathaniel Britton, then an assistant in geology at Columbia College, who shared her interest in botany. The two made numerous botanical expeditions together, and Elizabeth Britton became the unofficial curator of the moss collection at Columbia, which she expanded in 1893 with the acquisition of the collection of August Jaeger of Switzerland. The Brittons were also influential in the establishment of the New York Botanical Garden, which was incorporated in 1891, using the model of the Botanic Gardens of Kew, England. Nathaniel was named director in 1896. When the Columbia College herbarium was transferred there in 1899, Elizabeth became unofficial curator of mosses. She was made honorary curator in 1912.

Throughout her career, Britton was closely associated with a number of botanical associations, including the Torrey Botanical Club. Becoming a member in 1879, she edited the club Bulletin from 1886 to 1888. She was a principal founder of the Sullivan Moss Society (later know as the American Bryological Society), serving as its president from 1916 to 1919. Later in her career, Britton turned her attention to wildflower conservation, cofounding in 1902 the Wild Flower Preservation Society of America of which she served as secretary and treasurer. Through lectures and publications, she was instrumental in saving a number of endangered wildflower habitats around the country and also helped push conservation measures through the New York legislature.

Britton died of a stroke in 1934. In spite of her amateur standing, the scientific community recognized her contribution by naming 15 species of plants and a moss genus (Bryobrittonia) in her honor.

Barbara Morgan , Melrose, Massachusetts