3 botanists by the name of Cross

[Roger Horton]

Three collectors causing confusion.

William J Cross

A Wiltshire horticulturalist. The dates for William J Cross (10/9/1832-22/6/1885) come from Desmond's Dictionary Of British And Irish Botantists And Horticulturalists where he is described thus:

"Gardener to Lord Ashburton at Melchet Park, 1862-69. Partner with Steer in nursery at Ford and Salisbury, Wilts. Gdnrs. Chron. 1877 ii 301-2 portr.; 1885 i 830. Plants at Aberdeen Univ., Ipswich Museum." (Gardeners' Chronicle 1877, 1885; the latter an obituary with his initials reversed).

Similar information is given in Kent & Allen.

W J Cross

An East Anglian botanist. From the BSBI Archive [pdf]:

"W. J. Cross, a young botanist of Ely, who discovered the plant [Selinum carvifolia] 'on swampy land near Fordham, Cambridgeshire', in August 1882." (possibly specimen 201681 ?)

Further, THE FLORA OF SUFFOLK by WM Hind 1889 includes in the list of contributors (page 14):

'Cross, W. J., Ely. Specimens and lists of Plants.'

A search conducted of Ipswich Museum database found four specimens 'W J Cross' 1882-1890, all from Suffolk (Brandon, Tuddenham, Newmarket) and all from the Hind herbarium, suggesting that the Desmond/K&A entries may give an incorrect attribution.

J W F Cross

Kent & Allen says 'fl. 1888-1889', and that his sheets from VC29 are in the National Museum of Wales. The three h@h sheets attributed to him in h@h, VC19/29, are all ex herb. James Henry Augustus Steuart. Labels in this herbarium often bracket 'COLL.' and 'COMM.' together by preceded the collector name with '/', which can be misread as 'J'.

See one of Steuart's own sheets - 41717 and one from "J W F Cross" sheet 316849 which I believe to be coll. & comm. by 'W J Cross'.