Adriaan van Royen (11 November 1704 in
Leiden
Leiden ( ; ; in English language, English and Archaism, archaic Dutch language, Dutch also Leyden) is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Nethe ...
– 28 February 1779 in Leiden) was a Dutch
botanist
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
. He was a professor at
Leiden University
Leiden University (abbreviated as ''LEI''; ) is a Public university, public research university in Leiden, Netherlands. Established in 1575 by William the Silent, William, Prince of Orange as a Protestantism, Protestant institution, it holds the d ...
and is associated with
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
.
He is best known for his work on flora of
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
. Adriaan van Royen formed a close relationship with Linnaeus, who had visited the Leiden Botanic Garden during a stay in Leiden between 1737 and 1738.
He was elected a
Fellow of the Royal Society
Fellowship of the Royal Society (FRS, ForMemRS and HonFRS) is an award granted by the Fellows of the Royal Society of London to individuals who have made a "substantial contribution to the improvement of natural science, natural knowledge, incl ...
in 1728.
He died in Leiden in 1779.
The genus ''
Royena''
L. (= ''
Diospyros
''Diospyros'' is a genus of over 700 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs. The majority are native to the tropics, with only a few species extending into temperate regions. Individual species valued for their hard, heavy, dark timb ...
'' sect. ''Royena'' (L.)
F.White), in the
Ebenaceae, and ''
Melastoma royenii'' Blume. Sutton, D.A. are named after him.
References
1704 births
1779 deaths
18th-century Dutch botanists
Academic staff of Leiden University
Fellows of the Royal Society
{{Netherlands-botanist-stub