Jean Annette Paton (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Comins or Comyn; born 4 January 1929) is a British

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 ...

, bryologist and botanical illustrator. She has written many books on the bryology of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and the flora of Cornwall, and described several new species. Paton has been called the "queen of vice-county recording" for her prolific records of bryological specimens in the second half of the 20th century. She was president of the

British Bryological Society The British Bryological Society is an academic society dedicated to bryology, which encourages the study of bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts). It publishes the peer-reviewed ''Journal of Bryology''. History The Society developed from ...

in 1976 and 1977.

Early life

Paton was born on 4 January 1929. She is

dyslexic Dyslexia (), previously known as word blindness, is a learning disability that affects either reading or writing. Different people are affected to different degrees. Problems may include difficulties in spelling words, reading quickly, writ ...

and could not read until she was nine. Paton taught herself to draw and paint flowers when she was young, which later helped her to learn their names. She attended Bedford College in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

from 1947, and later completed an MSc, doing a dissertation on the bryophytes of the sandstone rocks of

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

and

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

Career

Paton began work at the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

's Botany Department in 1952 as a research and

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...

assistant, and later became a lecturer there. In 1959, she moved to Cornwall with her husband Pat. There, she wrote ''Wild Flowers in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly'' and ''Flowers of the Cornish Coast'' published in 1968 and 1969 respectively. Paton was president of the

in 1976 and 1977 and was elected an honorary member in 1987. Her ''The Liverwort Flora of the British Isles'' was published in 1999 and was described as the "best liverwort flora ever published in Europe". Eric Vernon Watson called it a "landmark in the study of British liverworts". Paton won the

Linnean Society The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature collec ...

's Jill Smythies Award in May 2000 for her illustrations in the book, and the

International Association of Bryologists The International Association of Bryologists (IAB), established in 1969, is a professional association promoting bryology (the study of mosses, liverworts and hornworts) globally for both amateurs and professionals. IAB was established in 1969 at ...

Sinske Hattori Prize for the best publication of 1999/2000. Paton published a supplement to ''The Liverwort Flora'' in 2022. In 2001, she and Pat published ''Magnolias in Cornish Gardens'' and in 2005, she published ''Bryophyte Flora of the Isles of Scilly'' with David Holyoak. Paton was awarded an MBE in the

2003 New Year Honours The 2003 New Year's Honours List is one of the annual New Year Honours, a part of the British monarch's honours system, where 1 January is marked by naming new members of orders of chivalry and recipients of other official honours. A number of ot ...

for services to biology and nature conservation. Throughout her career, Paton described a number of species new to science, including '' Anthoceros agrestis'', '' Ditrichum cornubicum'', '' Lophocolea brookwoodiana'', '' Telaranea murphyae'' and '' Fissidens celticus''. In addition to this, she added many species to the list of bryophytes known in Britain, including '' Southbya tophacea'', '' Lophocolea semeteres'', and '' Marsupella profunda''. Between 1947 and 1999, Paton was the top recorder of specimens in Britain, recording 1,924 of the 22,532 specimens in the period. Her

s have been added to the collections of the

Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

, and to the

Natural History Museum, London The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum (Lo ...

Personal life

Paton married Valentine 'Pat' Paton in October 1952.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Paton, Jean 1929 births Living people British bryologists Women bryologists British botanical illustrators Members of the Order of the British Empire Alumni of Bedford College, London 20th-century British botanists 21st-century British botanists British women botanists British women illustrators 20th-century British women scientists 21st-century British women scientists Scientists with dyslexia British scientists with disabilities