Clayton Herbarium

John Clayton (1694-1773) was a notable early collector of plant specimens in North America. From 1720 until his death, he was Clerk to the Court of Gloucester County in Virginia, where he collected extensively. Although Clayton published almost nothing himself, his specimens reached Europe in the 1730s and became the basis for descriptions of new species published by the Dutch botanist Johan Gronovius (1690-1762). In addition, Clayton’s specimens were studied by the Swedish systematist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) and they therefore have considerable importance in fixing the application of early scientific (binomial) names of North American plant species. Further information on Clayton and his herbarium can be found here: https://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/collections/botany-collections/historical-botanical-collections/john-clayton-herbarium.html