View source for Nicol Alexander Dalzell

{{short description|Scottish botanist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| honorific_prefix  = [[FRSE]]
| name              = Nicol Alexander Dalzell
| honorific_suffix  =
| native_name       =
| native_name_lang  =
| image             = <!--(filename only, i.e. without "File:" prefix)-->
| image_size        =
| image_upright     =
| landscape         = <!-- yes, if wide image, otherwise leave blank -->
| alt               =
| caption           =
| birth_name        = <!-- if different from "name" -->
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1817|04|21}}
| birth_place       =
| death_date        ={{death date and age|1877|12|18|1817|04|21}}
| death_place       =
| death_cause       = <!-- should only be included when the cause of death has significance for the subject's notability -->
| resting_place     =
| resting_place_coordinates = <!--{{coord|LAT|LONG|type:landmark|display=inline,title}}-->
| other_names       =
| siglum            =
| pronounce         =
| citizenship       = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| nationality       = <!-- use only when necessary per [[WP:INFONAT]] -->
| fields            = Botany
| workplaces        =
| patrons           =
| education         =
| alma_mater        = University of Edinburgh
| thesis_title      = <!--(or  | thesis1_title =  and  | thesis2_title = )-->
| thesis_url        = <!--(or  | thesis1_url  =   and  | thesis2_url  =  )-->
| thesis_year       = <!--(or  | thesis1_year =   and  | thesis2_year =  )-->
| doctoral_advisor  = <!--(or  | doctoral_advisors = )-->
| academic_advisors =
| doctoral_students =
| notable_students  =
| known_for         =
| awards            =
| author_abbrev_bot =
| author_abbrev_zoo =
| spouse            = <!--(or | spouses = )-->
| partner           = <!--(or | partners = )-->
| children          =
| parents           =
| father            =
| mother            =
| relatives         =
| signature         = <!--(filename only)-->
| signature_type    = <!--(defaults to "Signature")-->
| signature_alt     =
| website           = <!--{{URL|www.example.com}}-->
| footnotes         =
}}
'''Nicol (or Nicholas) Alexander Dalzell''' [[FRSE]] FLS (21 April 1817&nbsp;– 18 December 1877)<ref name="DNB2">{{cite ODNB |last1=Hunt |first1=Robert |last2=Grout |first2=Andrew |editor1-first=Andrew |editor1-last=Grout |title=Dalzell, Nicol Alexander |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/ref:odnb/7081 |accessdate=15 September 2020 |date=2004|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/7081 }}</ref> was a Scottish botanist.<ref name="DNB">{{cite DNB|wstitle=Dalzell, Nicol Alexander|last=Hunt|first=Robert|authorlink=Robert Hunt (scientist)|volume=13}}</ref> He was one of the first persons to form the link between forest denudation and the impact of rainfall upon the wider countryside.
==Life==
Born in [[Edinburgh]], [[Scotland]],<ref>Botanical Society of Edinburgh, ''Annual Report and Proceedings of the Botanical Society: 1836/37'' (1840), Session 1837-8, p. 7.</ref> his early education was at the High School in Edinburgh.
Dalzell studied divinity (rather than botany) at university, under Rev [[Thomas Chalmers]], and received an [[Master of Arts|M.A.]] at the [[University of Edinburgh]] in 1837.<ref name="DNB"/> He served as the assistant commissioner of customs, salt and opium in [[Bombay]], [[India]] in 1841. In 1862 he became conservator of forests in Bombay<ref name="DNB"/> and superintendent of the Botanical Gardens in the [[Bombay Presidency]].<ref name="DNB2" /> He published ''The Bombay Flora'' (1861), and other works on Indian botany, and retired in 1870.<ref name="DNB"/>
In 1862 he was elected a fellow of the [[Royal Society of Edinburgh]] his proposer being [[John Hutton Balfour]].<ref>https://www.royalsoced.org.uk/cms/files/fellows/biographical_index/fells_indexp1.pdf {{Bare URL PDF|date=March 2022}}</ref> He lost his savings in the collapse of the Bank of Hindostan, China, and Japan.<ref name="DNB2" />
He retired in 1870 due to the ongoing effects of [[malaria]] and returned to Scotland.
He died at home in Williamfield House, Portobello, [[Edinburgh]] on 18 December 1877, leaving a widow (Emily Harriet Duthy) and six children, including Pulteney William Dalzell.<ref name="DNB2" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.geni.com/people/Nicol-Dalzell-M-A/6000000025403129707|title=Nicol Alexander Dalzell, M.A|website=geni_family_tree|date=21 April 1817 }}</ref>
==Legacy==
A number of plant species are named for him, such as the grass, ''Ischaemum dalzelli''.<ref>Umberto Quattrocchi, ''CRC World Dictionary of Grasses'' (2006), p. 1130.</ref>
Also a genus of flowering plants, ''[[Dalzellia]]'' from China, was also named after him,<ref>{{cite book | last=Burkhardt | first=Lotte | title=Verzeichnis eponymischer Pflanzennamen – Erweiterte Edition |trans-title=Index of Eponymic Plant Names – Extended Edition | publisher=Botanic Garden and Botanical Museum, Freie Universität Berlin | year=2018 | isbn=978-3-946292-26-5 | url=https://doi.org/10.3372/epolist2018 |format=pdf |language=German |location=Berlin | doi=10.3372/epolist2018 | s2cid=187926901 |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref> in 1852.<ref>{{cite web |title=''Dalzellia'' Wight {{!}} Plants of the World Online {{!}} Kew Science |url=https://powo.science.kew.org/taxon/urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:32190-1 |website=Plants of the World Online |access-date=17 August 2021 |language=en}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[:Category:Taxa named by Nicol Alexander Dalzell]]
==Bibliography==
{{botanist|Dalzell|inline=yes}}
*{{cite book|author1=Nicol Alexander Dalzell|author2=Alexander Gibson|title=The Bombay Flora: Or, Short Descriptions of All the Indigenous Plants Hitherto Discovered in Or Near the Bombay Presidency : Together with a Supplement of Introduced and Naturalised Species|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.221124|year=1861|publisher=Education Society's Press}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==Sources==
* {{DNB|wstitle=Dalzell, Nicol Alexander}}
==External links==
{{OL author|2586057A}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dalzell, Nicol Alexander}}
[[Category:1817 births]]
[[Category:1877 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century Scottish botanists]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Scientists from Edinburgh]]
[[Category:People educated at the Royal High School, Edinburgh]]