William Oakes, Date of Birth, Date of Death
TweetWilliam Oakes
American botanist (1799–1848)
Date of Birth: 01-Jul-1799
Date of Death: 31-Jul-1848
Profession: botanist
Nationality: United States
Zodiac Sign: Cancer 
About William Oakes
- William Oakes (July 1, 1799-July 31, 1848) was an American botanist. William Oakes was born on July 1, 1799.
- He attended Harvard from 1816 and developed an interest in natural history under the guidance of his tutor, William Dandridge Peck.
- After graduation in 1820, Oakes studied law and then, from 1824, began a legal practice in Ipswich, Massachusetts.Oakes was among the first travelers on a path to the summit of Mount Washington, New Hampshire that had been constructed in 1821 by the pioneering Ethan Crawford.
- He came to know Crawford well during his numerous subsequent visits to the White Mountains in which Mount Washington lies.
- Oakes Gulf in the mountains is named after him.Oakes eventually gave up law to pursue full-time his interest in natural history.
- He was asked to contribute a description of White Mountains flora to a geological survey report in 1842 and thereafter spent much time on the project.Oakes drowned on July 31, 1848 after falling off a ferry running between Boston and East Boston.
- The fungus Aleurodiscus oakesii was named after him by Miles Berkeley and Moses Curtis, and Potamogeton oakesianus (Oakes' Pondweed) also bears his name.
- Others include Oenothera oakesiana and Oakesia conradii, which was later renamed Corema conradii.
- The writings of Oakes, together with work by Asa Gray, were a significant source for a report produced by George Barrell Emerson in 1846 concerning the trees and shrubs of Massachusetts.
- The herbarium of the New England Botanical Club holds many specimens collected by Oakes.The standard author abbreviation Oakes is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
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