Roxb

Roxb. is the standard author abbreviation used in botanical nomenclature to indicate William Roxburgh, a Scottish botanist and physician (1751–1815). In scientific plant naming, the citation Roxb. appears after a species name to credit Roxburgh as the authority who described or classified that taxon.

Roxburgh is widely regarded as a foundational figure in Indian botany. He worked for the British East India Company and spent much of his career in India, where he became the superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden. His field work and extensive collections helped document a vast array of Indian flora at a time when systematic botanical knowledge of the region was still in its infancy.

Among his notable contributions are comprehensive descriptions of numerous Indian plant species and the development of reference works that laid the groundwork for later taxonomic study. One of his major projects was Flora Indica, a major account of Indian plants that influenced subsequent generations of botanists and served as a key resource for plant identification and classification in the region.

Roxburgh’s legacy extends into contemporary taxonomy through the continued use of the author abbreviation Roxb. in botanical nomenclature. Many plant names published by him or described in his papers carry the Roxb. epithet, and his work remains a foundational reference in the history of Indian botany and the broader study of South Asian flora.