> [!cite] BHL link: this entry starts at [page 407](https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/33189878) of TL-2 Vol. IV
> Author links: [IPNI](https://www.ipni.org/a/12751-1) LSID 12751-1, [Wikidata](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q21523277) QID Q21523277
> Support pages: [[Abbreviations|abbreviations]], [[Layout key|layout key]], [[Cite TL-2|cite TL-2]]
### Author
Prior, Richard Chandler Alexander (formerly Alexander) (1809-1902), British botanist; educated at Charterhouse, Oxford; B.A. 1830; Fellow Royal College of physicians 1840; from 1841 devoting himself to botany, residing at Graz (Austria) 1841-1844, from 1846-1848 in South Africa; 1849-1850 to Canada, U.S.A. and Jamaica; after 1850 living in London and from 1859 on his estate near Taunton.
**Abbreviated name**: *Prior* \[standard form in IPNI: *Prior*\]
#### Herbarium and types
[[Collection K|K]] (30.000); some further material at [[Collection AK|AK]], [[Collection B|B]], [[Collection BM|BM]], [[Collection CGE|CGE]], [[Collection DBN|DBN]], [[Collection E|E]], [[Collection GOET|GOET]], [[Collection OXF|OXF]], [[Collection PRE|PRE]] and [[Collection SAM|SAM]].
#### Name
Until 1859: R.C. Alexander; took name Prior in 1859 when inheriting the estate at Halse near Taunton.
#### Bibliography and biography
Barnhart 3: 112; BB p. 249-250; BL 2: 223, 705; BM 4: 1617; Bossert p. 318; Clokie p. 228-229; CSP 1: 43-44, 6: 564; Desmond p. 506; IH 1 (ed. 6): 363, (ed. 7): 340, 2: (in press); Jackson p. 10, 218; Kanitz 182; Kew 4: 367; Lenley p. 467; Morren ed. 10, p. 77; Pennell p. 617; PR 7342; Rehder 1: 36, 74.
#### Biofile
- Anon., Bot. Not. 1903: 34; J. Bot. 41: 32. 1903 (d.); Proc. Linn. Soc. London 115: 35-37. 1903 (obit. based on autobiogr. notes; b. 6 Mar 1809, d. 5 Dec 1902).
- Bridson, G.D.R. et al., Nat. hist. mss. res. Brit. Isl. 334.67. 1980.
- Britten, J., J. Bot. 41: 108-109. 1903 (b. 6 Mar 1809, d. 8 Dec 1902).
- Fawcett, W. & A.B. Rendle, Fl. Jamaica 1: pref. 1910 (in list of "more important collectors").
- Freeman, R.B., Brit. nat. hist. books 287. 1980.
- Gunn, M.D. and L. Codd, Bot. expl. S. Afr. 287-288. 1981 (coll., eponymy).
- Hemsley, W.B., Bull. misc. Inf. Kew 1903: 32 (herb. bequeathed to Kew; 30.000 sheets; 140 volumes from his library came also to Kew), 1909: 318 (Jamaica coll. to be revised by Urban; set of duplicates presented to B).
- Jackson, B.D., Bull. misc. Inf. Kew 1901: 54.
- Kent, D.H., Brit. herb. 73. 1957.
- Murray, G., Hist. coll. BM(NH) 1: 175. 1904 (pl. from Syria, Dalmatia, Italy, S. Afr., presented 1868).
- Urban, I., Symb. ant. 1: 57. 1902, 3: 107. 1902 (based on inf. supplied by Prior).
#### Eponymy
*Prioria* Grisebach (1860), see ING 3: 1411.
### Publications
##### n.8347. On the popular names of British plants
**Title**
*On the popular names of British plants*, being an explanation of the origin and meaning of the names of our indigenous and most commonly cultivated species,... London (Williams and Norgate,...), Edinburgh (id.) 1863. Oct.
**Abbreviated title**: *Pop. names Brit. pl.*
**Notes**
*Ed. 1*: 1863, p. \[i\]-xxvi, \[1, abbr.\], \[1\]-250, \[1-2, add.\]. *Copies*: G, MO, NY.
*Ed. 2*: Nov-Dec 1870 (p. v: 1 Nov 1870; Flora 3 Apr 1871), p. \[i\]-xxvii, \[xxviii\], \[1\]-290.
*Copies*: NY, USDA.
*Ed. 3*: 1879 (J. Bot. Oct 1879; Nat. Nov. Aug(2) 1879), p. \[i\]-xxvii, \[xxviii\], \[1\]-294.
*Copy*: B. London (Frederic Norgate,...) Edinburgh (William & Norgate,...) 1879. Oct.
*Ref*.: Anon., J. Bot. 1: 378-384. 1863.
- Britten, J., J. Bot. 9: 23-24. 1871, 18: 25. 1880.