Nicholas Edward Brown was an English plant taxonomist and authority on succulents. He was also an authority on several families of plants, including (but not limited to) Asclepiadaceae

Asclepiadaceae

According to APG II, the Asclepiadaceae is a former plant family now treated as a subfamily in the Apocynaceae...

, Aizoaceae

Aizoaceae

The Family Aizoaceae or Ficoidaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1900 species. They are commonly known as stone plants or carpet weeds. Species that resemble stones or pebbles are sometimes called mesembs...

, Labiatae and Cape plants.

Background

He started work as an assistant in the Herbarium at Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...

 in 1873, and was Assistant Keeper from 1909-1914. His drawings of succulent plants were made in connection with his revision of the genus Mesembryanthemum

Mesembryanthemum

Mesembryanthemum is a genus of plants native to southern Africa. Many species which were formerly placed herein have since been moved into other genera such as Carpobrotus Sceletium is sometimes included here....

, which appeared in 1931, and are accompanied by detailed annotations. He was the author of important works on plant taxonomy particularly succulent plants. The Araceae

Araceae

Araceae are a family of monocotyledonous flowering plants in which flowers are borne on a type of inflorescence called a spadix. The spadix is usually accompanied by, and sometimes partially enclosed in, a spathe or leaf-like bract. Also known as the Arum family, members are often colloquially...

 genus Nebrownia

Schismatoglottis

Schismatoglottis is a genus of 100 to 120 species of flowering plants in the Araceae family. Members of the genus are similar in appearance and growth habit to those of the genus Homalomena, but the two genera are not closely related. The primary difference is that the leaves of Schismatoglottis...

was named in his honour by Otto Kuntze

Otto Kuntze

Otto Carl Ernst Kuntze was a German botanist.-Biography:Otto Kuntze was born in Leipzig.An apothecary in his early career, he published an essay entitled Pocket Fauna of Leipzig. Between 1863 and...

.

He was awarded the Capt. Scott Memorial Medal by the South African Biological Society in recognition of his work on SA flora, and in 1932 an honorary D.Sc.

Honorary degree

An honorary degree or a degree honoris causa is an academic degree for which a university has waived the usual requirements, such as matriculation, residence, study, and the passing of examinations...

 was conferred on him by the University of the Witwatersrand

University of the Witwatersrand

The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg is a South African university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University...

. His publications appeared mainly in the Kew Bull. and in Flora Capensis. He married the daughter of Thomas Cooper (1815–1913), another Kew botanist.