James Niven (1776-1827), a Scottish botanical collector at the Cape of Good Hope. His hortus siccus at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin (DBN), and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K)

James Niven, botanical collector of Penicuik, was born on 28 September 1776 and died on 9 January 1827. He was trained in Scotland and spent most of the period between c. 1798 and 1812 at the Cape of Good Hope collecting herbarium specimens, seeds and bulbs. An hortus siccus now in the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin (DBN), which he prepared while in Cape Colony is described and its relationship to the so-called Erica manuscript now in the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (K), is discussed. Niven's African collecting localities are listed.