James Kirkham Ramsbottom
English botanist / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
James Kirkham Ramsbottom (11 October 1891 – 9 February 1925) was an English botanist. He became interested in the field after he was recommended to pursue an outdoor career for his health. After a short period at the Chelsea Physic Garden Ramsbottom studied at the RHS Garden Wisley. Coming first in their diploma examinations Ramsbottom became a research student at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in 1913. He studied leaf blotch disease in irises and became assistant editor of the Gardeners' Magazine.
In March 1916 Ramsbottom was appointed to lead a study into a mysterious disease, known as "rootless disease", that was affecting daffodil (Narcissus) bulbs and threatened the destruction of the nascent daffodil-growing industry. The disease had been known for around 30 years but its cause was not certain with a number of pests or fungi suspected. By April 1917 Ramsbottom was able to prove the disease was caused by an infestation of the Ditylenchus dipsaci nematode and developed a treatment involving dipping the affected bulbs in hot water. The treatment saved the daffodil-growing industry and remains the basis for the modern-day treatment of the disease. Ramsbottom continued to work on the treatment and was invited to lecture in the United States. He died in New York by either falling or jumping from a 19th-storey window in the Hotel McAlpin.