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{{Short description|British botanist (1911–2001)}}
{{Redirect-distinguish|William Stearn|William Stern (disambiguation){{!}} William Stern}}
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{{Infobox scientist
| birth_name        = William Thomas Stearn
| honorific_suffix  = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|CBE|FLS|VMH}}
| image             = William Thomas Stearn.jpg
| caption           = W. T. Stearn, 1974
| alt               = Portrait of William Stearn in 1974
| birth_date        = {{birth date|1911|04|16|df=yes}}
| birth_place       = [[Cambridge]], [[Cambridgeshire]], England
| death_date        = {{death date and age|2001|05|09|1911|04|15|df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Kingston upon Thames]], [[London]], England
| education         = [[Cambridge High School for Boys]]
| workplaces        = [[Botany School, Cambridge]], [[Lindley Library]], [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]]
| known_for         = [[taxonomy (biology)|Botanical taxonomy]], [[history of botany]], [[Botanical Latin]], horticulture
| spouse            = {{marriage|Eldwyth Ruth Alford|3 August 1940}}
| awards            = [[Veitch Memorial Medal]] (1964), [[Victoria Medal of Honour]] (1965), [[Linnean Medal]] (1976), [[Order of the Polar Star|Commander of the Swedish Order of the Star of the North]] (1980), [[Adolf Engler|Engler]] Gold Medal (1993), [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (1997), [[Asa Gray Award]] (2000)
| author_abbrev_bot = Stearn
| children          = 3
}}

'''William Thomas Stearn''' {{post-nominals|country=GBR|CBE|FLS|VMH}} ({{IPAc-en|s|t|ɜr|n}}; 16 April 1911&nbsp;– 9 May 2001) was a British [[botanist]]. Born in [[Cambridge]] in 1911, he was largely [[self-educated]] and developed an early interest in books and [[natural history]]. His initial work experience was at a Cambridge bookshop, but he also had an occupation as an assistant in the [[Cambridge University Botanic Garden|university botany department]]. At the age of 29, he married Eldwyth Ruth Alford, who later became his collaborator.

While at the bookshop, he was offered a position as a [[librarian]] at the [[Royal Horticultural Society]] in London (1933–1952). From there he moved to the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] as a scientific officer in the botany department (1952–1976). After his retirement, he continued working there, writing, and serving on a number of professional bodies related to his work, including the [[Linnean Society]], of which he became president. He also taught botany at [[Cambridge University]] as a visiting professor (1977–1983).

Stearn is known for his work in [[taxonomy (biology)|botanical taxonomy]] and [[botanical history]], particularly classical botanical literature, [[botanical illustration]] and for his studies of the Swedish scientist [[Carl Linnaeus]]. His best known books are his ''Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners'', a popular guide to the [[Binomial nomenclature|scientific names]] of plants, and his ''Botanical Latin'' for scientists.

Stearn received many honours for his work, at home and abroad, and was made a [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in 1997. Considered one of the most eminent British botanists of his time, he is remembered by an essay prize in his name from the [[Society for the History of Natural History]], and a named [[cultivar]] of ''[[Epimedium]]'', one of many [[genera]] about which he produced [[monograph]]s. He is the [[botanical authority]] for over 400 plants that he named and described.
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==Life==
{{multiple image | header = Childhood| align = right | direction = vertical | width = | float = none
| image1 = Springfield Road, Cambridge.jpg
| caption1 = Springfield Road, [[Cambridge]], looking north. No. 37 is the last house on the left.|alt1=Springfield Road, Cambridge
| image2= Cambridgeshire High School for Boys 1900.jpg
| caption2= [[Cambridge High School for Boys]] 1900|alt2=Cambridge High School for Boys
| image3= Cambridge University Press shop.JPG
| caption3= 1 [[Trinity Street, Cambridge|Trinity Street]], Site of [[Bowes & Bowes]], now [[Cambridge University Press]]|alt3=Bowes & Bowes bookshop, Trinity Street, Cambridge
}}

=== Childhood ===
William Thomas Stearn was born at 37 Springfield Road, [[Chesterton, Cambridge]], England, on 16 April 1911, the eldest of four sons, to Thomas Stearn (1871 or 1872–1922) and Ellen ("Nellie") Kiddy (1886–1986) of [[West Suffolk (county)|West Suffolk]].{{sfn|Prance|2014}} His father worked as a coachman to a Cambridge doctor. Chesterton was then a village on the north bank of the [[River Cam]], about two miles north of Cambridge's city centre, where Springfield Road ran parallel to [[A1309 road|Milton Road]] to the west.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} William Stearn's early education was at the nearby Milton Road Junior Council School (see [[#MJRS|image]]).{{efn|Opened in 1908, closed in 2006 and demolished in 2007, the site is now occupied by the Cambridge Manor Care Home.<ref name=Cambridge2000MiltonRoad/><ref name=GeographMiltonSchool/>}} Despite not having any family background in science (though he recalled that his grandfather was the university rat-catcher){{sfn|Times|2001}} he developed a keen interest in [[natural history]] and books at an early age. He spent his school holidays on his uncle's Suffolk farm, tending cows grazing by the roadside where he would observe the [[wildflower]]s of the [[hedgerow]]s and fields.{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Times|2001|Barker|2001}} Stearn's father died suddenly in 1922 when Stearn was only eleven, leaving his working-class family in financial difficulties as his widow (Stearn's mother) had no pension.{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}}

That year, William Stearn succeeded in obtaining a scholarship to the local [[Cambridge High School for Boys]] on [[Hills Road]], close to the [[Cambridge Botanic Garden]], which he attended for eight years till he was 18.{{sfn|Prance|2014}} The school had an excellent reputation for biology education,{{sfn|Festing|1978}} and while he was there, he was encouraged by Mr Eastwood, a biology teacher who recognised his talents.{{sfn|Barker|2001}} The school also provided him with a thorough education in both [[Latin]] and [[Ancient Greek|Greek]].{{sfn|Barker|2001}} He became secretary of the school's Natural History Society, won an essay prize from the [[Royal Society for the Protection of Birds]] and spent much of his time at the Botanic Garden.{{efn|He later said "I was interested as much in birds and insects as in plants but I think it was my interest in gardening which made me choose plants. I gardened at home and knew the botanic garden at Cambridge well."{{sfn|Country Life|1996}}}} Stearn also gained horticultural experience by working as a gardener's boy during his school holidays, to supplement the family income.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}}{{sfn|Prance|2001}}

Stearn attended evening lectures on [[paleobotany]] given by [[Albert Seward]] ([[Regius Professor of Botany (Cambridge)|chair of botany]] at [[Cambridge University]] 1906–1936), and [[Harry Godwin]].{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} Seward was impressed by the young Stearn, giving him access to the [[herbarium]] of the [[Cambridge University Department of Botany|Botany School]] (now Department of Plant Sciences—see [[#1904image|1904 photograph]]) and allowing him to work there as a part-time research assistant.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} Later, Seward also gave Stearn access to the [[Cambridge University Library]] to pursue his research.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Festing|1978}}

===Youth and marriage===
Stearn was largely self-educated, and his widowed mother worked hard to support him while at school but could not afford a university education for him, there being no [[Grant (money)|grants]] available then.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}} When not at the Botany School, he attended evening classes to develop linguistic and [[bibliographic]] skills. His classes there included German and the [[classics]].{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}} He obtained his first employment at the age of 18 in 1929, a time of high unemployment, to support himself and his family. He worked as an apprentice [[antiquarian]] bookseller and cataloguer in the second-hand section at [[Bowes & Bowes]] bookshop,{{efn|The oldest bookshop in Britain{{sfn|CUP|2017}}}} 1 [[Trinity Street, Cambridge|Trinity Street]] (now [[Cambridge University Press]]), between 1929 and 1933 where he was able to pursue his passion for bibliography.{{sfn|Walters|2001}} During his employment there, he spent much of his lunchtimes, evenings and weekends, at the Botany School and Botanic Garden.{{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Prance|2001}} This was at a time when botany was thriving at Cambridge under the leadership of Seward and [[Humphrey Gilbert-Carter]].{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}}

On 3 August 1940, Stearn married Eldwyth Ruth Alford (1910–2013), by whom he had a son and two daughters, and who collaborated with him in much of his work.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}}{{sfn|Robson|2001}} Ruth Alford was a secondary school teacher from [[Tavistock]], Devon, the daughter of Roger Rice Alford, a [[Methodist Church of Great Britain|Methodist]] preacher and mayor of Tavistock. When their engagement was announced in ''The Times'', Stearn was vastly amused to see that he was described as a "Fellow of the Linen Society", a [[typographical error]] for [[Linnean Society]].{{sfn|Times|2001}} 

===Later life===
Stearn was brought up an [[Church of England|Anglican]], but was a [[conscientious objector]] and after the [[Second World War]] became a [[Quakers|Quaker]].{{sfn|Walters|2001}} In his later years, following official retirement in 1976 he continued to live in [[Kew]], [[Richmond, London|Richmond]].{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} His entry in ''[[Who's Who (UK)|Who's Who]]'' lists his interests as "gardening and talking".{{sfn|Walters|1992b}} He died on 9 May 2001 of [[pneumonia]] at [[Kingston Hospital]], Kingston upon Thames, at the age of 90.{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}}{{sfn|Walters|2001}}{{sfn|Iltis|2001}} His funeral took place on 18 May at [[Mortlake]] crematorium. He left three children (Roger Thomas Stearn, Margaret Ruth Stearn and Helen Elizabeth Stearn) and an estate of £461,240.{{sfn|Prance|2014}} His wife, whose 100th birthday was celebrated at the Linnean Society in 2010, lived to the age of 103.{{sfn|Temple|2010}}

Stearn had a reputation for his encyclopedic knowledge, geniality, wit and generosity with his time and knowledge, being always willing to contribute to the work of others.{{sfn|Moody|2002}} He had a mischievous sense of fun and was famous for his anecdotes while lecturing,{{sfn|Desmond|2002}} while his colleagues recalled that "he had a happy genius for friendship".{{sfn|Moody|2002|p=44}} He was described as having a striking figure, "a small man, his pink face topped with a thatch of white hair",{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and earned the nickname of "Wumpty" after his signature of "Wm. T. Stearn".{{sfn|Humphries|2002}}{{sfn|Rix|2003}}

==Career==
{{multiple image | header = Institutions| align = right | direction = vertical | width = | float = none
| image1 = Department of Plant Science, Cambridge University - geograph.org.uk - 1333495.jpg
| caption1 = [[Botany School, Cambridge]]|alt1=Botany School, Cambridge
| image2 = Royal Horticultural Society, Vincent Square, London SW1 - geograph.org.uk - 740335.jpg
| caption2 = Entrance to the [[Royal Horticultural Society]], [[Vincent Square]], London. Sign to right of entrance provides information on the [[Lindley Library]]|alt2=Entrance to Royal Horticultural Society building, Vincent Square, Westminster
| image3= Natural History Museum London Jan 2006.jpg
| caption3= [[British Museum of Natural History|Natural History Museum]], Kensington|alt3=Panoramic view of the Natural History Museum
| image4= Linnean Society (5173433460).jpg
| caption4 = Entrance, [[Linnean Society]], [[Piccadilly]]|alt4=Entrance to the Linnean Society building, Piccadilly
}}

=== Cambridge years (1929–1933) ===
Stearn began his career as a gardener at [[Sidney Sussex College]] after leaving school at 13. He then became a bookseller at Bowes & Bowes. While working at the bookshop he made many friends among the Cambridge botanists and participated in their activities, including botanical excursions. In addition to Professor Seward, those influencing him included the [[morphologist]] [[Agnes Arber]], Humphrey Gilbert-Carter the first [[Director, Cambridge University Botanic Garden|scientific director of the Botanic Garden]], [[John Gilmour (botanist)|John Gilmour]] then curator of the university [[herbarium]] and later director of the Garden (1951–1973), the horticulturalist [[Edward Augustus Bowles|E. A. Bowles]] (1865–1954), who became his patron,{{sfn|Walters|2001}} [[Harry Godwin]], then a research fellow and later professor and [[Tom Tutin]] who was working with Seward at that time.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} Seward gave him full research facilities in the herbarium. He continued his research, visiting the [[Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew]], in 1930, at the age of 19, and also spent two weeks at the herbarium of the [[Musée National d'Histoire Naturelle]], Paris, with the aid of a £15 grant from the [[Royal Society]] to study ''[[Epimedium]]''.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Heywood|2002|Robson|2001}} Also in 1930, the Fifth [[International Botanical Congress]] was held at Cambridge, and Stearn was able to attend.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} During this time he commuted between the bookshop, the Botany School, Botanic Garden and home by bicycle, his preferred means of transportation throughout his life.{{sfn|Festing|1978}}

=== Lindley Library, Royal Horticultural Society (1933–1952) ===
In 1933, H. R. Hutchinson, who was the Librarian at the [[Lindley Library]], [[Royal Horticultural Society]]'s (RHS) in London, was due to retire. John Gilmour, now assistant director at the [[Kew Gardens]], put forward Stearn's name, together with Bowles, a vice-president of the Society, who had discovered Stearn at the bookshop. Stearn was 22 when he began work at the library, initially as assistant librarian, before taking over Hutchinson's position after six months. He later explained his appointment at such a young age as being the result of [[World War I]]: "All the people who should have had those jobs were dead."{{sfn|Times|2001}} There he collaborated with Bowles on a number of plant [[monographs]], such as Bowles' ''Handbook of Crocus''{{sfn|Bowles|1952}} and their work on ''[[Anemone japonica]]'' (''Anemone hupehensis'' var. ''japonica'').{{sfn|Bowles|Stearn|1947}}{{efn|''Anemone hupehensis'' var. ''japonica'' (Thunb.) Bowles & Stearn, now considered a synonym of ''Anemone scabiosa'' H. Lév. & Vaniot<ref name=tpl/>}} Written in 1947, it is still considered one of the most comprehensive accounts of the origins and nomenclature of autumn-blooming [[anemones]].{{sfn|Rudy|2004|p=1}} Stearn was one of the last people to see Bowles alive,{{sfn|Allan|1973}} and when Bowles died, Stearn wrote an appreciation of him,{{sfn|Stearn|1955}} and later contributed the entry on Bowles to the [[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]].{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Walters|2001|Buchan|2007}} Much of his spare time was spent studying at the Kew Gardens.{{sfn|Prance|2001}}

The Lindley Library, the largest horticultural library in the world and named after the British botanist [[John Lindley]] (1799–1865), was established in 1868 by the acquisition of Lindley's 1,300 volumes upon his death.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}}{{sfn|Lucas|2008}} It had recently undergone considerable change. In 1930, the library had been rehoused in a new floor added to the society's [[Vincent Square]] headquarters, but the role of the library was somewhat downgraded. [[Frederick Chittenden]] had been appointed as Keeper of the Library (1930–1939), and Hutchinson reported directly to him. Stearn related that when he reported for duty, Hutchinson was completely unaware of the appointment of his new assistant.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}}

Lindley was one of Stearn's inspirations, also being a librarian who had a long association with the RHS. Lindley also [[bequeathed]] his herbarium to the Cambridge University Herbarium, where it now forms the Lindley Collection.<ref name=HerbariumLindley/> As Stearn remarked "I came to know his numerous publications and to admire the industry, tenacity and ability with which he undertook successfully so many different things".{{sfn|Stearn|1992|p=vii}} Later Stearn would publish a major work on Lindley's life and work.{{sfn|Stearn|1999a}} Lindley's contributions to horticultural taxonomy were matched only by those of Stearn himself.{{sfn|Times|2001}} Stearn soon set about using his antiquarian knowledge to reorganise the library, forming a pre-Linnean section.{{sfn|Barker|2001}} Not long after his arrival the library acquired one of its largest collections, the [[Reginald Cory]] Bequest (1934),{{sfn|Elliott|1999}}{{sfn|Elliott|2009|pp=7, 9}} which Stearn set about cataloguing on its arrival two years later, resulting in at least fifteen publications.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Daily Telegraph|2001|Walters|2001}}

While at the library he continued his self-education through evening classes, learning Swedish, and travelling widely. Stearn used his three-week annual leaves in the pre-war years to visit other European botanical libraries, botanic gardens, museums, herbaria and collections, as well as collecting plants, with special emphasis on ''[[Epimedium]]'' and ''[[Allium]]''.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} His travels took him to Switzerland, Italy, Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, and Sweden.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Daily Telegraph|2001|Walters|2001}}

==== War years (1941–1946) ====
The only break from this employment was the [[World War II|war years]] 1941–1946, leaving his assistant Miss Cardew as acting librarian.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} Initially Stearn served as an [[air raid warden]], before [[enlisting]]. As a [[conscientious objector]], he could not serve in a [[combatant]] role, but was accepted into the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) [[RAF Medical Services|Medical Services]], as he had previously worked with the [[St John Ambulance Brigade]]. He served in the RAF in both England, and Asia (India and Burma, where he worked in [[military intelligence|intelligence]], and was awarded the [[Burma Star]]). While there he undertook studies of [[Indo-Malayan]] and [[Sikkim]]-[[Himalaya]]n tropical vegetation,{{sfn|Festing|1978}} carried out [[botanical explorations]], taught biology to troops and began work on his ''Botanical Latin''.{{efn|"When I had to sit for hour after hour, day after day, staring at the sky from a Royal Air Force ambulance awaiting planes which, fortunately rarely crashed, I filled in time by extracting the descriptive epithets from a series of Floras lent me by the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society in the hope of producing some day an etymological dictionary of botanical names"{{sfn|Stearn|1992|p=vi}}}} His wartime observations led to collaborative publications such as ''An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal'' (1978–1982),{{sfn|Hara et al.|1978–1982}} ''Beautiful Indian Trees'' (2nd ed. 1954),{{sfn|Blatter|Millard|1954}} as well as works on [[Himalayas|Himalayan]] species of ''Allium''.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Heywood|2002|Stearn|1994}} On returning from the war, Stearn and his new wife, Eldwyth Ruth Stearn, were obliged to live in the Lindley Library for a while till they found a more permanent home, due to the acute housing shortage in London.{{sfn|Barker|2001}}{{sfn|Elliott|2002}}

===Natural History Museum (1952–1976)===
From the Lindley Library, Stearn (see [[#1950Image|1950 Photograph]]) moved to the Botany Department at the [[British Museum of Natural History|Natural History Museum]], [[South Kensington]]{{efn| The Natural History Museum was then still called the British Museum (Natural History).}} in 1952, and by the time he retired in 1976, he was the Senior Principal Scientific Officer there. He had now achieved his aim of becoming a research scientist, despite lack of formal qualifications, enabling him to spend more of his time collecting and studying plants.{{sfn|Barker|2001}} During this time the museum was undergoing steady expansion, with new staff and programmes. At the museum he was put in charge of Section 3 of the General Herbarium (the last third of the [[Dicotyledons]] in the [[Bentham & Hooker system]], i.e., [[Monochlamydae]]){{efn|The system by which the herbarium was arranged when the museum's collections were moved from [[Bloomsbury]] to [[Kensington]] in 1881.}} and [[floristic]] treatment of the regions of Europe, Jamaica, the United States, Australia and Nepal, including work on the museum's ''Flora of Jamaica''{{sfn|Fawcett|Rendle|1910–1939}} and the Nepal flora he started work on during the war.{{sfn|Hara et al.|1978–1982}}{{sfn|Robson|2001}} Seven volumes of the ''Flora of Jamaica'' had appeared prior to the Second World War. Although the project was revived after the war, and Stearn carried out six months of [[field work]] in Jamaica, it never came to fruition; no further volumes appeared. In Jamaica, Stearn followed in the footsteps of Sir [[Hans Sloane]] (1660–1753), whose collection had been left to the Natural History Museum.{{sfn|Barker|2001}}<ref name=FrodinJamaica/> Stearn's generic work at the museum concentrated on ''Allium'',{{sfn|Stearn|1978}} ''[[Lilium]]'' and ''[[Peony|Paeonia]]''.{{sfn|Times|2001}} He continued to travel widely, with field work in Europe (particularly Greece), Australia, and the United States,{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and published 200 papers during his 24 years at the museum, and although the library was not his responsibility, he spent much time there adding written notes to many of the critical texts.{{sfn|Humphries|2002}}

While at the museum, Stearn became increasingly involved in the work of the [[Linnean Society]] during his Kensington years. He was also offered the George A. Miller professorship of botany at the [[University of Illinois]] (1966), but felt he would be unable to leave his commitments in London.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} At the time of his retirement in 1976, he was still using a [[fountain pen]] as his only means of communication and scholarship, a fact commemorated by his retirement present of a [[Montblanc (company)|Mont Blanc pen]] capable of writing for long periods without refills.{{sfn|Humphries|2002}}

===Retirement (1976–2001)===
Following his retirement on 30 November 1976, he continued to work, both at the museum and at the [[Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew]], where his home at 17 High Park Road, Kew Gardens, [[Richmond, London|Richmond]] (see [[#17HPR|image]]), gave him access to the herbarium and library, a short bicycle trip away.{{sfn|Festing|1978}} Indeed, 35% of his total publications appeared in the quarter century of his retirement.{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002}} He was commissioned to write a history of the museum for its centenary (1981),{{sfn|Stearn|1981}} although he did so with some difficulty, due to deadlines and budget constraints.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Walters|2001|Iltis|2001}} The task, which took three years, was made more difficult for him by the museum's decision to censor his critical comments.{{sfn|Humphries|2002}} He continued his association with the Lindley Library all his life, being an active committee member{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and regularly attended [[Chelsea Flower Show|RHS flower shows]] even after he was barely able to walk.{{sfn|Times|2001}}

==== Sojourn in Greece ====
[[File:GoulandrisMuseum.jpg|thumb|[[Goulandris Natural History Museum]], Athens|alt=Goulandris Natural History Museum, Athens]]

As a student of the classics he was passionate about [[Greece]], its mountains and plants (such as ''Paeonia''){{sfn|Stearn|Landström|1991}} and all things Greek, both ancient and modern.{{sfn|Stearn|1976a}} The Stearns had formed a friendship with [[Constantine Goulimis]] and [[Niki Goulandris|Niki]] and Angelos Goulandris, founders of the [[Goulandris Museum of Natural History]]{{sfn|GMNH|2016}} in [[Kifissia]], Athens. Stearn first met the Goulandris' in 1967 and offered practical help with their museum. He also stayed with them when he and his wife visited Greece.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}} Niki Goulandris illustrated both ''Wild Flowers of Greece'' that Goulimis and Stearn wrote in 1968,{{sfn|Goulimis|Stearn|1968}} as well as his ''Peonies of Greece'' (1984).{{sfnm|1a1=Barker|1y=2001|2a1=Stearn|2a2=Davis|2y=1984}}<ref name=Haines/> The latter work typified Stearn's encyclopedic approach, including topics such as mythology and herbalism in addition to taxonomy.{{sfn|Mathew|2002}} Stearn then took on the editorship of ''Annales Musei Goulandris'',<ref name=Annales/> the scientific journal of the museum (1976–1999), succeeding [[Werner Greuter]], the first editor, having been instrumental in getting the journal launched in 1973.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} Eldwyth Ruth Stearn took on the job of compiling the indexes. When he retired from this position he was 88, and was succeeded by John Akeroyd.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}}{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006}} He was a liberal contributor to the journal, and during this time he and Eldwyth Ruth Stearn undertook their translation of ''The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature'' (1993).{{sfnm|Daily Telegraph|2001|Walters|1992b|Baumann|1993}}

===Societies and appointments===
Stearn was a member of the Linnean Society{{efn|Named after the 18th-century Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus}} for many years, becoming a fellow as early as 1934. He served as botanical curator 1959–1985, council member 1959–1963 and as vice-president 1961–1962 and president 1979–1982,{{sfn|Walters|2001}}{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976|p=299}} producing a revised and updated history of the society in 1988.{{sfn|Gage|Stearn|1988}} He also served as president of the [[Garden History Society]] and the [[Ray Society]] (1975–1977). The Royal Horticultural Society had made him an honorary fellow in 1946 and in 1986 he became a vice-president. Stearn became a member of the [[Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland]] (BSBI) in 1954,{{sfn|BSBI|2016}} joining the Maps Committee the following year to prepare their ''[[Atlas of the British Flora]]'' (1962).{{sfn|Perring|Walters|1962}}{{sfn|Robson|2001|p=124}} He remained on that committee till 1968, when it became the Records Committee. For 40 years he was the BSBI referee for ''Allium''.{{sfn|Robson|2001}} While at the Lindley Library, he became a founding member of the [[Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]] (later, the Society for the History of Natural History) in 1936, was one of its most active publishing members based on his cataloguing work at the library,{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} and published a history of the society for their 50th anniversary in 1986.{{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Stearn|2007}} Other societies on which he served include the [[British Society for the History of Science]] (vice-president), the [[British Society for the History of Medicine]] (Council), the [[Garden History Society]] (president 1977–1982){{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Barker|2001}} and was a corresponding member of the [[Botanical Society of America]].<ref name=BSA/>

Stearn was appointed [[Sandars Lectures|Sandars Reader in Bibliography]], University of Cambridge in 1965 speaking on "Bibliography in the Service of Biology."

From 1977 to 1983 he was visiting professor at Cambridge University's Department of Botany, and also visiting professor in botany at [[Reading University]] 1977–1983, and then Honorary Research Fellow (1983–).{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Walters|2001|Daily Telegraph|2001}} He was also a fellow of the [[Institute of Biology]] (1967) and was elected an Honorary Fellow of [[Sidney Sussex College]], Cambridge in 1968.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}

==Work==
William Stearn was the author of nearly 500 publications, including his autobiography.{{sfnm|1a1=Nelson|1a2=Desmond|1y=2002|2a1=The Linnean Society|2y=1976|3a1=The Linnean Society|3y=1992}}{{efn|Publications are numbered consecutively from 1 (1929) to 499 (1999).{{sfn|Iltis|2001}}}} These included monographs, partial floras, books on botanical illustration, scholarly editions of historical botanical texts, dictionaries, bibliographies and botanical histories.{{sfn|Times|2001}}

===Early years===
[[File:Epimedium alpinum (Flower).jpg|thumb|''[[Epimedium]]'', a genus that occupied Stearn all his life|alt=Flowers and leaves of Epimedium alpinum]]
[[File:Allium cyathophorum farreri 2.JPG|thumb|''[[Allium farreri]]'', Stearn's first described taxon|alt=Flowers of Allium farreri]]
During Stearn's initial four years in Cambridge (1929–1933), he published twenty-four papers, predominantly in the ''[[Gardeners' Chronicle|Gardeners' Chronicle'' and ''Gardening Illustrated]]'' and the ''[[Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|Journal of Botany]]'',{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Barker|2001}} his first in 1929. While working as a gardener's boy during school holidays he had observed a specimen of ''Campanula pusilla'' (''[[Campanula cochleariifolia]]'') with a distorted [[Petal|corolla]]. He then described and published the first appearance of the causative agent, the [[Mold (fungus)|mould]] ''[[Peronospora|Peronospora corollaea]]'', in Britain, using the facilities of the Botany library.{{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Stearn|1929}}

At the Botanic Garden he developed a special interest in ''[[Vinca]]'', ''Epimedium'', ''[[Hosta]]'' and ''[[Symphytum]]'', all of which he published monographs on.{{sfn|Avent|2010|p=10}} A series of botanical publications followed,{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976}} starting with a new species of ''[[Allium]]'' (''[[Allium cyathophorum|A. farreri]]'' Stearn, 1930).{{sfn|Stearn|1930}}{{efn|In 1950 he came to realise this was not a separate species but a [[variety (botany)|variety]] of ''Allium cyathophorum'' and thus renamed it ''Allium cyathophorum'' var. ''farreri'' (Stearn) Stearn.<ref name=WCLAcyfa/>{{sfn|Stearn|1955a}}}} Stearn repeatedly returned to the genus ''Allium'', and was considered a world expert on it; many species bear his name.{{sfn|Robson|2001}}{{sfn|Mathew|2002}}{{efn|Stearn produced 21 publications on ''Allium''}} 1930 would also see his first bibliographic work, on the botanist [[Reginald Farrer]],{{sfn|Stearn|1930a}}{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002|pp=144,146,148}} whom he named ''Allium farreri'' after,{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002|pp=144,146,148}} and also described ''[[Rose|Rosa farreri]]'' (1933){{sfn|Stearn|1933}} and other species named after Farrer. It was while he was compiling Farrer's works in 1930 that he came across the latter's work, ''The English Rock-Garden'' (1919){{sfn|Farrer|1919}} and its account of Barren-worts (''Epimedium''), and kindled a lifetime interest in the [[genus]].{{sfn|Rix|2003}} From 1932, he produced a series of papers on this genus,{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002|pp=144–146}} studying it at Cambridge, Kew and Paris. It became one of the genera which he was best known, and many [[species]] of which now bear his name.{{sfn|Avent|2010}}{{sfn|Rix|2003}} ''Epimedium'' and the related [[woodland]] [[perennial]] ''[[Vancouveria]]'' ([[Berberidaceae]]) would be the subject of his first [[monograph]] (1938){{sfn|Stearn|1938}} and were genera to which he would return at the end of his life.{{sfn|Stearn|2002a}} At the time the taxonomy of this genus was very confused, and with the help of the Cambridge Herbarium he obtained specimens from all over Europe to produce a comprehensive monograph.{{sfn|Prance|2001}} The work was so thorough that it was mistakenly considered a doctoral thesis by other botanists. He also began a series of contributions to the catalogue of the Herbarium, together with Gilmour and Tutin.{{sfn|Heywood|2002}} With [[John Gilmour (botanist)|John Gilmour]] he issued two [[exsiccata]]-like works ''Herbarium florae Cantabrigiensis'' and ''Sertum Cantabrigiense exsiccatum'' (1933).<ref name="Triebel & Scholz 2001-2024">Triebel, D. & Scholz, P. 2001–2024 ''IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae''. Botanische Staatssammlung München: http://indexs.botanischestaatssammlung.de. – München, Germany.</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Herbarium florae Cantabrigiensis: IndExs ExsiccataID=648428416 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=648428416 |access-date=14 September 2024}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sertum Cantabrigiense exsiccatum: IndExs ExsiccataID=1663741695 |website=IndExs – Index of Exsiccatae |publisher=Botanische Staatssammlung München |url=https://www.botanischestaatssammlung.de/DatabaseClients/IndExs/Exsiccatae_IndExs_Details.jsp?ExsiccataID=1663741695 |access-date=14 September 2024}}</ref>

===Later work===
After moving to London, Stearn produced a steady output of publications during his years at the Royal Horticultural Society's Lindley Library (1933–1952). These covered a wide range of topics from bibliography to plant nomenclature, taxonomy and garden plants, with a particular emphasis on ''Vinca'', ''Epimedium'' and ''[[Lilium]]''.{{sfn|Stearn|1986}} Within two years of joining the library in 1933, he had produced his first major monograph, ''Lilies'' (1935),{{sfn|Woodcock|Coutts|1935}} in collaboration with [[Drysdale Woodcock]] and John Coutts.{{sfn|Mathew|2002}}{{efn|''Lilies'' was published under Woodcock and Coutts' names but was largely written by Stearn.{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976|p=300}}{{sfn|Mathew|2002}} The copy in the Lindley Library belonged to Fred Stoker of the RHS Lily Committee, who had reviewed it. In it he wrote "Nominally by H Drysdale Woodcock KC and J Coutts VMH...but principally by W. T. STEARN whose text I have read in great part".{{sfn|Elliott|2007}}}} This text, in an expanded and revised edition, as Woodcock and Stearn's ''Lilies of the World'' (1950){{sfn|Woodcock|Stearn|1950}} became a standard work on the [[Liliaceae]] ''[[sensu lato]]''.{{sfn|Mathew|2002}} While at the library he also continued his collaboration with his Cambridge colleagues, publishing catalogues of the Herbarium collections,{{sfn|Gilmour|Stearn|1932}} including the ''Catalogue of the Collections of the Herbarium of the University Botany School, Cambridge'' (1935).{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Festing|1978|Walters|1992b}} The second task imposed on him at this time involved the RHS role in maintaining revision of the [[International Code of Botanical Nomenclature]] (see [[#Botanical taxonomy|Botanical taxonomy]]).

After his return to London in 1946, at the end of the Second World War, a number of major publications ensued, including ''Lilies of the World'' in 1950.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} The RHS also imposed two major tasks on their librarian. In 1950, [[Frederick Chittenden]], a previous director of RHS [[Wisley Garden|Wisley]] and Keeper of the Library, died leaving unfinished the four volume RHS ''Dictionary of Gardening'' that the society had commissioned from him before the war. The war had interrupted the work as many of the expected contributors were unavailable.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} Stearn, together with [[Patrick Synge]], the RHS Publications Editor, undertook to complete the work, particularly volume IV (R–Z), a task he completed within six months, with 50 new articles. The finished work was published in 1951{{sfn|Huxley et al.|1992}} and not only did he undertake the role of editing this large work but his contributions covered 50 genera, 600 species and complex identification keys such as ''[[Solidago]]'' and ''[[Viola (plant)|Viola]]''.{{sfn|Times|2001}} Since Stearn's entries in volume IV extended from ''[[Soldanella]]'' to ''[[Zygotritonia]]'', he would jest that he was but "a peculiar authority on plants from 'So-' onwards". He issued a revised version in 1956 with Synge in which he added a further 86 articles.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Daily Telegraph|2001|Prance|2001}} His recollection of this task was that he acquired "that occupational hazard of compilers of encyclopaedias", encyclopedic knowledge.{{sfn|Times|2001}}

Many of Stearn's collaborative works used his bibliographic skills. While his genus monographs largely concentrated on [[Mediterranean]] [[flora]], notably ''Epimedium'',{{sfn|Stearn|2002a}} ''Allium''{{sfn|Stearn|1944}}{{sfn|Stearn|1981a}} and ''[[Peony|Paeonia]]'',{{sfn|Stearn|Davis|1984}} he was also the author of species articles both popular and technical as well as a number of classical treatises.{{sfn|Iltis|2001}} In addition he produced [[floristic]] treatments of a number of regions such as Jamaica{{sfn|Stearn|1959b}} and [[Nepal]].{{sfn|Hara et al.|1978–1982}} He also contributed to many national [[flora (publication)|Florae]] as diverse as [[Bhutan]]{{sfn|Stearn|1994}} and Greece,{{sfn|Stearn|Landström|1991}} as well as major regional florae including the ''[[Flora Europaea]]''{{sfnm|Stearn|1964|Stearn|1972|Stearn|1980}} and ''European Garden Flora''.{{sfnm|1a1=Stearn|1a2=Campbell|1y=1986|2a1=Stearn|2y=1989|3a1=Stearn|3y=1995}}

While his output covered a wide range of topics, he is best known for his contributions to [[botanical history]], [[taxonomy (biology)|taxonomy]], botanical bibliography, and botanical illustration. ''Botanical Latin'' (four editions 1966–1992),{{sfn|Stearn|1992}} is his best known work,{{sfn|Walters|2001}}{{sfn|Desmond|2002}} having become a standard reference and described as both the bible of plant [[taxonomists]] and a [[philological]] masterwork.{{sfn|Times|2001}} It was begun during the war years and the first edition was basically a guide to Latin for botanists with no or limited knowledge of the language, which he described as a "do-it-yourself Latin kit" for taxonomists.{{sfn|Desmond|2002}} Later, the work evolved into an [[etymological]] dictionary,{{sfnm|Walters|2001|Walters|1992b|Iltis|2001}} but then Stearn learned that such a work had already been published in the Netherlands before the war. He then continued to expand it with the assistance of his wife and son, systematically collecting botanical terms from botanical texts. It is said that only he could have written this work, which explains not just the derivation of plant names but also the philological principles involved in forming those names.{{sfn|Barker|2001}}{{sfn|Desmond|2002}} The work is considered responsible for the continued survival of Latin as the [[lingua franca]] of botany.{{sfn|Times|2001}} In addition to this seminal text, he frequently delighted in the illumination that the classics could add to understanding plants and plant lore, such as his ''Five Brethren of the Rose'' (1965).{{sfn|Stearn|1965a}}

His best known popular work is his ''Dictionary of Plant Names'', which found its way into the libraries of most horticulturalists.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Daily Telegraph|2001|Stearn|2002b}} One of the focuses of his work at the Natural History Museum was the flora of the [[Caribbean]], where he carried out [[field work]].{{sfn|Prance|2001}} Stearn continued to return to the Cambridge Botanic Garden, cared for his own garden and worked with the RHS to become an authority on horticulture as well as botany.{{sfn|Prance|2014}} William Stearn collaborated with his wife, Eldwyth Ruth Stearn, on a number of his most important works, including ''Botanical Latin''<ref name=Botlatfm/> and ''Dictionary of Plant Names'' and translating German botanical history into English.{{sfn|Baumann|1993}} Just before his death he completed a revision of his original ''Epimedium'' monograph.{{sfn|Stearn|2002a}}{{sfn|Mathew|2002}}

====Botanical history====
[[File:Makers of British botany, Plate 14 (John Lindley).png|thumb|upright|[[John Lindley]], {{circa|1865|lk=on}}|alt=Portrait of John Lindley {{c.|1865}}]]
William Stearn wrote extensively on the history of botany and horticulture,{{sfn|Stearn|1986}}{{sfn|Stearn|1965}} from [[Ancient Greece]] to his own times. He collected together [[J. E. Raven]]'s 1976 J. H. Gray Lectures,{{efn|[[Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge|Faculty of Classics]] lectures at Cambridge, named for the [[Revd.]] Canon Joseph Henry Gray (1856–1932), a classical scholar at [[Queens' College, Cambridge|Queens' College]]{{sfn|Raven|2000}}}} editing and annotating them as ''Plants and Plant Lore in Ancient Greece'' (1990).{{sfn|Stearn|1990a}}{{efn|Later enlarged and reissued as a book{{sfn|Raven|2000}}}} In 1993, he and Eldwyth Ruth Stearn translated and expanded Baumann's {{lang|de|Die griechische Pflanzenwelt in Mythos, Kunst und Literatur}} (1986) as ''The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature''.{{sfn|Baumann|1993}}

Stearn compiled a major work on the life of John Lindley{{sfn|Stearn|1999a}} and produced an edited version of the classic book on [[herbals]] by [[Agnes Arber]],{{sfn|Arber|1986}} one of the influences of his Cambridge years, and whose obituary he would later write for ''The Times''.{{sfn|Stearn|1960}} He also wrote a number of histories of the organisations he worked with{{sfn|Stearn|1981}}{{sfn|Gage|Stearn|1988}} as well as a number of introductions and commentaries on classic botanical texts such as [[John Ray]]'s {{lang|la|Synopsis methodica stirpium Britannicarum}} (1691),{{sfn|Ray|1724}}{{efn|Ray's {{lang|la|Synopsis methodica stirpium Britannicarum}} of 1691 was for long a major source of information on British plants, and an important source for Linnaeus' [[#Flora Anglica|later work]] on this subject}} together with historical introductions to reference books, including Desmond's ''Dictionary of British and Irish Botanists'' (1994).{{sfnm|Prance|2001|Robson|2001}}<ref name=Desmond/>

In his ''Botanical Gardens and Botanical Literature in the Eighteenth Century'' (1961), Stearn provides some insight into his interpretation of botanical history:

{{blockquote|The progress of botany, as of other sciences, comes from the interaction of so many factors that undue emphasis on any one can give a very distorted impression of the whole, but certainly among the most important of these for any given period are the prevailing ideas and intellectual attitudes, the assumptions and stimuli of the time, for often upon them depends the extent to which a particular study attracts an unbroken succession of men of industry and originality intent on building a system of knowledge and communicating it successfully to others of like mind.{{sfn|Stearn|1961}}}}

=====Linnaeus=====
[[File:Carl von Linné.jpg|thumb|upright|Carl Linnaeus, 1775|alt=Linnaeus in 1775]]
Stearn's historical research is best known for his work on Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778), which he began while at the Natural History Museum, and which won him a number of awards at home and abroad. Between 1953 and 1994 he produced more than 20 works describing Linnaeus' life and work.{{sfn|Nelson|Desmond|2002}}{{sfn|Stearn|1959a}}{{sfn|Stearn|1958}}

Of Stearn's writings on Linnaeus, the most well known is his edition of the 1753 {{lang|la|[[Species plantarum]]}}, published in [[facsimile]] by the [[Ray Society]] in 1957,{{sfn|Ray Society|2017}} for which he wrote both a 176-page introduction and an appendix.{{sfn|Linnaeus|1753}}<ref name=RayLinnaeus/>{{efn|Volume 1 (1957) ''An introduction to the Species plantarum and cognate botanical works of Carl Linnaeus'', pp.&nbsp;1–176. Volume 2 (1959) ''An appendix to the Species plantarum of Carl Linnaeus'', pp.&nbsp;1–147 includes notes on the illustrations by Stearn with an index to species and genera{{sfn|Desmond|2002}}}} Concerned that Linnaeus' methods were imperfectly understood by his contemporaries, Stearn wrote that his introduction "provided concisely all the information about his [[Carl Linnaeus|Linnaeus]]' life, herbaria, publications, methodology etc. which a botanical taxonomist needs to know". ''The Times'' stated that no other botanist possessed the historical knowledge and linguistic skills to write, what is considered one of the classic studies of the Swedish naturalist and a highpoint of 20th century botanical scholarship. Subsequently, Stearn became a recognised authority on Linnaeus.{{sfn|Times|2001}} Stearn produced similar introductions to a number of other editions of Linnaeus' works, including {{lang|la|[[Genera Plantarum]]}},{{sfn|Linnaeus|1754}} {{lang|la|[[Mantissa plantarum altera|Mantissa plantarum]]}}{{sfn|Linnaeus|1767–1771}} and {{lang|la|{{vanchor|Flora Anglica}}}}.{{sfn|Desmond|2002}}{{efn|In 1973 Stearn produced an edited work for the Ray Society dealing with the flora of the British Isles.<ref name=RayLinnaeusGrufberg/> This consisted of two works, the posthumous third edition of John Ray's {{lang|la|Synopsis methodica stirpium Britannicarum}} (1724),{{sfn|Ray|1724}} together with Linnaeus' {{lang|la|Flora Anglica}} (1754){{sfn|Linnaeus|Grufberg|1754}} which was based on the former work{{sfn|Stearn|1973a}}}} Later, he would produce a [[anniversary|bicentenary]] guide to Linnaeus (1978) for the Linnean Society.{{sfn|Prance|2014}}{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}}{{sfn|Stearn|Bridson|1978}}

Although Stearn spent much of his life studying and writing about Linnaeus, he did not admire the man's character, describing him as mean—"a jealous egoist, with a driving ambition". When asked which botanists in history he did admire, he cited [[John Lindley]], [[Carolus Clusius]] (1526–1609) and [[Olof Swartz]] (1760–1818).{{sfn|Barker|2001}}

====Botanical taxonomy====
Stearn made major contributions to [[plant taxonomy]] and its history.{{sfn|Stearn|1973}} In 1950 the Seventh [[International Botanical Congress]] was held in Stockholm, and the RHS would have been represented by Chittenden, but he had been taken ill. Bowles then arranged for Stearn and Gilmour to represent the society in his stead.{{sfn|Akeroyd|2006a}}{{efn|Stearn later provided a detailed account of this in an address to the International Horticultural Congress in 1986{{sfn|Stearn|1986}}}} The congress appointed a special committee to consider nomenclatural issues related to cultivated plants, which became known as the Committee for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants (the "Stockholm Committee"), with Stearn as secretary (1950–1953).{{sfn|Barker|2001}}{{efn|This committee was chaired by Wendel Holmes Camp (USA), who would also chair the upcoming joint committee of the Botanical and Horticultural Congresses in London in 1951}} Stearn then proposed an [[International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants]] (the "Cultivated Code"), producing the first draft that day. The code was accepted in principle by the committee, conditional on its approval by a parallel committee of the [[International Horticultural Congress]] (the Horticultural Nomenclature Committee), which would next meet in London in 1952 (the "London Committee").{{sfn|Stearn|1986}} Later that year Stearn was also appointed secretary of the London Committee{{sfn|Stearn|1952a}}{{efn|Stearn succeeded Chittenden in this position, upon the latter's death. The Horticultural Nomenclature Committee was renamed the International Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature and Registration in 1951}} so that he now represented both organisations. The two committees then met jointly on 22–24 November 1951 at the RHS building in London to draft a final joint proposal that was published by Stearn as secretary of an editorial committee and adopted by the 13th International Horticultural Congress the following year.{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Stearn|1953|Stearn|1952b}}

The resulting code was formulated as a supplement to the existing [[International Code of Botanical Nomenclature]].{{sfn|Stearn|1952}}{{sfn|Wyman|1956|p=65}}{{efn|In 1952 Stearn described the history of the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature from 1864{{sfn|Stearn|1952a}}}} Stearn introduced two important concepts, the terms "[[cultivar]]" and "[[Grex (horticulture)|grex]]". Cultivar, a term first proposed by [[L. H. Bailey]] in 1923,{{sfn|Bailey|1923|loc=vol.&nbsp;I pp.&nbsp;116ff}} refers to a distinctive genus or species variety raised or maintained in cultivation, such as ''[[Euphorbia dulcis]]'' "Chameleon". Grex (Latin for "[[flock (birds)|flock]]" or "[[herd]]") refers to a group of hybrids of common parentage, such as ''[[Lilium]]'' Pink Perfection Group.{{sfn|Stearn|1986}} These concepts contributed a similar clarity to the nomenclature of garden or agricultural plants that Linnaeus had brought to the naming of native plants two centuries earlier.{{sfn|Times|2001}} Stearn continued to play an active part in the International Botanical Congresses over many years, where he was remembered for his rhetorical persuasion on nomenclatural matters.{{sfnm|Heywood|2002|Prance|2014|Daily Telegraph|2001}} He was also a pioneer in the application of computer-aided technology to ([[numerical taxonomy]]), as in his work on ''[[Columnea]]'' (1969).{{sfn|Walters|2001}}{{sfn|Stearn|1969}}

====Botanical bibliography====
Motivated by his interest in botanical history and taxonomy, Stearn devoted a considerable part of his output to botanical bibliography, including numerous papers and catalogues establishing the exact publication dates of books on natural history, particularly from the early nineteenth century, including [[William Herbert (botanist)|William Herbert]]'s work on [[Amaryllidaceae]] (1821, 1837){{sfn|Stearn|1952}}{{sfn|Festing|1978}}{{sfn|Goodwin|Stearn|Townsend|1962}} and complete bibliographies of botanists such as John Gilmour (1989).{{sfn|Stearn|1989a}} At the RHS library he transformed the minimalist card indexing by introducing British Museum rules and adding extensive bibliographic information.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} He quickly realised that one of the major deficits in contemporary taxonomic nomenclature was a lack of precise dates of all the names, and set about rectifying this over a fifteen-year period, resulting in 86 publications, which was a major step in stabilising nomenclature. The importance of this lay in the rules of [[botanical nomenclature]], which gives [[botanical names]] priority based on dates of publication.{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} He considered his most important contribution in this regard to be his elucidation{{sfn|Stearn|1937}} of the dating of the early 19th century collection of studies of [[Canary Islands]] [[flora]] by [[Philip Barker-Webb|Webb]] and [[Sabin Berthelot|Berthelot]] (1836–1850).{{sfn|Webb|Berthelot|1836–1850}} Another important work from this period was on [[Étienne Pierre Ventenat|Ventenat]]'s {{lang|fr|Jardin de la Malmaison}} (1803–1804), also published in the new ''[[Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]]''.{{sfnm|Stearn|1939|Ventenat|1803–1804}}{{sfn|Elliott|2002}} In a number of instances his contributions to others' work went unacknowledged, particularly when he was younger, even though his introductions (often with the title "Revised and enlarged by W. T. Stearn") could be as lengthy as the texts they preceded.{{sfnm|Prance|2014|Heywood|2002|Mathew|2002}}{{efn|Such as [[F. C. Stern]]'s ''A Study of the Genus Paeonia'' (1946){{sfn|Heywood|2002}}{{sfn|Stern|1946}}}} His contributions to botanical bibliography and in particular the correct interpretation of historical texts from Linnaeus to Arber are considered of central importance to the field of taxonomy.<ref name=Stafleu851/>

====Botanical illustration====
[[File:Acacia cunninghamii Banks.jpg|thumb|upright|''[[Acacia cunninghamii]]'' in ''Florilegium''{{efn|Engraving by Daniel MacKenzie (1770–1780)}}|alt=Black and White engraving of Acacia cunninghamii in the Florilegium]]
Within a few years after Stearn returned from the war, his ''Art of Botanical Illustration'' (1950){{sfn|Blunt|Stearn|1994}}{{sfn|Blunt|2001}} was published, remaining the standard work on the subject to this day. There was, however, some bibliographic confusion{{sfn|Elliott|2002}}{{snd}}[[William Collins, Sons|Collins]], the publisher, had planned a book on botanical art for its New Naturalist series, but mistakenly commissioned both Stearn and the [[art historian]] [[Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt|Wilfred Blunt]] independently to produce the work. After the error was discovered the two decided to collaborate; Blunt wrote the work while Stearn edited and revised it. When it was published, Blunt's name was on the title page, while Stearn was only acknowledged in the preface.{{efn|Blunt states he received "some 30 foolscap pages of comments, almost all of which have been incorporated, often indeed verbatim, in my text".<ref name=BluntPreface/> Stearn also provided the bibliography}} The omission was not rectified till he prepared the second edition in 1994, although the preface reveals Stearn's extensive contribution.{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}}{{sfn|Elliott|2002}}

His continuing interest in botanical illustration led him to produce work on both historical{{sfn|Sitwell|1990}} and contemporary artists,{{sfn|Stearn|Brickell|1987}}{{sfn|Stearn|1990}} including the ''[[Banks' Florilegium|Florilegium]]'' of [[Captain Cook]] and [[Joseph Banks]] from their first voyage {{nowrap|(1768–1771)}} to the Pacific on the ''[[HMS Endeavour|Endeavour]]'',{{sfn|Blunt|Stearn|1973}} the similar account of [[Ferdinand Bauer]]'s later botanical expedition to Australia with [[Matthew Flinders]] on the ''[[HMS Investigator (1801)|Investigator]]'' (1801–1803),{{sfn|Stearn|1976}} and the work of illustrator [[Franz Bauer]] (the brother of Ferdinand).{{sfn|Stewart|Stearn|1993}}{{sfn|Stearn|1960a}} Stearn's studies of Ferdinand Bauer's ''[[Flora Graeca]]'' (1806–1840) enabled him to combine his passion for Greece with that of illustration.{{sfn|Stearn|1976a}}{{sfn|Stearn|1967}} Other illustrators of this period that he wrote about included [[William Hooker (botanical illustrator)|William Hooker]].{{sfn|Stearn|Roach|1989}}{{sfn|Elliott|2002}}{{efn|[[William Hooker (botanical illustrator)|William Hooker]] (1779–1832) the illustrator should be distinguished from [[William Dalton Hooker|William Hooker]] (1816–1840) the botanist}}

==Awards==
William Stearn received three honorary doctorates during his lifetime, from [[Leiden University|Leiden]] (D.Sc.{{nbsp}}1960),{{efn|11 November 1960.
Promoted by Professor [[Jan van Steenis]], whose citation mentioned, ''[[inter alia]]'', Stearn's "remarkable rise to a lofty scientific level by exploiting with energy, perseverance, caution and a rare combination of talent and character&nbsp;– under difficult and often disheartening circumstances.{{sfn|Festing|1978|p=410}} At which occasion he delivered the lecture "The Influence of Leyden on Botany in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries"{{sfn|Stearn|1962}}}} Cambridge (Sc.D.{{nbsp}}1967), and [[Uppsala University|Uppsala]] (Fil.Dr.{{nbsp}}1972).{{sfn|Prance|2001}}{{sfn|Walters|2001}} He was the Masters Memorial Lecturer, Royal Horticultural Society in 1964. In 1976, the Linnean Society awarded him their Gold Medal{{efn|Stearn was the last recipient of this medal under this name. It is no longer made of gold and is now called the [[Linnean Medal]], and not to be confused with the rarely awarded [[Linnean Gold Medal]]{{sfn|Gage|Stearn|1988}}}}<ref>{{Cite journal|date=December 1976|title=The Linnean Gold Medal|journal=Biological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=8|issue=4|pages=356–357}}</ref> for his contributions to Linnean scholarship{{sfn|Linnaeus|1753}} and taxonomic botany.{{sfn|The Linnean Society|1976|p=299}}{{sfn|Manton|1976}} In 1985, he was the [[Wilkins Lecturer]] of the [[Royal Society]], entitled ''[[John Wilkins|Wilkins]], John Ray, and Carl Linnaeus.''{{sfn|Stearn|1986a}} In 1986, he received the Founder's Medal of the Society for the History of Natural History and in 1993, he received the [[Adolf Engler|Engler]] Gold Medal from the [[International Association for Plant Taxonomy]].<ref name=IAPTGold/>{{efn|At the XVth International Botanical Congress, Yokohama, Japan 29 August 1993{{sfn|Iltis|2001}}}} The Royal Horticultural Society awarded him both their [[Veitch Memorial Medal]] (1964) and [[Victoria Medal of Honour]] (VMH, 1965). In 2000, he received the [[Asa Gray Award]], the highest honour of the [[American Society of Plant Taxonomists]].{{sfn|Iltis|2001}} Stearn was appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (CBE) in the [[1997 Birthday Honours]] for services to horticulture and botany.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=54794 |date=13 June 1997 |page=9 |supp=y}}</ref>

He was well regarded in Sweden for his studies on Linnaeus, and possessed a good grasp of the language. In addition to his honorary doctorate from Uppsala, the [[Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]] awarded him their Linnaeus Medal in 1972, he was granted the title of [[Order of the Polar Star|Commander of the Swedish Order of the Star of the North]] (Polar Star) in 1980 and admitted to membership of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in 1983. Stearn was also elected to membership of the [[Swedish Linnaeus Society]].{{sfn|Desmond|2002}}{{multiple image | header = Awards| align = centre | direction = horizontal | total_width = 300 | float = none
| image1 = Medaille-Linnaeus.jpg| caption1 = [[Linnean medal]]|alt1=Linnean medal|width1=350|height1=350
| image2= Order of the North Star, Grand Cross (Sweden) - Fram Museum.jpg| caption2= [[Order of the Polar Star]]|alt2=Medal of the Order of the Polar Star|width2=450|height2=600
}}

==Legacy==
Stearn is considered a preeminent British botanist, and was once likened to botanical scholars such as [[Robert Brown (Scottish botanist from Montrose)|Robert Brown]], [[Charles Darwin|Darwin]], the Hookers ([[William Jackson Hooker|William]] and [[Joseph Dalton Hooker|Joseph]]) and [[Frans Stafleu]].{{sfn|Heywood|2002}}{{sfn|Daily Telegraph|2001}} He has been variously described as a Renaissance man,{{sfn|Moody|2002}} a [[polymath]],{{sfn|Festing|1978|p=410}} "the modern Linnaeus",<ref name=Stafleu850/>{{sfnm|1a1=Buchan|1y=2007|2a1=Bourne|2y=2010}} "the great Linnaean scholar of our day", {{sfn|Cox|2003|p=xxv}} "one of the world's greatest botanists"{{sfn|Carmichael|2007|p=43}} and a giant among botanists and horticulturalists.{{sfn|Prance|2001}} On his death, ''[[The Times]]'' noted his encyclopedic grasp of his field, stating that he was "acknowledged as the greatest botanical authority of the twentieth century".{{sfn|Times|2001}} One description that Stearn rejected, however, was "the complete naturalist"{{efn|"I note you are giving a lecture relating to me as 'a Complete naturalist' which I am most certainly far from being: the only person to whom that distinction could have been given in modern times was [[Charles E. Raven|Charles Raven]]"{{sfn|Walters|1992b|p=442}}}}{{snd}}an allusion to the title of his biography of Linnaeus.{{sfnm|Walters|1992b|Blunt|2001|Walters|1992a}} His contribution to his field was far greater than his extensive bibliography suggests, since he was known for his input into many of his colleagues' work, leading Professor [[P. B. Tomlinson]] to observe "he left no tome unstearned".{{sfn|Mathew|2002}} The [[Society for the History of Natural History]] of which he was a founding member has created the [[Society for the History of Natural History#Medals and prizes|William T. Stearn Student Essay Prize]] in his honour.<ref name=SHNH/>

===Eponymy===
Stearn is the [[botanical authority]]{{sfn|Plantlist|2016}} for over 400 taxa that bear his name, such as ''[[Allium chrysonemum]]'' Stearn. Many plants have been named ([[eponymy]]) after him, including the orchid [[nothogenus]] [[hybrid (biology)|hybrid]] ×''Stearnara'' J. M. H. Shaw.{{efn|Named by Julian Shaw, Orchid Registrar, Royal Horticultural Society 2002{{sfn|Shaw|2002}}<ref name=RHSOrchRev/>}} A number of species have been designated ''stearnii'' after William Stearn, including:
*''[[Allium stearnii]]'' <small>Pastor & Valdés</small>
*''[[berberis|Berberis stearnii]]'' <small>Ahrendt</small>
*''[[Epimedium|Epimedium stearnii]]'' <small>Ogisu & Rix</small>
*''[[Justicia (plant)|Justicia stearnii]]'' <small>V.A.W. Graham</small>
*''[[Schefflera stearnii]]'' <small>R.A.Howard & Proctor</small>

In light of his work on ''Epimedium'', a [[cultivar]] was named in his honour in 1988, ''Epimedium'' 'William Stearn'.{{sfn|Avent|2010|p=17}}<ref name=RHSEpimedium/>

==Selected publications==
:&nbsp;''see {{harvtxt|Walters|1992b}} and {{harvtxt|Heywood|2002}}{{see also|#Bibliography }}''

{{refbegin|30em}}
*{{cite book|last1=Arber|first1=Agnes|author-link=Agnes Arber|editor-last=Stearn|editor-first=William T.|editor-link=William T. Stearn|title=Herbals: their origin and evolution. A chapter in the history of botany, 1470–1670|date=1986|orig-date=1912; 2nd ed. 1938|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, England|isbn=978-0-521-33879-0|edition=3rd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6nxQx8aYmMMC}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn| others=(including the genus ''Podophyllum'' by Julian Shaw, illustrations by Christabel King) |editor-last1=Green|editor-first1=Peter Shaw|editor-last2=Mathew|editor-first2=Brian|editor-link1=Peter Shaw Green|editor-link2=Brian Mathew|title=The genus Epimedium and other herbaceous Berberidaceae|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XJ_pAAAACAAJ|date=2002a|orig-date=1938|publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|Royal Botanic Gardens]]|location=Kew|isbn=978-1-84246-039-9|edition=Revised}}
**{{cite journal|last1=Rix|first1=Martyn|title=The Genus Epimedium and other herbaceous Berberidaceae|journal=Curtis's Botanical Magazine|date=February 2003|volume=20|issue=1|pages=58–63|doi=10.1111/1467-8748.t01-1-00371|type=Review}}
*{{cite book|last1=Blunt|first1=Wilfrid|last2=Stearn|first2=William|author-link1=Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=The art of botanical illustration: an illustrated history|date=1994|orig-date=1950 [[William Collins, Sons|Collins]]|publisher=Dover Publications|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-486-27265-8|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=apPyEfXvxioC}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Botanical Latin: history, grammar, syntax, terminology and vocabulary|url=https://archive.org/details/botanicallatin00will|url-access=registration|date=1992|orig-date=1966 London: Nelson. 2nd ed. 1973. 3rd ed. 1983|publisher=Timber Press|location=Portland, Oregon|isbn=978-0-88192-321-6|edition=4th}}
**{{cite journal|last1=Bacigalupi|first1=Rimo|title=Botanical Latin. By William T. Stearn|journal=[[Madroño (journal)|Madroño]]|date=April 1967|volume=19|issue=2|pages=59–60|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/47856878#page/353/mode/1up|type=Review}}
**{{cite journal|last1=Eichholz|first1=D. E.|title=William T. Stearn: Botanical Latin: History, Grammar, Syntax, Terminology and Vocabulary. Pp. xiv+566; 41 ill. Edinburgh: Nelson, 1966. Cloth, 105s. net.|journal=[[The Classical Review]]|date=March 1967|volume=17|issue=1|page=120|doi=10.1017/S0009840X00323654|s2cid=161335091|type=Review}}
**{{cite journal|last1=Weresub|first1=Luella K.|author-link=Luella Weresub|title=Botanical Latin, by William T. Stearn|journal=[[Mycologia]]|date=January 1967|volume=59|issue=1|pages=183–185|doi=10.2307/3756953|type=Review|jstor=3756953}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The Natural History Museum at South Kensington: a history of the museum 1753–1980|date=1981|publisher=[[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]]|location=London|isbn=978-0-565-09030-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NVpPAQAAIAAJ}}
**{{cite journal|last1=Tucker|first1=Denys|title=Cathedral of Natural History: The Natural History Museum at South Kensington. A history of the British Museum (Natural History) 1753–1980, by William T. Stearn|journal=[[New Scientist]]|date=28 May 1981|volume=90|issue=1255|page=571|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=79YSr96pZsQC&pg=PA571|type=Review}}
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Stearn's dictionary of plant names for gardeners: a handbook on the origin and meaning of the botanical names of some cultivated plants|date=2002b|orig-date=1992|publisher=Timber Press|location=Portland, Oregon|isbn=978-0-88192-556-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5DiLBkjQmUkC}}
**{{cite journal|last1=Rae|first1=David A. H.|title=Stearn's Dictionary of Plant Names for Gardeners – a handbook on the origin and meaning of the botanical names of some cultivated plants. W.T. Stearn. Cassell Publishers Limited, London. Pp 363. {{Text|ISBN}} 0-304-34149-5.<!--Part of an article title -- not a magic word--> £16.99|journal=Edinburgh Journal of Botany|date=26 April 2010|volume=50|issue=1|pages=122|doi=10.1017/S0960428600000779|type=Review}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Stearn|editor1-first=William T.|editor-link=William T. Stearn|title=John Lindley (1799–1865): gardener, botanist and pioneer orchidologist: Bi-centenary celebration volume|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YPEfAQAAIAAJ|date=1999|publisher=Antique Collectors Club & [[Royal Horticultural Society]]|location=Woodbridge|isbn=978-1-85149-296-1}}
**{{cite journal|last= Green|first=Peter S.|author-link=Peter Shaw Green|title=William T. Stearn: John Lindley 1799–1865. Gardener-Botanist and Pioneer Orchidologist|journal=[[Curtis's Botanical Magazine]]|date=November 1999|volume=16|issue=4|pages=301–302|type=Review|doi=10.1111/1467-8748.00234}}
{{refend}}

==See also==
*[[History of botany]]
*[[Cambridge Botanic Garden]]

{{botanist|Stearn}}

==Notes==
{{notelist|30em}}

==References==
<!-- The citations are basically in the form of {{sfn}} linked to the bibliography, except when they contain urls, such as links to text within sources, in which case<ref></ref> has been placed here to avoid cluttering the wikitext with long {{sfn|loc=}}-->
{{reflist|20em|refs=
<ref name=BSA>{{harvnb|BSA|2017|loc=[http://botany.org/about_bsa/corresponding_members.php Corresponding Members]}}</ref>

<ref name=Cambridge2000MiltonRoad>{{harvnb|Cambridge 2000|2016|loc=[http://www.cambridge2000.com/cambridge2000/html/0006/P6071149.html Milton Road Junior School ]}}</ref>

<ref name=GeographMiltonSchool>{{harvnb|Geograph|2011|loc=[https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/577888 Demolition of Milton Street School]}}</ref>

<ref name=Haines>{{harvnb|Haines|2001|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=HftdjMNDvwIC&pg=PA116 Niki Goulandris p.&nbsp;116]}}</ref>

<ref name=HerbariumLindley>{{harvnb|Herbarium|2016a|loc=[http://cambridgeherbarium.org/collections/lindley-herbarium/ Lindley Collection]}}</ref>

<ref name=FrodinJamaica>{{harvnb|Frodin|2001|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=aMjXCF4rmDUC&pg=PA289 Jamaica pp.&nbsp;289–29-]}}</ref>

<ref name=Annales>{{harvnb|GMNH|2016|loc=[http://www.gnhm.gr/en/publication/annales-musei-goulandris/ Annales Musei Goulandris]}}</ref>

<ref name=Botlatfm>{{harvnb|Stearn|1992|loc=Front matter.}}</ref>

<ref name=Desmond>{{harvnb|Desmond|1994|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=thmPzIltAV8C&pg=PR13 Historical Introduction pp.&nbsp;xiii–xix]}}</ref>

<ref name=IAPTGold>{{harvnb|IAPT|2016|loc=[http://www.iapt-taxon.org/pages/awardsengler_gold The Engler Medal in Gold]}}</ref>

<ref name=SHNH>{{harvnb|SHNH|2016|loc=[http://shnh.org.uk/awards-honours-medals/william-t-stearn-student-essay-prize/william-thomas-stearn/ William T. Stearn Student Essay Prize ]}}</ref>

<!--Ray Society -->
<ref name=RayLinnaeus>{{harvnb|Ray Society|2017|loc=[http://www.raysociety.org.uk/publications/general-and-historical/linnaeus-species-plantarum-1753-vol-1-and-2-with-an-introduction-by-w-t-stearn-and-appendix-by-j-l-heller-and-w-t-stearn-plus-supplements-by-c-e-jarvis/ Linnaeus Species Plantarum 1753 Vols. 1 and 2]}}</ref>
<ref name=RayLinnaeusGrufberg>{{harvnb|Ray Society|2017|loc=[http://www.raysociety.org.uk/publications/general-and-historical/synopsis-methodica-stirpum-britannicarum-john-ray/ John Ray, Synopsis Methodica Stirpum Britannicarum]}}</ref>

<!--Stafleu & Cowan 1985-->
<ref name=Stafleu850>{{harvnb|Stafleu|Cowan|1985|loc=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104077#page/864/mode/1up p.&nbsp;850]}}</ref>
<ref name=Stafleu851>{{harvnb|Stafleu|Cowan|1985|loc=[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104077#page/865/mode/1up p.&nbsp;851]}}</ref>

<ref name=RHSEpimedium>{{harvnb|RHS|2016|loc=[https://www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/256111/i-Epimedium-i-William-Stearn/Details ''Epimedium'' 'William Stearn']}}</ref>

<ref name=RHSOrchRev>{{harvnb|RHS|2016|loc=[https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/pdfs/publications/orchid-hybrid-lists/2002-september-october-november New orchid hybrids Sept – Nov 2002]}}</ref>

<ref name=BluntPreface>{{harvnb|Blunt|Stearn|1994|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=apPyEfXvxioC&pg=PR25 Preface p.&nbsp;xxv]}}</ref>

<ref name=tpl>{{harvnb|TPL|2013|loc=[http://www.theplantlist.org/tpl1.1/record/kew-2638297 ''Anemone hupehensis'' var. ''japonica'']}}</ref>

<ref name=WCLAcyfa>{{harvnb|WCLSPF|2015|loc=[http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=295396 var. '' farreri '']}}</ref>
}}

==Bibliography==
<!--This Bibliography is curated by topic and type of source, and linked to inline citation by {{sfn}}. For Chapters in multi-authored texts, the chapters are listed separately and linked to the full bibliographic details by {{harvtxt}}-->
{{div col|colwidth=30em}}

===General books, articles and chapters===
{{refbegin}}

====Books====
*{{cite book|last1=Allan|first1=Mea|author-link=Mea Allan|title=E. A. Bowles & his garden at Myddelton House [1865–1954]|date=1973|publisher=Faber and Faber|location=London|isbn=978-0-571-10306-5}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Boisset|editor1-first=Caroline|title=Lilies and related plants. 2007–2008 75th Anniversary Issue|date=2007|publisher=Royal Horticultural Society Lily Group|location=London|isbn=978-1-902896-84-7|url=http://www.rhslilygroup.org/75thAnniversary_LR.pdf|access-date=14 March 2017|archive-date=17 April 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180417110650/http://www.rhslilygroup.org/75thAnniversary_LR.pdf|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite book|last1=Bowles|first1=Edward Augustus|author-link=Edward Augustus Bowles|title=A handbook of Crocus and Colchicum for gardeners|date=1952|orig-date=1924|publisher=Van Nostrand|location=London|edition=2nd|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eN05AAAAMAAJ}}{{efn|group=Bibliography|Index by W. T. Stearn, pp.&nbsp;213–222<ref group=Bibliography>{{harvnb|The Linnean Society|1976}}
</ref>}}
*{{cite book|last1=Buchan|first1=Ursula|title=Garden people: the photographs of Valerie Finnis|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qbg9PQAACAAJ|date=2007|publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]]|location=London|isbn=978-0-500-51353-8}} (''see'' [[Valerie Finnis]])
*{{cite book|last1=Cox|first1=E. H. M.|author-link=EHM Cox|title=The plant introductions of Reginald Farrer|date=1930|publisher=New Flora and Silva Ltd.|location=London|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UYHNAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Cullen|editor1-first=James|editor2-last=Knees|editor2-first=Sabina G.|editor3-last=Cubey|editor3-first=H. Suzanne Cubey|title=The European Garden Flora, Flowering Plants: A Manual for the Identification of Plants Cultivated in Europe, Both Out-of-Doors and Under Glass. 5 vols.|date=2011|orig-date=1984–2000|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, England|edition=2nd|url=http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/life-sciences/series/european-garden-flora|ref={{harvid|Cullen et al.|2011}}}}
*{{cite book|last1=Farrer|first1=Reginald|author-link=Reginald Farrer|title=The English Rock Garden 2 vols.|date=1919|publisher=Jack|location=London|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/13469#/summary}}
*{{cite book|last1=Fawcett|first1=William|last2=Rendle|first2=Alfred Barton|author-link1=William Fawcett (botanist)|author-link2=Alfred Barton Rendle|title=Flora of Jamaica, containing descriptions of the flowering plants known from the island. 7 vols.|date=1910–1939|publisher=[[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]]|location=London|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/2760#/summary}}
*{{cite book|last=Frodin|first=David G.|title=Guide to Standard Floras of the World: An Annotated, Geographically Arranged Systematic Bibliography of the Principal Floras, Enumerations, Checklists and Chorological Atlases of Different Areas|date=2001|orig-date=1984|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, England|isbn=978-1-139-42865-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aMjXCF4rmDUC}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Green|editor-first=P. S. |editor-link=Peter Shaw Green|date= 1973 |title=Plants, Wild and Cultivated: A Conference on Horticulture and Field Botany. September 1972 |publisher=Classey |location=Faringdon|isbn=978-0-900848-66-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Haines|first=Catherine M. C.|title=International Women in Science: A Biographical Dictionary to 1950|year=2001|publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]]|location=Santa Barbara, California|isbn=978-1-57607-090-1|url=https://archive.org/details/internationalwom00hain|url-access=registration}}
*{{cite book|last1=Hunt|first1=Rachel McMasters Miller|last2=Quinby|first2=Jane|last3=Stevenson|first3=Allan|title=Catalogue of botanical books in the collection of Rachel McMasters Miller Hunt. 2 vols.|date=1958–1961|publisher=[[Hunt Botanical Library]]|location=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|ref={{harvid|Hunt et al.|1958–1961}}}}
*{{cite book|last1=Huxley|first1=Anthony|last2=Griffiths|first2=Mark|last3=Levy|first3=Margot|title=The New Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening (4 vols.)|date=1992|orig-date= 1st ed. [[Frederick Chittenden]] and William Stearn. Oxford University Press 1951. 2nd ed. [[P.M. Synge]] (ed.) Oxford 1956|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Macmillan]]|location=London|isbn=978-0-333-47494-5|ref={{harvid|Huxley et al.|1992}}}}
*{{cite book|last1=Noltie|first1=Henry J.|title=Flora of Bhutan: Including a Record of Plants from Sikkim and Darjeeling. v. 3, Pt. 1|date=1994|publisher=[[Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh]]|isbn=978-1-872291-11-6}}
*{{cite book|last1=Perring|first1=Franklyn|last2=Walters|first2=Stuart Max|author-link2=Max Walters|title=Atlas of the British flora|date=1962|publisher=[[Botanical Society of the British Isles]] by [[Thomas Nelson (publisher)|Thomas Nelson]]|location=London|isbn=9780715811993|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nGU9AQAAIAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stern|first1=F. C.|author-link=Frederick Claude Stern|title=A Study of the Genus Paeonia|date=1946|publisher=Royal Horticultural Society|location=London|others=Illustrated by [[Lilian Snelling]]}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Strid|editor1-first=Arne|editor2-last=Tan|editor2-first=Kit|editor-link1=Arne Strid|title=Mountain Flora of Greece, Volume 2|date=1991|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England|isbn=978-0-7486-0207-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PFl2OiIWOp0C}}
*{{cite book|editor1-last=Tutin|editor1-first=T. G.|editor-link1=Tom Tutin|display-editors=etal|title=Flora Europaea. 5 vols.|date=1964–1980|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|location=Cambridge, England|url=http://assets.cambridge.org/97805211/53669/frontmatter/9780521153669_frontmatter.pdf|access-date=26 December 2016|ref={{harvid|Tutin et al.|1964–1980}}}} (see [[Flora Europaea]])
*{{cite book|last1=Ventenat|first1=É. P.|author-link=E P Ventenat|title=Jardin de la Malmaison|date=1803–1804|publisher=Crapelet|location=Paris|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/70396#/summary|language=fr}}
*{{cite book|last1=Webb|first1=Philip Barker|last2=Berthelot|first2=Sabin|author-link1=Philip Barker Webb|author-link2=Sabin Berthelot|title=Histoire naturelle des Iles Canaries|date=1836–1850|publisher=Béthune|location=Paris|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/60795#/summary}}
*{{cite book|last1=Woodcock|first1=H. B. D.|author-link1=H. B. D. Woodcock|last2=Coutts|first2=J.|title=Lilies: Their Culture and Management. Including a complete descriptive list of species|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DsNBAAAAIAAJ|date= 1935|publisher=[[Country Life (books)|Country Life]]|location=London}} (''see'' [[#Woodcock|front matter]])

====Historical sources====
*{{cite book|last=Linnaeus|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Linnaeus|others=trans. Stephen Freer|title=Linnaeus' Philosophia botanica|date=2003|orig-date=1751 Stockholm|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-19-856934-3|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aC0TDAAAQBAJ}} (see ''[[Philosophia Botanica]]'')
*{{cite book|last1=Linnaeus|first1=Carl|author-link=Carl Linnaeus|last2=Grufberg|first2=Isaac Olofsson|title=Flora Anglica, quam cum consens. experient. fac. medicae in Regia Academia Upsaliensi, sub praesidio viri nobilissimi atque experientissimi, Dn. Doct. Caroli Linnaei...publicae ventilationi offert Isaacus Olai Grufberg, Stockholmiensis. In Auditorio Carolino Majori D.|date=1754|publisher=Laur. Magnus Hojer|location=Uppsala|url=http://linnean-online.org/120113/|language=la}} ''also available [https://books.google.com/books?id=THUZAAAAYAAJ here]''
*{{cite book|last=Ray|first=John|author-link=John Ray|editor-last=Dillenius|editor-first=Johann Jacob|editor-link=Dillenius|title=Synopsis methodica stirpium Britannicarum: in qua tum notae generum characteristicae traduntur, tum species singulae breviter describuntur: ducentae quinquaginta plus minus novae species partim suis locis inseruntur, partim in appendice seorsim exhibentur: cum indice & virium epitome (editio tertia multis locis emendata, & quadringentis quinquaginta circiter speciebus noviter detectis aucta)|trans-title=Synopsis of British plants|year=1724|orig-date=1690|edition=3rd|publisher=Gulielmi & Joaniis Innys|location=London|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/63346|language=la}}

====Articles====
*{{cite journal|last=Akeroyd|first=John|author-link=John Akeroyd|title=Preface|journal=[[Annales Musei Goulandris]]|year=2006|issue=11|pages=35–36|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274193329}}
*{{cite journal|last=Avent|first=Tony|author-link=Tony Avent|title=An overview of ''Epimedium''|journal=[[The Plantsman]]|date=March 2010|pages=10–17|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/publications/magazines/the-plantsman/2010-issues/march/an-overview-of-epimedium|access-date=1 December 2016|archive-date=23 September 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160923104448/https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/publications/magazines/the-plantsman/2010-issues/march/an-overview-of-epimedium|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal|last=Bailey|first=Liberty Hyde|year=1923|author-link=Liberty Hyde Bailey|title=Various cultigens, and transfers in nomenclature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R21DAAAAIAAJ|journal=Gentes Herbarum|volume=1 |issue=Part 3|pages=113–136}}
*{{cite news|last=Bourne|first=Val|title=Garlic: savour the flavour|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardeningadvice/8066208/Garlic-savour-the-flavour.html|newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|access-date=13 March 2017|date=18 October 2010}}
*{{cite journal|last=Elliott|first=Brent|title=The cultural heritage collections of the RHS Lindley Library|journal=Occasional Papers from the RHS Lindley Library|date=December 2009|volume=1|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/about-the-rhs/pdfs/publications/lindley-library-occasional-papers/volume-1-dec-2009}}
*{{cite journal|last=Lucas|first=A. M.|title=Disposing of John Lindley's library and herbarium: the offer to Australia|journal=[[Archives of Natural History]]|date=April 2008|volume=35|issue=1|pages=15–70|doi=10.3366/E0260954108000053}}
*{{cite journal|last=Rudy|first=Mark R.|title=Fall-blooming Anemone|journal=Plant Evaluation Notes|year=2004|issue=25|url=https://www.chicagobotanic.org/downloads/planteval_notes/no25_anemones.pdf}}
*{{cite journal|last=Shaw|first=J. M. H.|title=Sternara|journal=[[Orchid Review]]|date=November 2002|volume=110 |issue=Suppl. 1248|page=109}}
*{{cite journal|last=Wyman|first=Donald|author-link=Donald Wyman|title=The new International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants|journal=[[Arnold Arboretum|Arnoldia]]|date=26 December 1956|volume=18|issue=12|pages=63–68|url=http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1958-18--the-new-international-code-of-nomenclature-for-cultivated-plants.pdf|access-date=2 January 2017|archive-date=5 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170505151406/http://arnoldia.arboretum.harvard.edu/pdf/articles/1958-18--the-new-international-code-of-nomenclature-for-cultivated-plants.pdf|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal|last=Temple|first=Ruth|title=Society News|journal=[[The Linnean]]|year=2010|volume=26|issue=3|page=3|url=https://ca1-tls.edcdn.com/documents/Lin-Vol-26_-no-3_-Oct-2010.pdf?mtime=20160213070223}}

==== Chapters ====
*{{cite book|last=Carmichael|first=Cameron|title=A review of English language Monographs on the genus ''Lilium'' 1873–2006|pages=35–46|ref={{harvid|Carmichael|2007}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Boisset|2007}}
*{{cite book|last=Cox|first=Paul Alan|author-link=Paul Alan Cox|title=Introduction|pages=xv–xxv|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aC0TDAAAQBAJ&pg=PR15|isbn=978-0-19-856934-3|year=2003|publisher=OUP Oxford }}, in {{harvtxt|Linnaeus|2003}}
*{{cite book|last=Elliott|first=Brent|title=The Lindley Library and John Lindley's library|pages=175–190|ref={{harvid|Elliott|1999}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Stearn|1999}}
*{{cite book|last=Elliott|first=Brent|title=A brief history of the RHS Lily Committee|date=2007|orig-date=1993|pages=28–35}}, in {{harvtxt|Boisset|2007}}
{{refend}}

===Articles about Stearn===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite journal|last=Akeroyd|first=John|author-link=John Akeroyd|title=William Thomas Stearn (1911–2001)|journal=[[Annales Musei Goulandris]]|year=2006a|issue=11|pages=9–16|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/274193329}}
*{{cite journal|title=William T. Stearn, doyen of garden botanists|journal=[[Country Life (magazine)|Country Life]]|date=24 October 1996|page=68|ref={{harvid|Country Life|1996}}}}
*{{cite news|title=Professor William Stearn|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1329689/Professor-William-Stearn.html|work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]|date=10 May 2001|type=obituary|ref={{harvid|Daily Telegraph|2001}}}}
*{{cite news|title=William T. Stearn|work=[[The Times]]|date=11 May 2001|type=obituary|ref={{harvid|Times|2001}}}}
*{{cite news|last=Barker|first=Nicolas|author-link=Nicolas Barker|title=William Stearn|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/william-stearn-755355.html|work=[[The Independent]]|date=15 May 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080424011703/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/william-stearn-755355.html|archive-date=24 April 2008|url-status=dead|type=obituary}}
*{{cite journal|last=Desmond|first=Ray|title=The Linnean Scholar|journal=[[The Linnean]]|year=2002|volume=18|pages=41–43|url=https://ca1-tls.edcdn.com/documents/Lin-Vol-18_-no-4_-Oct-2002.pdf?mtime=20160213073448}}
*{{cite journal|last=Elliott|first=Brent|title=W. T. Stearn: The Royal Horticultural Society Years (1930–1952) |journal=[[The Linnean]]|year=2002|volume=18|pages=34–36|url=https://ca1-tls.edcdn.com/documents/Lin-Vol-18_-no-4_-Oct-2002.pdf?mtime=20160213073448}}
*{{cite journal|last=Festing|first=Sally|title=Energy, perseverance and caution: Professor William Stearn, botanist extraordinary|journal=[[New Scientist]]|date=10 August 1978|volume=79|issue=1115|pages=410–412|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6hSCH8KUpvoC&pg=PA410}}
*{{cite journal|last=Heywood|first=Vernon|author-link= Vernon Heywood|title=William Thomas Stearn, CBE, VMH (1911–2001) – an appreciation|journal=[[Archives of Natural History]]|date=June 2002|volume=29|issue=2|pages=NP–143|doi=10.3366/anh.2002.29.2.NP}}
*{{cite journal|last=Humphries|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Humphries|title=William T. Stearn: The Museum Years (1952–1976) |journal=[[The Linnean]]|year=2002|volume=18|pages=34–40|url=https://ca1-tls.edcdn.com/documents/Lin-Vol-18_-no-4_-Oct-2002.pdf?mtime=20160213073448}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Iltis|first1=Hugh H.|author-link=Hugh Iltis|title=William T. Stearn—Recipient of the 2000 Asa Gray Award|journal=[[Systematic Botany]]|date=January 2001|volume=26|issue=1|pages=1–4|jstor=2666651|doi=10.1043/0363-6445-26.1.1|doi-broken-date=1 November 2024}}
*{{cite journal|last=Manton|first=Irene|author-link=Irene Manton|title=The Linnean Gold Medal. Dr William Thomas Stearn, F.L.S|journal=[[Biological Journal of the Linnean Society]]|date=December 1976|volume=8|issue=4|pages=356–357|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1976.tb00254.x}}
*{{cite journal|last=Mathew|first=Brian|author-link=Brian Mathew|title=William Stearn – The Monographer|journal=[[The Linnean]]|year=2002|volume=18|pages=32–34|url=https://ca1-tls.edcdn.com/documents/Lin-Vol-18_-no-4_-Oct-2002.pdf?mtime=20160213073448}}
*{{cite journal|last=Moody|first=James|title=W. T. Stearn – 20th Century Renaissance Man and Friend|journal=[[The Linnean]]|year=2002|volume=18|pages=44–45|url=https://ca1-tls.edcdn.com/documents/Lin-Vol-18_-no-4_-Oct-2002.pdf?mtime=20160213073448}}
*{{cite journal|last=Prance|first=Ghillean T.|author-link=Ghillean T. Prance|title=William Thomas Stearn (1911–2001)|journal=[[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]]|date=1 January 2001|volume=50|issue=4|pages=1255–1276|jstor=1224755|doi=10.1002/j.1996-8175.2001.tb02620.x|doi-access=free}}
*{{Cite ODNB|last=Prance|first=Ghillean T.|author-link=Ghillean T. Prance|doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/75893 |title=Stearn, William Thomas|date=May 2014}}
*{{cite journal|last=Robson|first=N. K. B.|author-link=Norman Robson (botanist)|title=William Thomas Stearn|journal=[[Watsonia (journal)|Watsonia]]|type=obituary|year=2001|volume=24|pages=123–124|url=http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Wats24p123.pdf}}
*{{cite journal|last=Walters|first=S. M.|author-link=S. M. Walters|title=A bouquet for the complete naturalist: a celebration of the 80th birthday of W. T. Stearn|journal=[[Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society]]|date=August 1992a|volume=109|issue=4|pages=435–436|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb01441.x}}
*{{cite journal|last=Walters|first=S. M.|author-link=S. M. Walters|title=W. T. Stearn: the complete naturalist|journal=[[Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society]]|date=August 1992b|volume=109|issue=4|pages=437–442|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb01442.x}}
*{{cite news|last=Walters|first=S. Max|author-link=S. M. Walters|title=William Stearn|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2001/jun/06/guardianobituaries.highereducation|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=6 June 2001|type=obituary}}
*{{cite journal|title=Stearn, William Thomas (1911–2001)|jstor=000008088|website=JStor Global Plants}}
{{refend}}

=== Stearn bibliography ===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite journal|last1=The Linnean Society|author-link=The Linnean Society|title=Publications by William T. Stearn on bibliographical, botanical and horticultural subjects, 1929–1976; a chronological list|journal=[[Biological Journal of the Linnean Society]]|date=December 1976|volume=8|issue=4|pages=299–318|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1976.tb00252.x}}
*{{cite journal|last1=The Linnean Society|author-link=The Linnean Society|title=Publications by William T. Stearn on bibliographical, botanical and horticultural subjects, 1977–1991; a chronological list|journal=[[Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society]]|date=August 1992|volume=109|issue=4|pages=443–451|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.1992.tb01443.x}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Nelson|first1=E. Charles|last2=Desmond|first2=Ray|title=Bibliography of William Thomas Stearn (1911–2001)|journal=[[Archives of Natural History]]|date=June 2002|volume=29|issue=2|pages=144–170|doi=10.3366/anh.2002.29.2.144}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stafleu|first1=Frans A.|last2=Cowan|first2=Richard S.|author-link1=Frans Stafleu|author-link2=Richard Sumner Cowan|title=Taxonomic literature: a selective guide to botanical publications and collections with dates, commentaries and types|year=1985|publisher=Bohn, Scheltema & Holkema|location=Utrecht|edition=2nd|chapter-url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/104077#page/864/mode/1up|volume=5. Sal–Ste|pages=[https://archive.org/details/taxonomicliterat21979staf/page/850 850–853]|chapter=Stearn, William Thomas|isbn=9789031302246|url=https://archive.org/details/taxonomicliterat21979staf/page/850}}
{{refend}}

===Works by Stearn cited===
{{refbegin}}

====Articles====
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=A new disease of ''Campanula pusilla'' (''Peronospora corollae'')|journal=Gardening Illustrated|date=17 August 1929|volume=51|page=565}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=A new ''Allium'' from China (''A. farreri'', ''sp. nov.'')|journal=[[Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|Journal of Botany]]|volume=68|pages=342–343|year=1930}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=''Rosa farreri'', Stapf. Farrer's "Threepenny-bit Rose"|journal=Gardeners' Chronicle |series=Series 3|year=1933|volume=94|pages=237–238}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=On the dates of publication of Webb and Berthelot's "Histoire Naturelle des Îles Canaries"|journal=[[Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]]|date=15 February 1937|volume=1|issue=2|pages=49–63|doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1937.1.2.49}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William Thomas|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=''Epimedium'' and ''Vancouveria'' (Berberidaceae), a monograph.|journal=[[Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Botany]]|date=November 1938|volume=51|issue=340|pages=409–535|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8339.1937.tb01914.x}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William Thomas|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Ventenat's "Description des Plantes... de J. M. Cels," "Jardin de la Malmaison" and "Choix des Plantes"|journal=[[Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]]|date=28 February 1939|volume=1|issue=7|pages=199–201|doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1939.1.7.199}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Notes on the genus ''Allium'' in the Old World; its distribution, names, literature, classification and garden-worthy species.|journal=[[Herbertia (journal)|Herbertia]]|year=1944|volume=11|pages=11–34}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=William Herbert's "Appendix" and "Amaryllidaceae"|journal=[[Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]]|date=November 1952|volume=2|issue=9|pages=375–377|doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1952.2.9.375}}
*{{Cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|year=1952b |title=Proposed International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants. Historical Introduction|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society]] |volume=77|pages=157–173}}
*{{cite web|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants|url=http://www.bsi.org/brom_info/cultivar/ICNCP.html|publisher=Bromeliad Society International|access-date=2 January 2017|type=Address given by the Secretary of the International Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature and Registration at the opening meeting|date=7 September 1952a|archive-date=18 April 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418020002/http://www.bsi.org/brom_info/cultivar/ICNCP.html|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|title=E. A. Bowles (1885–1954), the man and his garden|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society]]|date=July–August 1955|volume=80|pages=317–326, 366–376}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=''Allium cyathophorum'' var. ''farreri''|journal=[[Curtis's Botanical Magazine]]|year=1955a|volume=170 (new series)|pages=tab. 252}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=A Botanist's random impressions of Jamaica|journal=[[Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London]]|date=April 1959b|volume=170|issue=2|pages=134–147|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1959.tb00839.x}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Botanical exploration to the time of Linnaeus|journal=[[Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London]]|date=December 1958|volume=169|issue=3|pages=173–196|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1958.tb01472.x}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|title=The Background of Linnaeus's Contributions to the Nomenclature and Methods of Systematic Biology|journal=[[Systematic Zoology]]|date=January 1959a|volume=8|issue=1|pages=4–22|doi=10.2307/2411603|jstor=2411603}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Mrs. Agnes Arber: Botanist and Philosopher, 1879–1960|journal=[[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]]|type=Reprint of obituary in ''The Times'' 24 March 1960|date=December 1960|volume=9|issue=9|pages=261–263|jstor=1217828|doi=10.1002/j.1996-8175.1960.tb02799.x}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Franz Bauer and Ferdinand Bauer, masters of botanical illustration|journal=Endeavour |series=First Series|date=1960a|volume=19|pages=27–35}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The Influence of Leyden on Botany in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries|journal=[[The British Journal for the History of Science]]|date=1 January 1962|volume=1|issue=2|pages=137–158|jstor=4025129|doi=10.1017/s0007087400001321|s2cid=145329825}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|year=1965|title=The Origin and Later Development of Cultivated Plants |journal=Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society|volume=90|pages=279–291, 322–341}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The five brethren of the rose: An old botanical riddle|journal=[[Huntia]]|date=15 October 1965a|volume=2|pages=180–184|url=http://www.huntbotanical.org/admin/uploads/11hibd-huntia-2-pp180-184.pdf}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Sibthorp, Smith, the 'Flora Graeca' and the 'Florae Graecae Prodromus'|journal=[[Taxon (journal)|Taxon]]|date=1 January 1967|volume=16|issue=3|pages=168–178|doi=10.2307/1216982|jstor=1216982}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The Jamaican species of ''Columnea'' and ''Alloplectus'' (Gesneriaceae)|journal=Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), Botany|year=1969|volume=4|issue=5|pages=179–236|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/19459#page/233/mode/1up}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=From Theophrastus and Dioscorides to Sibthorp and Smith: the background and origin of the Flora Graeca|journal=[[Biological Journal of the Linnean Society]]|date=December 1976|volume=8|issue=4|pages=285–298|doi=10.1111/j.1095-8312.1976.tb00251.x|pmid=11631653|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1976a}}}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The Earliest European Acquaintance with Tropical Vegetation|journal=Gardens' Bulletin, Singapore|date=August 1977|volume=29|pages=13–18|url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/43625470#page/25/mode/1up}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Stearn|first1=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=European species of ''Allium'' and allied genera of Alliaceae; a synonymic enumeration|journal=[[Annales Musei Goulandris]]|year=1978|volume=4|pages=83–198}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The genus ''Allium'' in the Balkan Peninsula.|journal=Botanische Jahrbücher|date=1981a|volume=102|pages=201–203}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|year=1986|title=Historical Survey of the Naming of Cultivated Plants|journal=[[Acta Horticulturae]]|volume=182|issue=182|pages=18–28|doi=10.17660/ActaHortic.1986.182.1 }}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The Wilkins Lecture, 1985: John Wilkins, John Ray and Carl Linnaeus|journal=[[Notes and Records of the Royal Society]]|date=1 May 1986a|volume=40|issue=2|pages=101–123|doi=10.1098/rsnr.1986.0007|s2cid=145353174|language=en|issn=0035-9149}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=List of publications of John S. L. Gilmour|journal=[[Plant Systematics and Evolution]]|year=1989a|volume=167|issue=1–2|pages=109–112|doi=10.1007/BF00936553|bibcode=1989PSyEv.167..109S |s2cid=677643}}
*{{cite journal|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Society for the Bibliography of Natural History, later the Society for the History of Natural History, 1936–1985. A quinquagenary record|journal=[[Archives of Natural History]]|date=October 2007|orig-date=1986|volume=34|issue=2|pages=379–396 (sup. 1–15)|doi=10.3366/anh.2007.34.2.379}}

====Books====
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=William T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Stearn's dictionary of plant names for gardeners: a handbook on the origin and meaning of the botanical names of some cultivated plants|date=2002|orig-date=Cassell: 1972|publisher=Timber Press|location=Portland, Oregon|isbn=978-0-88192-556-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5DiLBkjQmUkC}}
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=William T.|title=Flower artists of Kew: botanical paintings by contemporary artists|date=1990|publisher=Herbert Press in association with the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|location=London|isbn=978-1-871569-16-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rQBFAAAAYAAJ}}

====Chapters====
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=A bibliography of the books and contributions to periodicals written by Reginald Farrer, with obituaries etc.|pages=99–113|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1930a}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Cox|1930}}
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|title=Botanical gardens and botanical literature in the eighteenth century|pages=xli–cxl|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1961}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Hunt et al.|1958–1961}} vol.&nbsp;2
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Berberidaceae|pages=244–245|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1964}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Tutin et al.|1964–1980}} vol.&nbsp;1
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Vinca. Lycium|pages=69, 193–194|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1972}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Tutin et al.|1964–1980}} vol.&nbsp;3
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=The principles of botanical nomenclature, their basis and history|pages=86–101|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1973}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Green|1973}}
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link=William T. Stearn|title=Allium. Nectaroscordum. Nothoscordum|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v11xJgWbUDcC&pg=PA50|pages=49–70|isbn=978-0-521-20108-7|year=1980|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Tutin et al.|1964–1980}} vol.&nbsp;5
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Nandina, Ranzania, Epimedium, Vancouveria, Jeffersonia, Caulophyllum, Gymnospermium, Bongardia, Diphylleia, Podophyllum (Berberidaceae)|pages=370–371, 389–396|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKOyo9qv2HsC|isbn=978-0-521-76151-2|date=1989|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Cullen et al.|2011}} vol.&nbsp;3 (vol.&nbsp;2: pp.&nbsp;390, 410''ff'' in 2nd. ed.){{efn|group=Bibliography|Written for first edition of ''European Garden Flora'' in 1989, reprinted posthumously in second edition in 2011}}
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|title=Alliaceae; Amaryllidaceae|pages=75–87|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1994}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Noltie|1994}}
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Paeonia|pages=17–23|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zKOyo9qv2HsC&pg=PA445|isbn=978-0-521-76151-2|date=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Cullen et al.|2011}} vol.&nbsp;4 (vol.&nbsp;2: pp.&nbsp;444''ff'' in 2nd. ed.)
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=W. T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=The life, times and achievements of John Lindley, 1799–1865|pages=15–72|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1999a}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Stearn|1999}}
{{refend}}

===Collaborative and edited work===
{{refbegin}}

====Books and articles====
*{{cite book|last=Baumann|first=Hellmut|title=Die griechische Pflanzenwelt in Mythos, Kunst und Literatur|trans-title=The Greek Plant World in Myth, Art, and Literature|others=trans. William Thomas Stearn, Eldwyth Ruth Stearn|date=1993|orig-date=1986|publisher=Timber Press|location=Portland, Oregon|isbn=9780881922318|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-jNFAQAAIAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last1=Blatter|first1=Ethelbert|last2=Millard|first2=Walter Samuel|author-link1=Ethelbert Blatter|author-link2=Walter Samuel Millard|title=Some Beautiful Indian Trees|date=1954|orig-date=1937|edition=2nd|publisher=[[Bombay Natural History Society]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U660AAAAIAAJ|isbn= 978-0-19-562162-4}}
*{{cite book|last1=Blunt|first1=Wilfred|last2=Stearn|first2=William|author-link1=Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=Captain Cook's Florilegium: A Selection of Engravings from the Drawings of Plants Collected by Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander on Captain Cook's First Voyage to the Islands of the Pacific|url=http://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/blunt-wilfrid-and-william-t.-stearn.-captain-co-320-c-941ddf774a|date=1973|publisher=Lion and Unicorn Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-902490-12-3}} (see [[Banks' Florilegium]])
*{{cite book|last=Blunt|first=Wilfrid|others=Introduction by William T. Stearn|author-link1=Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt|title=Linnaeus: the complete naturalist|date=2001|publisher=Princeton University Press|location=Princeton, New Jersey|isbn=978-0-691-09636-0|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m6lsDLevuJ4C}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Bowles|first1=E. A.|last2=Stearn|first2=W. T.|author-link1=E.A. Bowles|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=The History of ''Anemone japonica''|journal=[[Journal of the Royal Horticultural Society]]|year=1947|volume=72|pages=261–268, 297–308}}
*{{cite book|last=Desmond|first=Ray|title=Dictionary of British and Irish botanists and horticulturists: including plant collectors, flower painters and garden designers|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=thmPzIltAV8C|date=1994|orig-date=1977|publisher=Taylor & Francis|location=London|isbn=978-0-85066-843-8|edition=2nd}}
*{{cite book|last1=Gage|first1=Andrew Thomas|last2=Stearn|first2=William Thomas|author-link1=Andrew Thomas Gage|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=A bicentenary history of the Linnean Society of London|date=1988|orig-date=1938|edition=Revised|publisher=[[Academic Press]]|location=London|isbn=978-0-12-273150-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vNbaAAAAMAAJ}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Gilmour|first1=John|last2=Stearn|first2=W. T.|author-link1=John Gilmour (botanist)|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=Schedae ad Herbarium Florae Cantabrigiensis. Decades I—II Schedae ad Sertum Cantabrigiense Exsiccatum Decades I—II|url=http://archive.bsbi.org.uk/Journal_of_Botany_1932.pdf|journal=[[Journal of Botany, British and Foreign|Journal of Botany]]|year=1932|volume=70 sup.|pages=1–29}}
*{{cite journal|last1=Goodwin|first1=G. H.|last2=Stearn|first2=W. T.|last3=Townsend|first3=A. C.|author-link2=W. T. Stearn|title=A catalogue of papers concerning the dates of publication of natural history books. Fourth supplement|journal=[[Journal of the Society for the Bibliography of Natural History]]|date=January 1962|volume=4|issue=1|pages=1–19|doi=10.3366/jsbnh.1962.4.1.1}}
*{{cite book|last1=Goulimis|first1=Constantine|last2=Stearn|first2=William T.|author-link1=Constantine Goulimis|author-link2=William T. Stearn|others=Illustrated by [[Niki Goulandris]]|title=Wild Flowers of Greece|date=1968|publisher=[[Goulandris Natural History Museum]]|location=Athens}}
*{{cite book|last1=Hara|first1=Hiroshi|last2=Stearn|first2=William Thomas|last3=Williams|first3=L. H. J.|author-link1=Hiroshi Hara (botanist)|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=An enumeration of the flowering plants of Nepal. 3 vols.|date=1978–1982|publisher=[[Trustees of British Museum (Natural History)|Trustees of British Museum]]|location=London|isbn=978-0-565-00777-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_O06AQAAIAAJ|ref={{harvid|Hara et al.|1978–1982}}}}
*{{cite book|last=Linnaeus|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Linnaeus|editor1-last=Stearn|editor1-first=William T.|editor-link=William T. Stearn|title=Species plantarum 2 vols.|year=1753|publisher=[[Ray Society]]|location=London|edition=[[Facsimile]] 1957–1959 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E1s1AAAAIAAJ}} (see ''[[Species plantarum]]'')
*{{cite book|last=Linnaeus|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Linnaeus|editor1-last=Stearn|editor1-first=William T.|editor-link=William T. Stearn|
title=Genera plantarum|year=1754|edition=5th [[Facsimile]] 1960|chapter=Notes on Linnaeus's Genera plantarum, pp.&nbsp;v–xxiv|publisher=J. Cramer|location=Weinheim|series=Historiae naturalis classica}} (see ''[[Genera plantarum]]'')
*{{cite book|last=Linnaeus|first=Carl|author-link=Carl Linnaeus|editor1-last=Stearn|editor1-first=William T.|editor-link=William T. Stearn|
title=Mantissa plantarum|date=1767–1771|edition=[[Facsimile]] 1961|chapter= Introductory notes, pp.&nbsp;v–xxiv|publisher = J. Cramer|location=Weinheim|series=Historiae naturalis classica}} (see ''[[Mantissa plantarum altera|Mantissa plantarum]]'')
*{{cite journal|last=Raven|first=J. E.|author-link1=J. E. Raven|title=Plants and plant lore in ancient Greece, with an introduction by William T. Stearn|journal=[[Annales Musei Goulandris]]|year=1990|volume=8|pages=129–180}}
*{{cite book|last=Raven|first=J.E.|author-link=John Raven|editor1-last=Stearn|editor1-first=W.T.|editor-link=William Thomas Stearn|title=Plants and plant lore in ancient Greece|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RvHaAAAAMAAJ|year=2000|publisher=Leopard's Press|location=Oxford|isbn=978-0-904920-40-6}}
*{{cite book|last=Sitwell|first=Sacheverell|author-link1=Sacheverell Sitwell|editor-last=Synge|editor-first=Patrick Millington|title=Great flower books, 1700–1900: a bibliographical record of two centuries of finely-illustrated flower books|year=1990|orig-date=1956 London: Collins|publisher=Witherby|location=London|isbn=978-0-85493-202-3|edition=New|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2ddNAQAAIAAJ}}{{efn|group=Bibliography|Notes on the flowers represented in the plates, by P. M. Synge, The romance of the flower book, by S. Sitwell, The illustrators of the great flower books, by [[Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt|W. Blunt]], An introduction to the bibliography, by P. M. Synge, The bibliography, by [[W. T. Stearn]], Sabine Wilson, and Handasyde Buchanan, with a foreword by S. Dillon Ripley<ref group=Bibliography>{{harvnb|RBMS |2016}}</ref>}}
**Reviews: [https://web.archive.org/web/20161201035311/http://www.masshort.org/great-flower-books-1700-1900 Review: Massachusetts Horticultural Society]
*{{cite book|editor-last=Stearn|editor-first=W. T.|editor-link=William T. Stearn|title=International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants formulated and adopted by the International Botanical Congress Committee for the Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants and the International Committee on Horticultural Nomenclature and Registration at the Thirteenth International Horticultural Congress, London, September 1952.|year=1953|publisher=[[Royal Horticultural Society]]|location=London}}
*{{cite book|editor-last=Stearn|editor-first=William T.|editor-link=William T. Stearn|title=John Ray, Synopsis Methodica Stirpum Britannicarum. Third edition 1724. Carl Linnaeus, Flora Anglica. 1754 & 1759|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y4MLAQAAIAAJ|year=1973a|publisher=Ray Society|pages=1–90|chapter=Ray, Dillenius, Linnaeus and the Synopsis methodica Stirpium Britannicarum|isbn=978-0-903874-00-7}}
*{{cite book|last=Stearn|first=William T.|others=Introduction by [[Wilfrid Jasper Walter Blunt|Wilfrid Blunt]]|title=The Australian flower paintings of Ferdinand Bauer|year=1976|publisher=Basilisk Press|location=London|isbn=978-0-905013-01-5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_mY3uwAACAAJ}} (see [[Ferdinand Bauer]])
**{{cite journal|last=Green|first=P. S.|author-link=Peter Shaw Green|title=A Selection of Australian Flower Paintings by Ferdinand Bauer|journal=[[Journal of the Adelaide Botanic Garden]]|year=1977|volume=1|issue=2|pages=145–149|type=Review|url=https://data.environment.sa.gov.au/Content/Publications/JABG01P145_Green.pdf}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=William T.|last2=Bridson|first2=Gavin|author-link1=W. T. Stearn|title=Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778): a bicentenary guide to the career and achievements of Linnaeus and the collections of the Linnean society|date=1978|publisher=[[Linnean Society]]|location=London|isbn=978-0-9506207-0-1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P9NOAQAAIAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=W. T.|last2=Davis|first2=P. H.|author-link1=W. T. Stearn|author-link2=Peter Hadland Davis|title=Peonies of Greece: A Taxonomic and Historical Survey of the Genus Paeonia in Greece|date=1984|publisher=[[Goulandris Natural History Museum]]|location=Athens|isbn=978-0-565-00975-5}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=W. T.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Biographical and bibliographical introduction to John Raven's lectures on Greek plants|pages=130–138|ref={{harvid|Stearn|1990a}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Raven|1990}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=William T.|last2=Brickell|first2=Christopher|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=An English florilegium: flowers, trees, shrubs, fruits, herbs, the Tradescant legacy. Watercolour paintings by Mary Grierson|date=1987|publisher=Thames and Hudson|location=London|isbn=978-0-500-23486-0}}
*{{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=William T.|last2=Roach|first2=Frederick A.|title=Hooker's finest fruits: a selection of paintings of fruits by William Hooker (1779–1832)|year=1989|publisher=Prentice Hall Press|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-13-394545-4}} (see [[William Hooker (botanical illustrator)|William Hooker]])
*{{cite book|last1=Stewart|first1=Joyce|last2=Stearn|first2=William T.|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=The orchid paintings of Franz Bauer|date=1993|publisher=Herbert, in association with the Natural History Museum|location=London|isbn=978-1-871569-58-2|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GZqRQgAACAAJ}}
*{{cite book|last1=Woodcock|first1=Hubert Bayley Drysdale|last2=Stearn|first2=William Thomas|author-link1=H. B. D. Woodcock|author-link2=William T. Stearn|title=Lilies of the World: Their Cultivation & Classification|date=1950|publisher=[[Country Life (books)|Country Life]]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4PTPAAAAMAAJ}}

====Chapters====
* {{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=W. T.|last2=Campbell|first2=E.|author-link1=William T. Stearn|title=Allium|pages=231–246|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CkxWrDqtWLQC&pg=PA133|isbn=978-0-521-76147-5|ref={{harvid|Stearn|Campbell|1986}}|date=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press }}, in {{harvtxt|Cullen et al.|2011}} vol.&nbsp;2 (vol.&nbsp;1: pp.&nbsp;133–146 in 2nd. ed.)
* {{cite book|last1=Stearn|first1=W. T.|last2=Landström|first2=T.|title=Ornithogalum|pages=686–694|ref={{harvid|Stearn|Landström|1991}}}}, in {{harvtxt|Strid|Tan|1991}}{{refend}}

===Websites===
{{refbegin}}
*{{cite web|last1=BSA|author-link=Botanical Society of America|title=Botanical Society of America|url=http://botany.org/|year=2017|access-date=11 January 2017}}
*{{cite web|last1=BSBI|author-link=Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland|title=Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland|url=http://bsbi.org/|access-date=2 December 2016|date=April 2016}}
*{{cite web|title=Cambridge 2000|url=http://www.cambridge2000.com/cambridge2000/index.html|access-date=4 January 2017|year=2016|ref={{harvid|Cambridge 2000|2016}}}}
*{{cite web|title=Cambridge University Herbarium|url=http://cambridgeherbarium.org/|publisher=Department of Plant Sciences, Cambridge University|access-date=15 December 2016|ref={{harvid|Herbarium|2016a}}|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160918225918/http://cambridgeherbarium.org/|archive-date=18 September 2016|url-status=dead}}
*{{cite web|last1=CUP|author-link=Cambridge University Press|title=A Brief History of the Press|url=http://www.cambridge.org/about-us/who-we-are/history/brief-history-press/|website=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge, England|year=2017}}
*{{cite web|last=Geograph|author-link=Geograph|title=Geograph Britain and Ireland|url=https://www.geograph.org.uk/|publisher=Geograph Project Limited|year=2011|access-date=7 February 2017}}
*{{cite web|last=GMNH|author-link=Goulandris Museum of Natural History|title=The Museum|url=http://www.gnhm.gr/en/the-museum/|publisher=Goulandris Museum of Natural History|access-date=28 December 2016|location=Athens|ref={{harvid|GMNH|2016}}}}
*{{cite web|last1=IAPT|author-link=International Association for Plant Taxonomy|title=International Association for Plant Taxonomy|url=http://www.iapt-taxon.org|year=2016|access-date=7 February 2017}}
*{{cite web|last1=Linnean Society|author-link=Linnean Society|title=The Linnean Society of London|url=https://www.linnean.org/|access-date=14 December 2016|year=2016}}
*{{cite web|last1=Ray Society|author-link=Ray Society|title=Home Page|url=http://www.raysociety.org.uk/|publisher=Ray Society|access-date=12 January 2017|ref={{harvid|Ray Society|2017}}}}
*{{cite web|last1=RBMS|author-link=Rare Books and Manuscripts Section|title=Sitwell, S. Great flower books, 1700–1900 |url=https://rbms.info/scf/?scf_entries=sitwell-s-great-flower-books-1700-1900|website=Standard Citation Forms for Rare Materials Cataloging|publisher=American Library Association|access-date=30 November 2016|ref={{harvid|RBMS|2016}}|date=12 September 2013}}
*{{cite web|last1=RHS|author-link=Royal Horticultural Society|title=Royal Horticultural Society|url=https://www.rhs.org.uk/|access-date=1 December 2016|year=2016}}
*{{cite web|last1=SHNH|author-link=Society for the History of Natural History|title=Society for the History of Natural History|url=http://shnh.org.uk/|access-date=5 December 2016|ref={{harvid|SHNH|2016}}}}
*{{cite web|last1=TPL|author-link=The Plant List|title=The Plant List Version 1.1|url=http://www.theplantlist.org/|publisher =[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] and [[Missouri Botanical Garden]]|access-date=7 July 2015|year=2013}}
*{{cite web|last=WCLSPF|author-link=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families|title= World Checklist of Selected Plant Families|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/|access-date=8 August 2015|publisher=[[Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew]] |ref={{harvid|WCLSPF|2015}} }}
{{refend}}

===Images===
{{refbegin}}
*{{anchor|1904image}}{{cite web|title=Cambridge University Botany School 1904|url=http://www.plantsci.cam.ac.uk/about/images/1904|website=[[Cambridge University Department of Plant Sciences]]|access-date=14 December 2016|type=Photograph}}
*{{anchor|MJRS}}{{cite web|title=Milton Road Junior School, Cambridge|url=http://www.cambridge2000.com/cambridge2000/html/0006/P6071149.html|publisher=Cambridge 2000|type=Photograph|access-date=4 January 2017|date=7 June 2000}}
*{{anchor|1950Image}} {{cite web|title=William Stearn 1950|url=http://www.huntbotanical.org/OrderFromChaos/OFC-Images/OFC-PortraitsTwo/Stearn.jpg|publisher=[[Hunt Institute]]|access-date=4 January 2017|type=Photograph}}
*{{anchor|17HPR}}{{cite web|title=Stearn's house at 17 High Park Road, Kew Gardens (with Blue Door)|url=https://www.google.ca/maps/@51.4752313,-0.2811443,3a,75y,199.35h,87.76t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sJ4WktKNl0znMuMh2LdIDtg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656|publisher=[[Google Street View]]|access-date=25 February 2018|date=August 2014|type=Photograph}}
*{{anchor|Woodcock}}{{cite web|title=Front matter Woodcock and Coutt's ''Lilies'' 1935|url=https://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/BookDetailsPL?bi=12842384484&searchurl=tn%3Dlilies%2Bculture%2Bmanagement%26sortby%3D17%26an%3Dwoodcock%2Bdrysdale%2Bcoutts#&gid=1&pid=1|website=Abe Books|access-date=26 March 2017|type=Image}}
{{refend}}

===Bibliographic notes===
{{notelist|group=Bibliography}}

====Citations for bibliographic notes====
{{reflist|group=Bibliography}}
{{div col end}}

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{plantlist|Stearn}}

{{Presidents of the Linnean Society of London}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Stearn, William T.}}
[[Category:1911 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Chesterton, Cambridge]]
[[Category:British botanists]]
[[Category:British taxonomists]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Employees of the Natural History Museum, London]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the British Empire]]
[[Category:Commanders of the Order of the Polar Star]]
[[Category:Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Linnean Medallists]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Linnean Society of London]]
[[Category:Veitch Memorial Medal recipients]]
[[Category:Victoria Medal of Honour recipients]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in England]]