Joseph Dalton Hooker

Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911) was one of the foremost English botanists. He led a number of important botanical expeditions and served for twenty years as director of Kew Gardens. He was a very close friend of Charles Darwin and an early defender of Darwin's theory of natural selection; Darwin once described him as "the one living soul from whom I have constantly received sympathy". As you can see, for much of his life he wore a truly remarkable neckbeard (and also some impressive eyebrows).