Adriaan van Royen

Adriaan van Royen was born on 11 November 1704 in Leiden and passed away on 28 February 1779, also in Leiden. He was a Dutch botanist.

Van Royen was a professor at Leiden University and worked with the famous scientist Carl Linnaeus.

He is best known for his plant studies in Southeast Asia. In 1737 to 1738, Linnaeus visited the Leiden Botanic Garden, and the two scientists became good working partners.

In 1728, van Royen was chosen as a Fellow of the Royal Society. Some plant names, like Royena and Melastoma royenii, honor his work in botany. Today, when scientists name a plant, they can use "Royen" to show he was the first to describe it.