Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, (born June 30, 1817, Halesworth, Suffolk, England—died December 10, 1911, Sunningdale, Berkshire), English botanist noted for his botanical travels and studies and for his encouragement of Charles Darwin and of Darwin’s theories. The younger son of Sir William Jackson Hooker, he was assistant director of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew from 1855 to 1865 and, succeeding his father, was then director from 1865 to 1885.