Kidston, Robert

Robert Kidston, (born June 29, 1852, Bishopston House, Renfrewshire, Scot.—died July 13, 1924, Gilfach Goch, Glamorganshire, Wales), English paleobotanist, noted for his discoveries and descriptions of plant fossils from the Devonian Period (about 416 million to 359 million years ago).

Kidston studied botany at the University of Edinburgh, and in 1880 he became honorary paleobotanist to the British Geological Survey. In this first period of his work, which lasted until 1904, he studied the floristic, systemic, and stratigraphical characteristics of Paleozoic fossil plants. The high calibre of his research won him wide recognition. He was engaged to prepare catalogs of Paleozoic plants for various institutions, including the British Museum.

During the second period (1904–22) of his work, Kidston was principally concerned with morphological problems. With William Henry Lang of Victoria University in Manchester, he studied the silicified plants of the Rhynie Chert bed of the Devonian period. Kidston and Lang discovered a new class of vascular cryptogams (plants that do not produce flowers or seeds) and three new genera. This discovery has been called one of the greatest contributions to the knowledge of Devonian plants. Kidston was writing The Fossil Plants of the Carboniferous Rocks of Great Britain (6 parts, 1923–25) when he died.