Genus Hewittia

Possibly for Hewett Cottrell Watson (1804–1881), English phrenologist, botanist and evolutionary theorist, who, among many achievements, edited The London Catalogue of British Plants from 1844–1874. Robert Wight (1796–1872) met Watson after returning from India in 1831 and spent three years recovering from illness before returning to india. In 1832 Wight met Hewett, and they went botanising together in the Scottish Highlands. Wight often made spelling mistakes when naming flowers, and it is possible that ‘Hewittia’ would then be a misspelling of ‘Hewett’. The genus was first described in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science in 1837.