A black and white photo of John Macoun sporting a full beard and bow-tie.
Photo credit - Natural Resources Canada

Born in Ontario, Canada, John Macoun was a professor of botany at Albert College in Belleville, ON. He collected extensively in that area and eventually became the head botanist of the national museum in Ottawa. His collecting, traveling and research led to his publishing the in 1883. In the preface to his book, Macoun (1883) pays tribute to ɬ﷬'s herbarium by mentioning that "[its] collections are from all parts of Canada, but chiefly from Quebec, and are of great scientific interest” (vi).

The Macoun centennial collection is currently housed at ɬ﷬ Herbarium, including a large number of sheets from geological and natural history surveys that were conducted across Canada.