Jaques Étienne Gay (1786 in Switzerland – 1864) was a Swiss-French botanist, civil servant, collector and taxonomist. His name is associated with plants in standardised botanical nomenclature, e.g. Crocus sieberi J.Gay. He was the most famous of the students of botanist Jean François Aimée Gaudin with whom he began collecting plants at the age of 14. He was married to Rosalie Nillion.
The botanical genus Gaya[1] was named in his honour,[2] as well as the genus Neogaya belonging to the family Apiaceae.[3] Also the species Potamogeton gayi A.Benn. in 1892.[4]
List of botanists by author abbreviation