Nils Johan Andersson (20 February 1821 Gärdserum,
Småland,
Sweden - 27 March 1880
Stockholm), was a Swedish botanist and traveller. He studied at
Uppsala University between 1840-45 obtaining a
DSc. On 30 September 1851 he accompanied the Swedish expedition as botanist aboard the frigate
"HMS Eugenie", sailing from
Karlskrona under the command of Captain Christian Adolf Virgin (1797-1870), on the first Swedish circumnavigation, calling at
Honolulu,
Tahiti,
San Francisco,
Sydney and
Manila, various South American ports, the
Galapagos,
Hong Kong and
Singapore. On this voyage he collected at the
Cape of Good Hope in April 1853. Returning to Sweden, he was appointed Professor of Botany at
Lund University. He was also director of the Botanical Department of the
Swedish Museum of Natural History and the
Hortus Bergianus in Stockholm. His special interests were
Salix,
Cyperaceae and
Gramineae and he published numerous papers on the systematics and morphology of these taxa.