Elva Lawton (April 3, 1896 – February 3, 1993) was an American botanist and bryologist known for her research on ferns early in her career and her late-career comprehensive study of the mosses of the Western United States.

She then moved to the University of Michigan for her doctoral studies and received her Ph.D. in 1932 with a dissertation on induced polyploidy and regeneration in ferns.

[1] During her doctoral studies, Lawton earned a fellowship and was a laboratory assistant in the Michigan department of botany; she was also a biology instructor at Hunter College.

While at Hunter, she did research at the Michigan Biological Station (in 1949) and at the University of Iowa's Lakeside Laboratory (in 1950–1953).

[4] Lawton was a member of the Torrey Botanical Club and served as an officer from 1947 to 1954 and president in 1955.