Thomas Gibson Lea (December 14, 1785 – September 30, 1844) was an American botanist who was born in Wilmington, Delaware.
[1] He was the older brother of the publisher, Isaac Lea and the younger brother of John Lea (1782 – 1862), who is known for his study of a cholera outbreak in Cincinnati, Ohio.
[2] Lea was honored alongside Miles Joseph Berkeley (1803 – 1889; an English cryptogamist and clergyman) in the naming of Berkleasmium in 1854, which is a genus of fungi belonging to the family Dematiaceae.
[3] Lea also lends his name to the lichen Phaeophyscia leana.
[4]