In a short hour, Norman took his audience through the civilized history of the famous names of botany. Following appropriate reference to the ancient founders of the science – Theophrastus, Pliny and Aristotle, and the great Linnaeus (Carl von Linne) – he concentrated firstly on those unusual British, many of whom were certified eccentrics, who contributed so much to the broadening of horticulture in the western world. In the beginning – in 1656 – there was R. hirsutum. By 1800 there were only 12 species known. Sir Joseph Banks, gentleman amateur, set the stage first, with his voyages of collection, and after, in the affairs of England’s Royal Societies and the development of Kew Gardens. He sponsored Archibald Menzies, who sailed and rowed (fought) with George Vancouver, discovered R. macrophyllum, and stood “For King and Kew”. Robert Fortune’s travels to China were fraught with danger: his native disguises and battling with pirates speak to his fearless nature. Cryptomeria japonica and Berberis bealii were among his findings. R fortunei is his heritage, used by Lionel de Rothschild to make ‘Naomi’, and by Sir Edmund Loder for ‘Loderi’. And the Hookers, father Sir William Jackson –, director of Kew and son Sir Joseph, companion of Ross to Antarctica, friend of Darwin and introducer of 30 Sikkim rhodos. From his travels in 1849, Sir Joseph produced falconeri, griffithianum, thomsonii, cinnabarinum and campylocarpum.
In the early 19th century, came the French Missionaries, whose success in botanical discovery far outshone their harvesting of new souls for Christianity: Pere Jean Pierre Armand David – R. calophytum, strigillosum, moupinense, decorum, davidii; Jean Marie Delavay – R. ciliicalyx, yunnanense, racemosum, irroratum; Paul Guilliaume Farges – R. sutchuenense, fargesii. Lilium giganteum (cardocrinum). And the martyrs to the science: Jean Andre Soulie, tortured and shot by Tibetan natives, notwithstanding his high cheekbones and mastery of the local dialects, and Monberg, his successor, grotesquely murdered in turn. It is well that contemporary ‘rhodo-infatuates’, who, when rejoicing in their mastery of these convoluted plant names, should ponder the lives and fates of their dedicated discoverers.
Approaching those of living memory, were Augustine Henry (1856-1930), incidental collector alongside his early role as a Customs clerk in China: 5000 species; R. auriculatum, augustinii, davidia involucrata. Then the era of Ernest Henry “Chinese” Wilson (1876-1930), expert planner, photographer, and recorder. Successful in collecting seed of the handkerchief tree; brought back 6000 bulbs of Lilium regale; Cornus chinensis, Meconopsis integrilfolia, Hydrangea sargentii, R.williamsianum, Magnolia wilsonii. The Tibetan/China travels of George Forrest (1873-1932) were hair-raising in their perils (well recounted by Clint Smith at Cowichan 2000). From his three expeditions, a wealth of seeds and bulbs were garnered: R.arizelum, didymium, giganteum, griersonianum, lacteum, oreotrephes, sinogrande, repens, radicans, valentinianum. Reginald Farrer (1880-1920) was the classical rock gardener, who wrote “in plumes of adjectival rhapsody”. (What a delicious addiction – Ed)
Moving towards the contemporary era, Frank Kingdon Ward made 22 expeditions in 45 years and wrote 25 books, of which ‘The Riddle of the Tsangpo Gorge” is famous. R. pemakoense, leucaspis, auritum, montroseanum, venator, and Meconopsis betonicifolia, Primula florindae are among his contributions. Kingdon Ward taught our VRS colleague, Norman Paddock. And then Joseph Rock (1884-1962), supreme learner (fluent in 8 languages), wanderer from birthplace Vienna, penniless in NYCity, through Cuba and Mexico to Texas, Hawaii and California, and thence to China in 1921. Collector of 20,000 herbarium specimens. Famously cantankerous. Once visited Victoria, and stayed with Albert de Mezey.
Norman’s lecture, of which this account is a mere summary, represented a prodigious effort of research across several centuries. In his typical fashion, he brought those long dead botanical giants to life, some through sepia-toned photos, and others through tales of their various humours and follies. We heard of Miss Harriet Blosset, embroiderer of waistcoats for George III, jilted by Sir Joseph Banks, claiming ‘…he was too volatile a temper to marry.’ Of Robert Fortune, needlessly carrying 20,000 tea seedlings from China to India’s Assam, of all places the famous source of this plant. Of Sir Joseph Hooker whose imprisonment in Sikkim, along with his tortured and slain countryman, Campbell, led to that region’s annexation by the British.
Norman’s audience was highly stimulated and amused in turn. And this reporter is grateful for Norman’s decency in loaning his lecture notes.
In his 5 Minute presentation, Bill Dale spoke of the Fraser Days’, upcoming in Ucluelet on May 18th, and told of George Fraser’s import of Erythronium ‘Revoltun’ from Kew in 1938.