Jardim Formoso

Friday, 26 December 2008

Nathaniel Wallich

Nathaniel Wallich (1786-1854)

Wallich was a Dane, born at Copenhagen as Nathan ben Wulff. After studies in Medicine and Botany he entered the service of the Danish East India Company (aged 21) and was stationed at Frederiksnagore (Serampore). He arrived in India in November 1807, but just a few months later (January 1808) the British occupied Danish India, and Wallich was taken fugitive. As prisoner of war, in 1809, he was assigned to work with William Roxburgh in the Calcutta Botanic Gardens. He joined the Bengal Medical Service (Honorable East India Company) in 1814. From 1815-1846 he was Superintendent of the Botanical gardens. Whilst superintendent he published Tentamen flora nepalensis illustratae (1824-26) and Plantae asiaticae Rariories (1830-32). Superintendent of the Oriental Museum of the Asiatic Society. Dr. Nathaniel Wallich took charge of the Museum on June 1, 1814.

Arum tortuosum. From Plantae Asiaticae Rariores; or, Descriptions and Figures of a Select Number of Unpublished East Indian Plants. Printed by Englemann, Graf, Coindet & Co. Published in London.

In 1812 as convalescence from Malaria, Wallich travelled to Mauritius. Many plants collected on this trip were sent to Calcutta. He visited Nepal in 1820-22 and then proceeded with an investigation of the Bay of Bengal, Penang and the Straits of Malacca. A year later he was exploring the kingdom of Oude and the provinces of Rohilcund and Kamoan. In 1826-27 Burma, Tenasserim and Martaban were visited. In 1835 he explored Asssam and the interior of the Cape Colony of South Africa.

During his years as Superintendent of the Calcutta Botanic Garden he distributed more than 190,000 live plants to more than 2000 gardens in India, Europe, North and South America, South Africa and Australia.

Among the new plants that he found were many new rhododendrons, Amherstia nobilis (named for his life-long friend Lady Amherst) and Hedychium gardnerianum (Khalili ginger). Wallich introduced many plants from colder zones in the north of India which proved to be of easier cultivation in European gardens.

Amherstia nobilis from Plantae Asiaticae Rariores

His obituary posted in the 1856 Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, of which he served as a vice president, gives a full account of his life and works.(See also Plant Explorers.com)

Organ Mountains

The Organ Mountains "that rich storehouse of vegetable beauties." As described in volume XVI of Curtis's Botanical Magazine. In 1843 this periodical descibed a number of plants lately introduced from these coastal forests.

3973 Siphocampylus betulaefolius (Lobeliaceae). Introduced by Mr Gardner, originally discovered by Sello. Flowered 1842.
3976 Echites splendens (Apocynaceae). Introduced by Lobb to the nurseryman Veitch at Mount Radford, Exeter in 1841.
3977 Rondeletia Longiflora (Rubiacaceae). Another Veitch introduction. Flowered 1842.
3990 Begonia coccinea (Begoniaceae). Lobb, collecting for the Veitch Exotic Nursery in 1841. Flowered 1842.
3992 Ilex Paraguayensis - Maté or Paraguay Tea. Grown at Monserrate. Native of Paraguay but extending north to Organ Mountains.
3995 Gesneria polyantha (Gesneriaceae). Veitch by Lobb. Flowered 1842. Also Gardner, nº 467.
3997 Echites hirsuta (Apocynaceae) Veich by Lobb.
3999 Fuchsia alpestris (Onagraceae). Collected by Gardner and sent by him to Murray at the Glasgow Botanic Garden. 1841.
4007 Pleroma benthianum (Melastomaceae). Gardener. Flowered in 1842 at the Glasgow Botanic Garden. [Looks like a Tibouchina]
4009 Passiflora actinia
4015 Siphocampylos longepedunculatus (Lobeliaceae). Introduced by Gardner; coll. nº 465. Originally discovered by Pohl - see his figure in Plants of Brazil. Flowered 1823 (?).
4047 Hypocyrta strigillosa (Gesneriaceae). Veitch/Lobb. Collected from Organ Mountains, but, found throughout Tropical Brazil.

George Gardner was the sometime superintendent of the Royal Botanic Gardens of Ceylon. His travels in Brazil are described in his book Travels in the Interior of Brazil, principally through the Northern Provinces and the Gold and Diamond Districts during the years 1836-1841. Curiously he quotes from Byron's Childe Harold as his epigram:

Canto the Third

CII.
A populous solitude of bees and birds,
And fairy-formed and many coloured things,
........... the gush of springs,
And fall of lofty fountains, and the bend
Of stirring branches, and the bud which brings
The swiftest thought of beauty, here extend,
Mingling, and made by Love, unto one mighty end.

William Lobb spent 1841 exploring the Serra dos Órgãos (Organ Mountains) to the north-east of the port where he discovered several orchids including the swan orchid, Cycnoches pentadactylon, as well as Begonia coccinea and Passiflora actinia. His first shipment of discoveries, which arrived at Topsham dock (Devon) in March 1841, also included a new species of alstroemeria, an oncidium, O. curtum (with yellow flowers and cinnamon-brown markings), and a new red salvia. There were also several species of the beautiful pink flowered climber mandevilla, including M. splendens, which would become highly sought after for cultivation in England, and the small shrub Hindsia violacea, with its clusters of ultramarine flowers, which quickly became popular in Victorian greenhouses. The next shipment arrived at Topsham in May but had been delayed at Rio de Janiero and, as a result, many of the plants failed to survive the journey, arriving dead or "vegetated".

Passiflora actinia

Passiflora actinia Hook.

Passiflora actinea, as spelled by Walter Oates, and many others, is what is known in botanical jargon as a lapsus: an incorrect name that entered into common usage by a slip of the pen. Sometimes the original citation is itself wrongly spelled - as for example Wisteria which commemorates Carl Wistar - but the rules of the game preserve original errors through priority.

This passion flower is another plant from the Organ Mountains of Brazil (near Rio de Janeiro). It was introduced by Lobbs who sent it to his employer Veitch at the Exeter nurseries. It first bloomed in November 1842. The name alludes to the resemblance of the flowers to a sea anemone.

Primula malacoides

The only primulas found in Sintra gardens today are the common primrose, Primula vulgaris. These are especially abundant at Regaleira. However gardeners never refer to them as "primulas" this term is reserved for botanical exotics - usually introduced from the Far East.

By 1929 Walter Oates could have been growing any number of species. See this thorough account of the activities of the Planthunters responsible for their introduction. However this species "The Fairy Primula" Primula malacoides is remarkable for its persistance in old Sintra gardens, and will reappear, as if by magic, following ground disturbance and clearing. The first time I noticed this was during recuperation of the gardens of Penha Verde - a former Cook family Quinta.

Cyclamens

Wild Cyclamen persicum in habitat.

Why does nobody grow Cyclamen in Sintra today? It is not clear which species Walter Oates grew at Monserrate, but surely many kinds would thrive.

Paphiopedilum insigne

Paphiopedilum insigne (Wall. ex Lindl.) Pfitzer
Morph. Stud. Orchideenbl. 11. 1886.

Long known as Cypripedium insigne. The "Cypripediums" that Walter Oates describes as growing in the Fern Valley were most likely to have been this species. For over a hundred years it has been a popular subject for greenhouse culture in Sintra. Even today it is still possible to find one or two quintas with glasshouses full of them. This orchid is immensely popular on the island of Madeira, where they are known as "Sapatinhos" or "little slippers".

Introduced to cultivation in 1821 by Nathanial Wallich who sent plants to John Shepherd, curator of the Liverpool Botanic Garden. The garden, built by public subscription in 1801, enjoyed the patronage of many ship owners who charged their captains with the task of bringing back exotic plants for its collections.

Paphiopedilum insigne grows naturally in the Himalayas in Montane Monsoon areas (warm wet summers/ cool dry winters). Perhaps this is why, in our Atlantic climate, it is better suited to growing under cover.

Cypripedium insigne Wall. ex Lindl.
Gardener's Chronicle & Agricultural Gazette 2: 94. 1821.