Ebook241 pages7 hours
Fathers of Botany: The Discovery of Chinese Plants by European Missionaries
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
()
About this ebook
Many of the world’s most renowned and exciting ornamental plants—including magnolias, roses, rhododendrons, tree peonies, lilies, and blue poppies—have their origins in China. In the mid-nineteenth century, professional plant hunters were dispatched by nurseries and botanic gardens to collect living botanical specimens from China for cultivation in Europe, and it is these adventurers and nurserymen who are often credited with the explosive bloom of Chinese flowers in the West.
But as Jane Kilpatrick shows in Fathers of Botany, the first Westerners to come upon and document this bounty were in fact cut from a different cloth: the clergy. Following the Opium Wars, European missionaries were the first explorers to dig further into the Chinese interior and send home evidence of one of the richest and most varied floras ever seen, and it was their discoveries that caused a sensation among Western plantsmen. Both men of faith and talented botanists alike, these missionaries lent their names to many of the plants they discovered, but their own stories disappeared into the leaf litter of history. Drawing on their letters and contemporary accounts, Kilpatrick focuses on the lives of four great French missionary botanists—Pères Armand David (of Davidia involucrata—the dove tree—and discoverer of the giant panda), Jean Marie Delavay, Paul Guillaume Farges, and Jean André Soulié—as well as a group of other French priests, Franciscan missionaries, and a single German Protestant pastor who all amassed significant plant collections, as she unearths a lost chapter of botanical history. In so doing, she reminds today’s gardeners and botanists—and any of us who stop to smell the roses—of the enormous debt owed to these obscure fathers of botany.
But as Jane Kilpatrick shows in Fathers of Botany, the first Westerners to come upon and document this bounty were in fact cut from a different cloth: the clergy. Following the Opium Wars, European missionaries were the first explorers to dig further into the Chinese interior and send home evidence of one of the richest and most varied floras ever seen, and it was their discoveries that caused a sensation among Western plantsmen. Both men of faith and talented botanists alike, these missionaries lent their names to many of the plants they discovered, but their own stories disappeared into the leaf litter of history. Drawing on their letters and contemporary accounts, Kilpatrick focuses on the lives of four great French missionary botanists—Pères Armand David (of Davidia involucrata—the dove tree—and discoverer of the giant panda), Jean Marie Delavay, Paul Guillaume Farges, and Jean André Soulié—as well as a group of other French priests, Franciscan missionaries, and a single German Protestant pastor who all amassed significant plant collections, as she unearths a lost chapter of botanical history. In so doing, she reminds today’s gardeners and botanists—and any of us who stop to smell the roses—of the enormous debt owed to these obscure fathers of botany.
Related to Fathers of Botany
Related ebooks
James Sowerby: The Enlightenment's Natural Historian Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAll Creatures: Naturalists, Collectors, and Biodiversity, 1850-1950 Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5The Moyer Site: A Pre-Historic Village in Waterloo County Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAnimals, Plants and Afterimages: The Art and Science of Representing Extinction Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Druid Garden: Gardening For A Better Future, Inspired By The Ancients Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Growth of Bulbs: Applied aspects of the physiology of ornamental bulbous crop plant Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGlobal Clay: Themes in World Ceramic Traditions Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Chasing Plants: Journeys with a Botanist through Rainforests, Swamps, and Mountains Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Territorial Antelope: The Uganda Waterbuck Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWild Cats of the World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFateful Beauty: Aesthetic Environments, Juvenile Development, and Literature, 1860-1960 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWonders of the Plant Kingdom: A Microcosm Revealed Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Spiders, Scorpions, Centipedes and Mites: The Commonwealth and International Library: Biology Division Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How Life Began: Evolution's Three Geneses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Make a Home for Wildlife: Creating Habitat on Your Land Backyard to Many Acres Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeabird Genius: The Story of L.E. Richdale, The Royal Albatross, and the yellow-eyed penguin. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsListening to the Bees Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrassroots Ecology: A Call for Help Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBeckstead Site - 1977 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBirds of New Guinea: Distribution, Taxonomy, and Systematics Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Ecology of the Northern Lowland Bogs and Conifer Forests Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Household Goods and Good Households in Late Medieval London: Consumption and Domesticity After the Plague Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWrecker the Weasel and the Watermill Plot Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Scythe Book: Mowing Hay, Cutting Weeds, and Harvesting Small Grains with Hand Tools Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAtlas Of Pennsylvanian (Carboniferous) Age Plant Fossils of the Central Appalachian Coalfields: Volume 2 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsArtifacts from the CCFCS collections: Sampling # 1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPhytoplankton: Plankton and Productivity in The Oceans Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Earth on Show: Fossils and the Poetics of Popular Science, 1802-1856 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Homesick: Finding Our Way Back to a Healthy Planet Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThin on the Ground: Neandertal Biology, Archeology, and Ecology Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Botany For You
Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Foraging for Survival: Edible Wild Plants of North America Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Forager's Harvest: A Guide to Identifying, Harvesting, and Preparing Edible Wild Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5SAS Survival Handbook, Third Edition: The Ultimate Guide to Surviving Anywhere Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fantastic Fungi: How Mushrooms Can Heal, Shift Consciousness, and Save the Planet Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Edible Wild Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shelter: A Love Letter to Trees Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Beyond Coffee: A Sustainable Guide to Nootropics, Adaptogens, and Mushrooms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Language of Flowers: A Definitive and Illustrated History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Scout's Guide to Wild Edibles: Learn How To Forage, Prepare & Eat 40 Wild Foods Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Kitchen Garden: An Inspired Collection of Garden Designs & 100 Seasonal Recipes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Enchanted Wood (Faraway Tree #1) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Norwegian Wood: Chopping, Stacking, and Drying Wood the Scandinavian Way Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Heartbeat of Trees: Embracing Our Ancient Bond with Forests and Nature Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Mushrooms of the Northwest: A Simple Guide to Common Mushrooms Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to Grow Psilocybin Mushrooms at Home for Beginners Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPractical Botany for Gardeners: Over 3,000 Botanical Terms Explained and Explored Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Forager's Handbook: A Seasonal Guide to Harvesting Wild, Edible & Medicinal Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Book of Fungi: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred Species from around the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Your Psilocybin Mushroom Companion: An Informative, Easy-to-Use Guide to Understanding Magic Mushrooms Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blackthorn's Botanical Brews: Herbal Potions, Magical Teas, and Spirited Libations Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Legacy of Luna: The Story of a Tree, a Woman, and the Struggle to Save the Redwoods Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for Fathers of Botany
Rating: 0 out of 5 stars
0 ratings
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
Fathers of Botany - Jane Kilpatrick
Enjoying the preview?
Page 1 of 1