A Botanist’s Bounty: Dr. Charles Parry’s 15,000 Species Legacy

June 26, 1880

On this day, the Chicago Tribune revealed to its readers the horticultural treasure trove of one Dr. Charles Christopher Parry—a herbarium containing no fewer than 15,000 species, presented with all due ceremony to the Davenport Academy of Sciences.

One imagines the Academy's learned members circling this botanical bounty like honeybees to nectar, each specimen carefully pressed and preserved for posterity's scientific enlightenment.

The good doctor's story, however, stretches back some thirty years prior, when in 1850 he penned a letter to the esteemed botanist John Torrey.

Like a proud parent announcing a newborn, Parry declared his discovery with barely contained excitement:

"I here found a new species of pine growing in sheltered places bout the bluff. Its characters are so unique... if new I wish it with your permission to bear the name Pinus Torreyana..."

How thrilling to discover something no other botanist had classified!

One can picture Dr. Parry scrambling among the bluffs, notebook in hand, his scientific curiosity alight as he examined these unique specimens.

The Torrey Pine, as we now know it, stands as one of the rarest pines in North America—a living monument to both men's botanical legacy.

But Parry's green-fingered exploits did not end there, dear gardeners!

In 1862, while others were preoccupied with the tribulations of civil war, our botanical hero was scaling the majestic Pikes Peak, where he discovered what would become known as the Colorado Blue Spruce.

One imagines him standing breathless at elevation, captivated by the distinctive blue-silver needles catching the mountain light—a sight that would enchant gardeners for generations to come.

It took nearly eight decades for Colorado to officially claim this magnificent conifer as its state tree in 1939, a decidedly tardy recognition of Parry's horticultural gift to the nation.

One wonders what other treasures might have been cataloged in that impressive 15,000-species collection donated to Davenport—each specimen representing hours of careful observation, collection, and classification.

For today's garden enthusiasts who find themselves admiring the distinctive silver-blue needles of a spruce or the unusual five-needled clusters of a Torrey Pine, remember that you are bearing witness to living history—botanical discoveries made by a man whose passion for plants led him to mountaintops and coastal bluffs, expanding our understanding of North America's natural splendor with each expedition.

How fortunate we are to inherit such botanical knowledge, carefully collected and preserved since that January day in 1880 when the Chicago Tribune deemed Dr. Parry's collection noteworthy enough to immortalize in print.

His herbarium specimens may have yellowed with age, but the living specimens he discovered continue to grace our landscapes, a verdant testament to one man's botanical curiosity.