The Accidental Aloe Enthusiast: Harold Basil Christian’s Botanical Legacy

October 28, 1871

On this day, Harold Basil Christian [KRIS-tee-un] was born.

His journey into botany began with an "unsightly rock" and turned into one of the world's most important aloe collections.

Born in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Christian was first known for his athletic prowess at Eton College rather than his green thumb.

His path to botanical fame started in 1914 when he purchased Mount Shannon Farm (later renamed Ewanrigg [YOU-un-rig]) near Salisbury (now Harare) in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).

In what might be the most fortunate gardening "mistake" in African botanical history, Christian initially tried to create an alpine garden with European plants. When these failed in the African heat, a surveyor planted an Aloe cameronii [kam-er-OH-nee-eye] near a troublesome boulder "to hide the stark appearance of this unsightly rock." When the aloe thrived and bloomed without any care, Christian was smitten.

One of the most charming stories from Christian's life involves his first meeting with fellow aloe enthusiast Gilbert Reynolds in 1933.

As Fred Long later recalled:

They met at breakfast in the King Edward Hotel, Port Elizabeth.

By 10:30 a.m. one had ordered porridge but had not tasted it and the other had just added the sugar and milk...

That uneaten breakfast led to a pivotal collaboration: Reynolds would study aloes south of the Limpopo River, while Christian focused on species to the north.

In 1937, Christian lost his right arm above the elbow due to an infection.

Remarkably, he taught himself to write detailed botanical descriptions with his left hand, maintaining meticulous records in leather-bound notebooks.

As one contemporary noted, he was "a very gallant gentleman doing grand work under the heaviest of handicaps, and holding his head high and scorning the facile pity of weaklings."

Christian's garden at Ewanrigg became world-renowned.

In 1939, Gilbert Reynolds wrote:

The memory of that unique garden, of the rockeries and pools and especially the blaze of colour put up by the masses of Aloe cameronii will linger for many a year to come. We left 'Ewanrigg' reluctantly but with the earnest hope that we would be able to visit it again one day.

Working with botanist Inez Clare Verdoorn [ver-DOORN], Christian helped identify 28 previously unknown aloe species.

His expertise was so respected that Kew Gardens in London and the Division of Botany in Pretoria regularly sent him specimens for study.

Before his death in 1950, Christian bequeathed his entire 707-acre estate to the nation. Today, Ewanrigg National Park continues his legacy, housing one of the world's most significant aloe collections. His devotion to these plants is commemorated in Aloe christianii [kris-tee-AN-ee-eye], named in his honor.