Posts Tagged ‘botanical naming’
From a Duke’s Gardens to Botanical Immortality: Thomas Hoy’s Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. May 1, 1822 On this day, the horticultural world bid farewell to Thomas Hoy, an English gardener, horticulturist, and botanist of considerable repute. Hoy’s life was a testament to the dedication and passion…
Read MoreFather of the fuchsia: Charles Plumier’s Caribbean botanical discoveries
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 20, 1646 Dearest reader, On this day, in the wind-swept port of Marseille, a man was born whose curiosity would change the course of botanical history — Charles Plumier, priest, scholar, explorer,…
Read MoreFrom cuetlaxochitl to Poinsettia: The botanical diplomacy of Joel Roberts Poinsett
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. March 2, 1779 Dearest reader, On this day, we celebrate the birth of Joel Roberts Poinsett, a remarkable physician, botanist, statesman, and diplomat whose name today graces one of the most beloved holiday…
Read MoreNathaniel Britton and the Majestic Saguaro: Honoring a Botanical Legacy in the American West
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 2, 1902 Dearest reader, On this day, a fascinating botanical courtship unfolded between science and society when Nathaniel Britton, a founder of the illustrious New York Botanical Garden, wrote to none other…
Read MoreFrom Ashes to Immortality: Olaus Rudbeck’s Botanical Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 17, 1702 Dearest garden enthusiasts, today we honor a man whose dedication to botanical knowledge quite literally walked through fire, and whose legacy blooms in every Black-Eyed Susan that graces our gardens.…
Read MoreCharles Plumier: The Father of the Fuchsia
God’s Tears Today is the birthday of the French priest and botanist Charles Plumier. He was born in Marseille. Regarded as one of the most important botanical explorers of his time, Plumier served as a botanist to King Louis XIV of France, and he traveled many times to the New World documenting many plant and…
Read MoreCount Nikolay Rumyantsev: Russian Patron of Exploration and the California Poppy’s Namesake
Funded the Rurik Today is the birthday of a man who was the foreign minister of Russia, Count Nikolay Rumyantsev. In 1815, he funded the round the world scientific voyage of the Rurik which included the poet and botanist Adelbert von Chamisso (“Sha-ME-So”) and a doctor/surgeon named Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz. Two years later, in…
Read MoreGotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg: Pastor, Botanist, and Academic Pioneer
White Cloud Today is the day the American Lutheran Pastor and botanist Gotthilf Heinrich Ernst Muhlenberg was made a member of the American Philosophical Society. He was always referred to by his second name Heinrich. The Muhlenberg family was a founding family of the United States, and Heinrich came from a long line of pastors.…
Read MoreAntonio José Cavanilles: The Forgotten Botanist Behind the Dahlia
Dahlia Pinnata Today is the birthday of the Spanish Enlightenment priest and botanist Antonio José Cavanilles (“Cah-vah-nee-yes”) Antonio was a prolific botanist and probably Spain’s first expert botanist. He was born in Valencia – Spain’s third-largest city. When Antonio struggled to find a job at the university, he moved to France. In Paris, he was…
Read MoreLouis Antoine de Bougainville: Explorer Honored by the Bougainvillea Flower
A Friend of Baret Today is the anniversary of the death of the French admiral and explorer Louis Antoine de Bougainville, who died on this day in 1729. On Bougainville’s expedition, a woman named Jeanne Baret joined the crew after posing as a valet to the expedition’s naturalist: Philibert Commerçon. Commerçon had terrible health, and…
Read MoreJohann Friedrich von Eschscholtz: The Botanist Behind California’s Golden Poppy
Eschscholzia California Today is the birthday of Johann Friedrich von Eschscholtz, who was born on this day in 1793. When the German poet Adelbert van Chamiso ended up in the San Francisco Bay area, and he wrote about the California poppy, which he named Eschscholzia California after his friend Johann Friedrich Von Eschscholz. In return, Eschscholz named…
Read MoreCaspar Wistar: The Physician Who Inspired the Beloved Wisteria
The Wistar Institute On this day in 1777, Caspar Wistar treated the wounded during the battle of Germantown and decided he would pursue medical training. Wistar (“Wiss-Star”)is the names of The Wistar Institute, the nation’s first independent biomedical research center. Today, they focus on cancer, infectious disease & vaccine research to benefit human health. The…
Read MoreCaspar Wistar: The Man Behind Wisteria and Philadelphia’s Great Salon
The Younger Wistar Today is the birthday of Caspar Wistar, the Younger who was born on this day in 1761. His grandfather was also Caspar Wistar, so the Younger distinction helps people tell them apart. Wistar was a Professor of Anatomy at the University of Pennsylvania. The botanist Thomas Nuttall named the genus Wisteria in…
Read MoreSara Allen Plummer Lemmon: Botanical Pioneer and Advocate for California’s State Flower
The Life of The Lemmons Today is the birthday of the botanist Sara Allen Plummer Lemmon, who was born on this day in 1836. Lemmon is remembered for her successful 1903 piece of legislation that nominated the golden poppy (Eschscholzia californica) as the state flower of California. Asa Gray named the genus Plummera in honor…
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