Posts Tagged ‘botanical science’
The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Paul Rees
As Heard on The Daily Gardener Podcast: This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. The Kew Gardener’s Guide to Growing Cacti and Succulents by the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Paul Rees This book came out in 2023, and the…
Read MoreThe Father of American Dendrology: Remembering Humphry Marshall
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 5, 1801 On this day, America lost one of its pioneering botanists, Humphry Marshall. His legacy as the “Father of American Dendrology” continues to influence our understanding of native trees and shrubs…
Read MoreThe Tree That Kept Time: Ludwig Leichhardt’s Last Garden
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. October 23, 1813 It was on this day in 1813, as autumn leaves were turning in Prussia, that Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig Leichhardt was born. And oh, what a reminder his story is of…
Read MoreChlorophyll, Gravity, and the Invisible Forces: Henri Dutrochet’s Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. November 14, 1776 On this day, dear readers and fellow admirers of nature’s mysteries, we celebrate the birth of a true luminary in the realm of botanical science: Henri Dutrochet, the French physician,…
Read MoreAdrian Hardy Haworth: British Botanist, Entomologist, and Pioneer of Succulent Studies
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 19, 1797 Dearest reader, On this day, the world welcomed the remarkable Adrian Hardy Haworth — lawyer by training, naturalist by calling. Imagine him, young and dutiful, studying the law, his mind…
Read MoreThe Language of Nature: Galileo Galilei, Father of Modern Science and Mathematics
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. February 15, 1564 Dearest reader, On this day, we mark the birth of one of the most enthralling minds in the annals of history—Galileo Galilei, the Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer, mathematician, and philosopher.…
Read MoreGeorge Bentham: The Lawyer Who Revolutionized Botany
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. September 22, 1800 My dearest garden friends, on this day, we celebrate the birth of George Bentham, a man whose decision to abandon law for botany would alter not only his own destiny…
Read MoreGerard van Swieten: The Botanist Who Revolutionized Austrian Medicine
Swietenia: The Genus of Mahogany May 7, 1700 Today is the birthday of the Dutch botanist Gerard van Swieten. As Swieten turned 40 years old, Empress Maria Theresa inherited the Habsburg Empire. She had much to do to get her kingdom in shape. When it came to medicine, Austria was about 200 years behind its…
Read MoreSweet Potatoes, Flower Pressing, and 19th-Century Women Botanists at Hunter’s Home
Botany: A Women’s Science? April 29, 1850 Here’s a post for this day from Hunter’s Home – the only remaining pre–Civil War plantation home in Oklahoma. “Emily and Amanda stayed at Araminta’s for much of the day. They had a sweet potato roasting and then gathered flowers for pressing. Emily kept an herbarium into which…
Read MoreNehemiah Grew: The Father of Plant Anatomy and Master of Microscopic Botany
The Father of Plant Anatomy March 25, 1641 Today is the birthday of the Father of Plant Anatomy, Nehemiah Grew. Nehemiah was an English botanist and was the first person to illustrate the inner structures and functions of plants in all their amazing intricacies. Specifically, Nehemiah illustrated eighty images in his 1682 book called Anatomy…
Read MoreAntoine Nicolas Duchesne: The Botanical Pioneer Behind the Modern Strawberry
The Modern Strawberry February 18, 1827 Today is the anniversary of the death of the French botanist, gardener, and professor at Versailles, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne (“do-Shane”). A specialist in strawberries and gourds, Antoine was a student of Bernard de Jussieu at the Royal Garden in Paris. A plant pioneer, Antoine, recognized that mutation was a…
Read MoreCarl Linnaeus the Younger: Continuing the Legacy of Botanical Science
Linnaeus Filius January 20, 1741 Today is the birthday of the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus the Younger, the son of the great Carl Linnaeus or Carl von Linné. To distinguish him from his famous father, he was referred to as Linnaeus filius, Latin for Linnaeus, the son. For botanical purposes, he is referred to with…
Read MoreAntoine Nicolas Duchesne: The Botanist Who Created the Modern Strawberry
Strawberry Specialist Today is the anniversary of the death of the French botanist, gardener, and professor at Versailles, Antoine Nicolas Duchesne (“do-Shane”). A specialist in strawberries and gourds, Duchesne was a student of Bernard de Jussieu at the Royal Garden in Paris. A plant pioneer, Duchesne recognized that mutation was a natural occurrence and that…
Read MoreJoseph Banks, the voyager botanist who shaped Kew and safeguarded Linnaeus’s legacy
Australian Flora and Fauna Today is the birthday of Joseph Banks. Banks is best known for his study of Australian flora and fauna and his role as the botanist on board the Endeavor with Captain James Cook. When they landed in Australia, neither Cook nor Banks realized that the quartz reef where they planted the…
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