Posts Tagged ‘New York Botanical Garden’
Alice Lounsberry: A Life in Wildflowers and Friendship
The Writing Half of the Alice-Ellis Team November 6, 1868 Today is the birthday of the botanist and garden writer Alice Lounsberry. (Note: Online databases report the date of birth as 1873 – which is incorrect as Alice was already two years old on an 1870 census with her brother and parents.) Alice was a…
Read MoreDr. Melville Thurston Cook: The Botanist Who Survived on 1,080 Eggs in Alaska
Survival on Eggs On this day, a 79-year-old botanist, Dr. Melville Thurston Cook, his wife, and their pilot were rescued by an Air Force helicopter after a week in the Alaskan wilderness. Cook reported they survived on 90 dozen eggs after their plane was forced down in the rugged Brooks Mountain range. As luck would…
Read MoreThe Philadelphia Botanical Club’s First Pilgrimage to Bartram’s Garden
A Horticultural Landmark Today the Philadelphia Botanical Club took their very first field trip to Bartram’s Garden. In 1850, Andrew McCalla Eastwick (1806-1879), an engineer and the inventor of the steam shovel, bought the 46-acre Bartram estate from John Bartram’s granddaughter, Ann Bartram Carr. Eastwick had banked a personal mint after building railroads for Czar…
Read MoreNathaniel Lord Britton: Founder and First Director of the New York Botanical Garden
Kew Gardens Inspiration Today is the birthday of the American botanist and taxonomist Nathaniel Lord Britton. Britton married the famous bryologist Elizabeth Gertrude Knight. Together, they used Kew Gardens in London as their inspiration for the New York Botanical Garden. An obituary of Britton, written by the botanist Henry Rusby shared this charming anecdote -…
Read MoreElizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton: Pioneer Bryologist and Conservation Champion
The Famous Bryologist Today is the birthday of the famous bryologist Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton. Elizabeth married the botanist Nathaniel Lord Britton. She was a teacher, and he was a professor of botany at Columbia University. Together, they helped create the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. Their primary source of Inspirationtion was Kew…
Read MoreCharles Budd Robinson: The Tragic Tale of a Dedicated Plant Explorer
Doctor Flower Today is the anniversary of the tragic death of the Canadian botanist Charles Budd Robinson who died on this day in 1913. After receiving his doctorate, Charles had spent five years working at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG). His time at the Botanic Garden gave him the experience necessary to become an…
Read MoreJohn Hendley Barnhart: Historian of Botanists and Master Bibliographer
The Botanist Biographer Today is the birthday of the Master Collector of Botanists, John Hendley Barnhart, who was born on this day in 1871. Barnhart was an American botanist who specialized in the biographies of other botanists. Like many botanists, Barnhart came to botany through medicine. After training to be a doctor, he never practiced…
Read MoreJohn Torrey: Celebrated American Botanist and Assayer at the Mint
Silver and Gold On this day in 1856, John Torrey’s Office at the Mint was described in the NY Daily Times. When Torrey was 57, he decided to leave Princeton after 24 years of teaching botany, and he went to work for the Mint; it would be the last step in his long career. The…
Read MoreJames Duke’ The Botanist Who I ived bv the Healina Power of Plants.
Eat What You Preach On this day in 1991, The New York Times printed an announcement about an upcoming symposium at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) featuring Dr. James Duke. Duke was sharing his research; the topic was plants for health and healing and their role in modern medicine. The article shared Duke’s incredible…
Read MoreNathaniel Britton: The Artist-Botanist Who Drew His Own Path
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. June 25, 1934 On this day, we mark the anniversary of the demise of one Nathaniel Lord Britton, an American botanist and taxonomist who shuffled off this mortal coil. While the scientific community…
Read MoreThe Horticultural Heiress: Enid Haupt’s Blooming Legacy
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast: Click here to see the complete show notes for this episode. April 13, 2006 It’s the birthday of Enid Annenberg Haupt – a woman whose green fingers and even greener wallet transformed the horticultural landscape of America forever. One might say she bloomed rather…
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