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Until the nineteenth century, the investigation of natural phenomena, plants and animals was considered either the preserve of elite scholars or a pastime for the leisured upper classes. As increasing academic rigour and systematisation was brought to the study of 'natural history', its subdisciplines were adopted into university curricula, and learned societies (such as the Royal Horticultural Society, founded in 1804) were established to support research in these areas. A related development was strong enthusiasm for exotic garden plants, which resulted in plant collecting expeditions to every corner of the globe, sometimes with tragic consequences. This series includes accounts of some of those expeditions, detailed reference works on the flora of different regions, and practical advice for amateur and professional gardeners.

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222 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Botany and Horticulture

Page 11 of 12

The Vegetation of New Zealand
  • Leonard Cockayne
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    22 September 2011
    First published in:
    1928
  • When botanist Leonard Cockayne (1855–1934) first received an invitation from the German publisher Engelmann to write an account of the botany of New Zealand, much of it was still unknown. He spent the period from 1904 to 1913 immersed in fieldwork, and his first edition was not published until 1921. In this 1928 second edition Cockayne extensively updates the text, adding the results of further research from the intervening years. This work gives detailed descriptions of New Zealand's plant life, but Cockayne also considers the history of botanical study of the islands, from Captain Cook's voyages in the eighteenth century onwards, and includes the arrival of colonial plant collectors and an overview of important publications by New Zealand botanists. The descriptions of vegetation cover the sea coast, the lowlands, mountains, and outlying islands, and there are extensive photographs, offering a comprehensive guide to New Zealand's botany.

Niger Flora
  • Or, An Enumeration of the Plants of Western Tropical Africa
  • Edited by William Jackson Hooker
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    07 July 2011
    First published in:
    1849
  • German scientist Theodore Vogel (1812–1841) joined an 1841 expedition to the Niger as its chief botanist. He died in the course of the journey, though not before taking extensive notes about the plants that he encountered. His botanical collection and diary were passed to the botanist William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865), who had been appointed as the first full-time director of Kew Gardens in the same year. Hooker edited Vogel's diary and observations and the resulting work, Niger Flora, was published in 1849. Because Vogel's period in West Africa was cut short by his untimely death, much of the work looks at the flora of the places the expedition stopped at along the way – Madeira, Tenerife and the Cape Verde islands, before giving details – including numerous illustrations – about west African plants. The works also includes observations on African flora by other botanists, including Joseph Dalton Hooker, William's son.

Studies of Plant Life in Canada
  • Or, Gleanings from Forest, Lake and Plain
  • Catherine Parr Strickland Traill
  • Illustrated by Agnes Fitzgibbon Chamberlin
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    03 November 2011
    First published in:
    1885
  • Catharine Parr Traill (1802–99) was a writer, botanist and settler who emigrated from England to Canada with her husband in 1832. Both she and her sister, Susanna Moodie, became well known for their writing on settler life: Traill is also the author of The Backwoods of Canada and The Canadian Settler's Guide. This 1885 publication is the most comprehensive of her botanical works. Plants are grouped together by family and the book is divided into four sections: native flowers, flowering shrubs, forest trees and native ferns. Written to inspire the Canadian public to share her passion for the plant life of their country, the book has an engaging style where anecdotes and literary quotations appear alongside detailed descriptions and classification information. Traill's niece, Agnes Chamberlin, is the book's illustrator. A beautiful example of nineteenth-century popular botany, this book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of the subject.

The Ferns (Filicales)
  • Treated Comparatively with a View to their Natural Classification
  • Volume 2, The Eusporangiatae and Other Relatively Primitive Ferns
  • F. O. Bower
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1926
  • Frederick Orpen Bower (1855–1948) was a renowned botanist best known for his research on the origins and evolution of ferns. Appointed Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow in 1885, he became a leading figure in the development of modern botany and the emerging field of paleobotany, devising the interpolation theory of the life cycle in land plants. First published between 1923 and 1928 as part of the Cambridge Botanical Handbook series, The Ferns was the first systematic classification of ferns according to anatomical, morphological and developmental features. In this three-volume work Bower analyses the major areas of comparison between different species, describes primitive and fossil ferns and compares these species to present-day fern species, providing a comprehensive description of the order. Volume 2 describes, analyses and classifies primitive and fossil ferns.

Life and Letters of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker O.M., G.C.S.I.
  • Volume 1
  • Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Edited by Leonard Huxley
  • Published online:
    05 March 2012
    Print publication:
    01 May 2011
    First published in:
    1918
  • Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) was one of the most eminent botanists of the later nineteenth century. Educated at Glasgow, he developed his studies of plant life by examining specimens all over the world. After several successful scientific expeditions, first to the Antarctic and later to India, he was appointed to succeed his father as Director of the Botanical Gardens at Kew. Hooker was the first to hear of and support Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, and over their long friendship the two scientists exchanged many letters. Another close friend was the scientist T. H. Huxley, and it was the latter's son, Leonard (1860–1933), who published this standard biography in 1918. The first volume describes Hooker's early life and his career up to 1860. It includes many letters to Darwin as the two men discussed the new theories and the publication of On the Origin of Species.

The Romance of the Apothecaries' Garden at Chelsea
  • Frederic Dawtrey Drewitt
  • Published online:
    05 February 2012
    Print publication:
    31 October 2010
    First published in:
    1928
  • Published in 1928, Drewitt's charming and engaging study traces the origin and antiquity of the peaceful botanical garden in Chelsea. The garden was established in 1673 by the Society of Apothecaries in order to train apprentices to identify the plants used in medicine that, later on, they would be prescribing for their patients. Revised and enlarged for its third edition, the book recognises the special character of this garden, which still teaches students the names and properties of plants, as it did in the time of the Stuarts. Describing the gentle lives of the past naturalists and botanists of the Physic Garden, the study also includes material on the visits of Linnaeus and his pupils. Written with a light touch and full of fascinating anecdotes, the book will appeal to those interested in botany, the history of medicine and the history of early modern London.

The Principles of Descriptive and Physiological Botany
  • John Stevens Henslow
  • Published online:
    05 December 2011
    Print publication:
    24 September 2009
    First published in:
    1835
  • Henslow's importance as Darwin's mentor is well established. He recommended Darwin for the post of naturalist on the Beagle and also encouraged him to read Lyell's pivotal geology text (also reissued in this series). While professor of botany at Cambridge, Henslow nurtured independent inquiry and acute observation in his students. These attributes are evident in this liberally illustrated 1835 book, which also reveals the influence of Candolle's Théorie Elémentaire de la Botanique (1813) and Physiologie Végétale (1832). Henslow's book, like his meticulous research papers and his innovative lectures, included focussed investigations on the nature and stability of 'species'. Charles Darwin paid such close attention that he became known as 'the man who walks with Henslow', and Henslow's teachings were to echo through Darwin's writings, from his jottings in notebooks on the Beagle onward. This reissue gives modern readers easy access to the work of this inspirational scientist.

Himalayan Journals
  • Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.
  • Volume 2
  • Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    16 June 2011
    First published in:
    1854
  • Sir Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the nineteenth century. He succeeded his father, Sir William Jackson Hooker, as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and was a close friend and supporter of Charles Darwin. His journey to the Himalayas and India was undertaken between 1847 and 1851 to collect plants for Kew, and his account, published in 1854, was dedicated to Darwin. Hooker collected some 7,000 species in India and Nepal, and carried out surveys and made maps which proved of economic and military importance to the British. He was arrested by the Rajah of Sikkim, but the British authorities secured his release by threatening to invade, and annexing part of the small kingdom. Volume 2 continues Hooker's description of Nepal and Sikkim (including his brief imprisonment) and his return to Calcutta to begin his journey back to Great Britain.

Himalayan Journals
  • Or, Notes of a Naturalist in Bengal, the Sikkim and Nepal Himalayas, the Khasia Mountains, etc.
  • Volume 1
  • Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    16 June 2011
    First published in:
    1854
  • Sir Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) was one of the greatest British botanists and explorers of the nineteenth century. He succeeded his father, Sir William Jackson Hooker, as Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and was a close friend and supporter of Charles Darwin. His journey to the Himalayas and India was undertaken between 1847 and 1851 to collect plants for Kew, and his account, published in 1854, was dedicated to Darwin. Hooker collected some 7,000 species in India and Nepal, and carried out surveys and made maps which proved of economic and military importance to the British. He was arrested by the Rajah of Sikkim, but the British authorities secured his release by threatening to invade, and annexing part of the small kingdom. Volume 1 begins at his arrival in Calcutta, and follows his travels northward to Sikkim and Nepal via Bangalore and Darjeeling, and then on to Tibet.

A Naturalist in Western China with Vasculum, Camera and Gun
  • Being Some Account of Eleven Years' Travel
  • Volume 2
  • Ernest Henry Wilson
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    07 July 2011
    First published in:
    1913
  • Ernest Henry Wilson (1876–1930) was introduced to China in 1899 when, as a promising young botanist, he was sent there by horticulturalist Henry Veitch (1840–1924) to collect the seed of the handkerchief tree, Davidia involucrata, for propagation in Britain. Subsequent trips saw Wilson bringing back hundreds of seed samples and plant collections, introducing many Chinese plants to Europe and North America. He wrote extensively about his travels in China: this two-volume work was published in 1913. Although much of the text is concerned with plant life, Wilson also gives a great deal of attention to the wider landscape around him. In addition, Wilson took a camera, and these volumes contain photographs of parts of China rarely seen by Europeans in the early twentieth century. In Volume 2 Wilson examines how people in western China use their plants in medicine and agriculture, including the important tea industry.

Life and Letters of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker O.M., G.C.S.I.
  • Volume 2
  • Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Edited by Leonard Huxley
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    01 May 2011
    First published in:
    1918
  • Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911) was one of the most eminent botanists of the later nineteenth century. Educated at Glasgow, he developed his studies of plant life by examining specimens all over the world. After several successful scientific expeditions, first to the Antarctic and later to India, he was appointed to succeed his father as Director of the Botanical Gardens at Kew. Hooker was the first to hear of and support Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection, and over their long friendship the two scientists exchanged many letters. Another close friend was the scientist T. H. Huxley, and it was the latter's son, Leonard (1860–1933), who published this standard biography in 1918. The second volume details Hooker's management of Kew, his later travels, and the end of his long life.

A Naturalist in Western China with Vasculum, Camera and Gun
  • Being Some Account of Eleven Years' Travel
  • Volume 1
  • Ernest Henry Wilson
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    07 July 2011
    First published in:
    1913
  • Ernest Henry Wilson (1876–1930) was introduced to China in 1899 when, as a promising young botanist, he was sent there by horticulturalist Henry Veitch (1840–1924) to collect the seed of the handkerchief tree, Davidia involucrata, for propagation in Britain. Subsequent trips saw Wilson bringing back hundreds of seed samples and plant collections, introducing many Chinese plants to Europe and North America. He wrote extensively about his travels in China: this two-volume work was published in 1913. Although much of the text is concerned with plant life, Wilson also gives a great deal of attention to the wider landscape around him. In addition, Wilson took a camera, and these volumes contain photographs of parts of China rarely seen by Europeans in the early twentieth century. Volume 1 covers his travels from Hupeh (Hubei) to Szechuan and into the Tibetan region before ending at Wa Wu Shan.

The Life of Sir Joseph Banks
  • President of the Royal Society, with Some Notices of his Friends and Contemporaries
  • Edward Smith
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    11 May 2011
    First published in:
    1911
  • Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820), botanist and patron of science, was a pivotal figure in eighteenth-century intellectual circles. He travelled around the world with Captain Cook as naturalist on the Endeavour (1768–1771), exploring first Tahiti, then Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia, and contributed £10,000 of his personal wealth to help finance the expedition. He became President of the Royal Society and scientific adviser to the Royal Gardens at Kew, counting George III as a personal friend. He both helped plan the first penal colony in New South Wales, and bred Merino sheep to be farmed there. He promoted the geological mapping of England, Flinders' circumnavigation of Australia, and the transfer of breadfruit from the Pacific to the West Indies (the objective of the Bounty voyage that ended in mutiny). This 1911 study, based on extensive archival research, was the first detailed biography of this remarkable and influential man.

The Land of the Blue Poppy
  • Travels of a Naturalist in Eastern Tibet
  • Francis Kingdon Ward
  • Published online:
    07 October 2011
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1913
  • In 1911, Francis Kingdon Ward (1885–1958) set off on his first solo expedition and collected hundreds of plant species, many previously unknown. From Burma, he headed into the Hengduan Mountains of north-western Yunnan province, exploring along the Mekong, Yangtze and Salween rivers in the region between eastern Tibet and western Sichuan. In 2003, this area was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. One of the world's most biodiverse temperate zones, its extraordinary topography arises from its position at the collision point of tectonic plates. This fascinating book, first published in 1913, was one of the most popular by a prolific author. It is generously illustrated with Kingdon Ward's own photographs and maps from the trip. The blue poppy of the title is Meconopsis speciosa, which Kingdon Ward described as the 'Cambridge blue poppy'; rather than the famous 'Tibetan blue poppy' (Meconopsis betonicifolia) that he later brought to England.

The Gramineae
  • A Study of Cereal, Bamboo and Grass
  • Agnes Arber
  • Published online:
    07 September 2011
    Print publication:
    30 September 2010
    First published in:
    1934
  • Agnes Arber (1879–1960) was a prominent British botanist specialising in plant morphology and comparative anatomy. In 1946 she became the first female botanist to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. First published in 1934, this volume provides a detailed comparative study of the Gramineae family of plants, which includes cereals, grasses and bamboos. Arber focuses on the general morphological features of these plants as shown by anatomical analysis, describing their life cycles, reproductive and vegetative phases, and embryology. The Gramineae family contains vitally important food plants such as wheat, millet and rice, leading Arber to begin her study with the history of human interaction with these plants. It was the first published general description of these important plants, and remains a classic example of comparative anatomical analysis. The book contains over 200 figures and an extensive bibliography.

Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Bart., K.B., P.R.S.
  • During Captain Cook's First Voyage in HMS Endeavour in 1768–71 to Terra del Fuego, Otahite, New Zealand, Australia, the Dutch East Indies, etc.
  • Joseph Banks
  • Edited by Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    30 June 2011
    First published in:
    1896
  • Sir Joseph Banks (1743–1820) was a British botanist and one of the most influential scientific patrons of the eighteenth century. After inheriting a fortune on the death of his father in 1761, Banks devoted his life to studying natural history. His fame following his participation in Captain Cook's epic voyage on the Endeavour between 1768 and 1771 led to his election as President of the Royal Society in 1778, a post which he then held until his death. This volume, first published in 1896, contains Banks' account of the voyage of the Endeavour across the Pacific Ocean. Edited by the great botanist Sir Joseph Hooker, it describes in fascinating detail the peoples, cultures and wildlife Banks encountered in Tahiti, New Zealand and Australia. Banks' aptitude as a natural historian and the crucial role he played in cataloguing and illustrating exotic wildlife during the expedition are emphasised in the work.

Handbook of the New Zealand Flora
  • A Systematic Description of the Native Plants of New Zealand and the Chatham, Kermadec's, Lord Auckland's, Campbell's, and Macquarrie's Islands
  • Volume 1
  • Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Published online:
    05 August 2011
    Print publication:
    18 April 2011
    First published in:
    1864
  • Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911), botanist, explorer, and director of the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew, is chiefly remembered as a close friend and colleague of Darwin, his publications on geographical distribution of plants supporting Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection. In 1839 Hooker became an assistant surgeon on HMS Erebus during Ross' Antarctic expedition. The boat wintered along the New Zealand coast, Tasmania and the Falkland Islands, enabling Hooker to collect over 700 plant species. Drawing heavily on Hooker's illustrated Flora Novae Zelandiae (1854–1855), this two-volume work (1864–1867) contains a comprehensive list of New Zealand plant species as well as those of the Chatham, Kermadec, Auckland, Campbell and Macquarrie Islands. As the first major study of New Zealand flora, Hooker's handbook remained the authority on the subject for half a century. Volume 1 begins Hooker's exhaustive list of species encountered during his three-year voyage.

A Sketch of the Life and Labours of Sir William Jackson Hooker, K.H., D.C.L. Oxon., F.R.S., F.L.S., etc.
  • Late Director of the Royal Gardens of Kew
  • Joseph Dalton Hooker
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    02 September 2010
    First published in:
    1903
  • Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785–1865) was an eminent British botanist who is best known for expanding and developing the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew into a leading centre of botanic research and conservation. After undertaking botanical expeditions to Iceland and across Europe, he was appointed Regius Professor of Botany at Glasgow University in 1820, where he proved to be a popular lecturer and established the Royal Botanical Institution of Glasgow. In 1841 Hooker was appointed the first Director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, a position he held until his death. This volume, written by his son, the equally renowned botanist Sir Joseph Hooker (1817–1911) and first published in 1903, provides an intimate biography of his life. Hooker's botanic expeditions, his experiences at Glasgow, and relations between leading members of the scientific community are recounted, together with vivid descriptions of his labours and improvements at Kew.

Plants of New South Wales
  • According to the Census of Baron F. von Mueller ... With an Introductory Essay and Occasional Notes
  • Ferdinand von Müller
  • Edited by William Woolls
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    30 September 2010
    First published in:
    1885
  • Sir Ferdinand von Müller (1825–1896) was a botanist renowned for his research on the native plants of Australia. After emigrating from Germany in 1847, he was appointed Government Botanist of Victoria in 1853 and subsequently Director of the Royal Botanic Garden, Melbourne, which post he held until 1873. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1861 and was knighted in 1879 for his services to Australian botany. This volume, first published in 1885, contains Müller's botanical survey of the plants found in the Australian state of New South Wales. Including an introduction by prominent Australian botanist William Woolls (1814–1893), the survey divides the flora into scientific orders, with short descriptions of genera and species. Both native and introduced plants are included in the survey. This volume offers valuable insights into the composition of Australian flora at the time of publication.

A Dictionary of Botanical Terms
  • John Stevens Henslow
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1856
  • John Stevens Henslow (1796–1861) was a botanist and geologist. As teacher, mentor and friend to Charles Darwin, it was his introduction that secured for Darwin the post of naturalist on the voyage of the Beagle. While Professor of Botany, Henslow established the Cambridge University Botanic Garden as a resource for teaching and research. Students were encouraged to examine plant specimens carefully, and to record the characteristics of their structures. Henslow would have known how daunting they found the task of becoming proficient with botanical vocabulary, and produced this volume to provide a secure foundation for scientific investigations. This meticulous glossary, originally published as a single volume in 1857 but drawing on contributions he made earlier to issues of The Botanist and Maund's Botanic Garden, is a testament to Henslow's scholarship. It is liberally illustrated with delightful woodcuts that clarify the meaning of selected terms.

Page 11 of 12