Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Francis Masson
(1741-1805), from Aberdeen, worked
for Kew Gardens and, prompted by Joseph Banks,
was Kew's first plant hunter. He travelled widely in
South Africa, Madeira, West Indies, Portugal and USA,
and has the bulb genus
Massonia
named after him.
He joined James Cook's second voyage, to South
Africa, staying from 1772 until 1775, and sending
back to England about 500 plant species. Masson's
experiences illustrate the sometimes dangerous life
of a plant hunter. His 1778 voyage to Madeira, Canary
Islands, the Azores and West Indies involved capture
and imprisonment in Grenada by a French ship. The
resulting delay led to many of his collected plant
species dying. Subsequently, a Caribbean hurricane
near St Lucia destroyed many more species. In
October 1785 his second voyage to South Africa was
unsuccessful largely because of the political strife
between British and Dutch settlers. In 1797, Masson's
visit to North America was temporarily curtailed
with his capture by a French pirate vessel. Relieved
to be alive, he was able to proceed to New York in
a German ship. During the next seven years, his
extensive journeys around eastern USA and Canada
led to a rather small collection of 24 new species.
He died in Montreal in 1805. Masson's outstanding
contribution to horticulture involved the discovery of
about 1,700 new plant species (including from South
Africa,
Agapanthus inapertus
,
Amaryllis belladonna
,
Zantedeschia aethiopica
,
Strelitzia reginae
,
Protea
cynaroides
and
Kniphofia rooperi
; from Canary Islands,
Senecio cruenta
; and from eastern USA,
Trillium
grandiflorum
).
2
Figure 2.13
Joseph Banks was on Captain Cook's
fi rst voyage to the South Pacifi c (source: Wikimedia
Commons)
Joseph Banks
(1743-1820) was born in London and
brought up in Lincolnshire. His interest in natural
history took him on a voyage to Newfoundland in
1766. He was invited to join Captain Cook's famous
first voyage on
HMS Endeavour
to South America,
Tahiti, New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia (1768-
1771), and was involved in the collection and painting
(by Sidney Parkinson) of about 800 species of plants
never previously recorded. These include bottle-brush
tree (
Callistemon citrinus
), wintergreen (
Gaultheria
mucronata
), tea tree (
Leptospermum scoparium
), New
Zealand flax (
Phormium tenax
) and sophara (
Sophara
tetraptera
). The Australian flowering shrubs and
trees in the genus
Banksia
are named after him. It is
interesting to note that on
HMS Endeavour
's return
to Britain in 1771, Banks began compiling his great
topic
Florilegium
, involving the botanical input of his
friend Solander and the skills of several artists and
engravers. None of the colour plates were published
at that time (in the late eighteenth century). Indeed,
it was not until 1905 that about 300 black and white
prints were published. Finally in 1982, over 200 years
after Banks' return to Great Britain, a limited edition
of the complete
Florilegium
was published, including
about 700 full colour prints.
Banks was appointed Director of Gardens to King
George III, and was largely responsible for establishing
the reputation of Kew Gardens. He also encouraged a
worldwide search for new species by a large number
of plant hunters.
Figure 2.14
African lily (
Agapanthus species
), originating in
southern Africa, was fi rst collected by Francis Masson
