The official publication of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden editorial staff editor in chief chief operating officer Nannette M. Zapata design Lorena Alban production manager Gaby Orihuela feature writers Georgia Tasker Jeff Wasielewski staff contributors DR. ERIC VON WETTBERG TRAVELS TO INDIA Stephanie Bott Anna Brickner Fairchild is continuing its work with researchers around the world to breed chickpea suited to grow Ken Feeley in low-fertility soils. September 4-7, Fairchild researcher Dr. Eric von Wettberg traveled to Paula Fernandez de los Muros Patancheru, India for a meeting at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Erin Fitts Javier Francisco-Ortega Tropics (ICRISAT). The meeting was part of a chickpea project under the auspices of the National Marilyn Griffiths Science Foundation-Gates Foundation Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development Nancy Korber (BREAD). This collaborative research with the groups of Dr. Doug Cook at University of California- Noris Ledesma Davis and Dr. Rajeev Varshney of ICRISAT’s Center of Excellence in Genomics aims to use an Kiki Mutis understanding of the consequences of domestication in chickpea to facilitate breeding for low- copy editors fertility soils. The project is ongoing, and in January, FIU-FTBG agroecology graduate students Rochelle Broder-Singer Klara Scharnagl and Vanessa Sanchez will travel to India to follow up on the research. Kimberly Bobson Mary Collins Jeff Wasielewski DR. KENNETH FEELEY PUBLISHED IN DIVERSITY advertising information AND DISTRIBUTIONS Adam Arzner The science journal Diversity and Distributions recently 305.667.1651, ext. 3351 previous editors published an article by Dr. Kenneth Feeley, Fairchild researcher and FIU assistant professor of biology. The article, titled “Keep 1945-50 Lucita Wait 1950-56 collecting: Accurate species distribution modeling requires more Nixon Smiley 1956-63 collections than previously thought,” was featured on the Lucita Wait 1963-77 journal’s cover, which included a picture of the Fairchild Ann Prospero 1977-86 Herbarium’s collections. Herbarium records such as Fairchild’s Karen Nagle 1986-91 have become a powerful new tool in conservation, allowing Nicholas Cockshutt 1991-95 scientists to map where species currently occur and where they Susan Knorr 1995-2004 are likely to occur under future climate change and habitat loss The Tropical Garden Volume 67, scenarios. While promising, this technique relies fundamentally Number 1. Winter 2012. The Tropical Garden is published quarterly. on having a large number of collections with accurate Subscription is included in membership dues. geographic coordinates for each species. As Dr. Feeley explains © FTBG 2012, ISSN 2156-0501 in his article, we simply don’t have enough collections for most All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission. tropical plant species.

Even for those species for which we do have large sample sizes, Dr. Feeley noted, more often than not the collections are heavily clustered around areas that are easy to access, such as Accredited by the American Association of Museums, Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden roads, waterways, field stations and towns. This clustering is supported by contributions from members means that the collections don’t provide accurate representations and friends, and in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of of the full ranges of species. These problems can only be overcome Cultural Affairs, the Florida Council on Arts through more collections in more remote and exotic locations. and Culture, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Dr. Feeley concluded that in this age of computer simulations Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of and models, it is vital that we continue to emphasize the basic Museum and Library Services, the Miami- Dade County Tourist Development Council, botanical explorations which provide the data on which these the Miami-Dade County Department of models are built. Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners, and with the support of the City of Coral Gables. 10 THE TROPICAL GARDEN from the archives Following the Steps of Dr. David Fairchild in the Canary Islands

By Javier Francisco-Ortega, Arnoldo Santos-Guerra, Nancy Korber, Marianne Swan and Janet Mosely

The legendary dragon tree at r. David Fairchild is well known for his plant- that Fairchild traversed on his travels. We took the town of Icod, Tenerife. hunting journeys to tropical regions of the photographs and compared what we found to his At left is an image taken during the second Utowana world; however, little has been written about descriptions and images. Some of these places have expedition to the Canary D his expeditions to the Mediterranean Basin, Europe and changed very little, but others have not escaped the Islands in July 1925. the Atlantic Islands. In fact, Fairchild’s first two trips on urban and agricultural development that currently Archives/FTBG At right is an image taken the Utowana (in the summer of 1925) focused on dominates large sections of the archipelago. January 31, 2009. Spain’s Canary and Balearic Islands—not on the Photo by Arnoldo Santos-Guerra tropics. The Canaries are located 100 km west of the The seven volcanic islands of the Canaries are home to coast of the Sahara, and the Balearic Islands are in the unique flora (some 600 endemic species); and the Mediterranean Sea, relatively close to the Spanish archipelago has a rich scientific history linked to the region of Catalunya. most important European expeditions of the 16th through the 18th centuries. From Fairchild’s accounts, The Canary trips led to the publication of five research we know that before visiting the archipelago he had a articles. During his time in the archipelago, Fairchild great interest in the natural history, traditions and collected 89 plant samples (73 species) for the U.S. ancient history of these islands. Therefore, it’s not a Department of and more than 315 surprise that he visited the islands four times and that photographic images that are kept in the archives at three of the chapters of his famous book Exploring for Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. These images Plants are devoted to the Canaries. represent true gems for those interested in the rural and urban life of the Canaries in the first third of the 20th Dr. David Fairchild in the Canaries (1903-1927) century. On a recent trip, Dr. Santos-Guerra and Dr. In 1903, Fairchild made his first trip to the Canaries, Francisco-Ortega revisited some of the same places stopping only on the island of Gran Canaria. That stop came during Fairchild’s trip from South Africa to

60 THE TROPICAL GARDEN England in the company of Barbour Lathrop, but the traveled with them as an assistant and photographer. actual dates of the visit are not recorded. The data Armour’s sister, Mary Whitehouse, joined the expedition, found in documents from the Garden’s archives and along with her husband, Francis M. Whitehouse, a Fairchild’s seed collection information suggest that they prominent architect who designed several landmark visited the island in April; however, in one of Fairchild’s Chicago buildings. From one of the photographs, and works he indicated that they were there in May. its description in Fairchild’s pocket notebooks, it seems that Jordan Mott also joined this team. Subsequent visits were supported by Allison V. Armour. The first of these trips—in July 1925—was Fairchild’s final trip to the Canaries came in 1927, Fairchild’s most extensive expedition to the when the Utowana stopped on Gran Canaria at Las archipelago. The crew included Fairchild’s son, Palmas. While the published data indicate that he Fairchild; Dr. William M. arrived at this island on March 20 and left for Europe Wheeler, an entomologist and professor of zoology at on April 1, Fairchild’s pocket notebooks and Harvard University; Allison V. Armour; and two of additional documents in the Garden’s archives don’t Armour’s wealthy friends: Jordan Mott III and his wife match those dates. No plant material was collected Katherine J. P. Mott. The group visited the islands of during this trip and we have not been able to compile Gran Canaria, La Palma, Lanzarote and Tenerife. On a complete list of the expedition participants. Gran Canaria, Fairchild explored the famous cloud forest of “Monte Doramas.” On La Palma, he saw the While several foreign botanists visited the Canaries cultivation of endemic legumes as fodder, and in during the first half of the 20th century, Fairchild and Lanzarote he toured the island’s unique cropping his compatriots were the first foreign scientists to visit systems, which are based on the use of volcanic ash the islands with a focus on collecting plant material as mulch. Highlights in Tenerife included the for agricultural research. They traveled on mules, legendary dragon tree (Dracaena draco) of Icod and small boats and by foot, conducting plant hunting the botanic garden of Orotava, which is the second- before the Canaries became a major tourism target oldest botanic garden in Spain. and the landscape was severely transformed by urban development and an extensive network of roads and In December 1926, Fairchild made his second expressways. Fairchild found the islands to have a Armour-supported visit, landing on Gran Canaria and unique endemic flora with crop relatives, potential Tenerife. Two scientists joined him on the expedition: fodder crops and ornamental species. His pioneer Dr. John M. Dalziel from Kew Gardens, who was one expeditions to collect plant germplasm in the of the authors of the Flora of West Tropical Africa, and Canaries were subsequently followed by other plant Dr. Harold Mc Kinney, a USDA plant pathologist who hunters, and our knowledge of the archipelago’s flora specialized in mosaic plant diseases. Fred W. Schultz is richer for it.

CLOCKWISE Canary pine (Pinus canariensis) forest on the furthermost area of La Palma near the village of Fuencaliente, July 1925. The San Antonio volcano is in the background. Archives/FTBG Prof. William M. Wheeler standing near an individual of Echium pininana at the garden of “La Hijuela” La Orotava, Tenerife, July 1925. This is a species endemic to the cloud forests of northeastern La Palma. “La Hijuela” is the satellite garden of the Jardin de Aclimatación de La Orotava, the second oldest botanic garden of Spain. Archives/FTBG Participants in the second expedition of Utowana to the Canary Islands. Image taken onboard the yacht at Santa Cruz de Tenerife, December 25, 1926. From left to right: Fairchild, Whitehouse, Dalziel, Armour, Mc Kinney, Schultz, and Whitehouse. Fairchild (Exploring for Plants, page 193), refers to this image as the expedition members standing in pajamas on the deck of the Utowana. Archives/FTBG