THE JEPSON GLOBE a Newsletter from the Friends of the Jepson Herbarium
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THE JEPSON GLOBE A Newsletter from the Friends of The Jepson Herbarium VOLUME 27 NUMBER 2, Fall 2017 The XIX International Botani- Donation of Banks’ Flori- cal Congress in Shenzhen, China legium, an amazing set of By Brent D. Mishler botanical prints The just-completed XIX Interna- By Staci Markos tional Botanical Congress in Shenzhen, In July, Vernon and Lida Sim- China, July 23-30, 2017, was a botani- mons made an incredible donation to cal extravaganza. Over 7,000 people the Herbaria, 732 plates from Banks’ attended, and the scientific program Florilegium, an amazing collection of ranged across the study of plants from plates, printed from copper engrav- the cell and molecular level to ecology, ings, that document the plants col- systematics, and evolution. Details lected by Sir Joseph Banks and Dr. about the meeting and program can Daniel Solander from 1768-1771 dur- be found at www.ibc2017.cn—this is ing Captain James Cook’s first voyage only a personalized summary from my to the south Pacific Ocean. The voyage, perspective. commissioned by King George III, was The many concurrent sessions a combined Royal Navy and Royal made it daunting to try to see all the Society expedition. talks you wanted to, or meet other New endowment will support Joseph Banks, (a Royal Society people you knew were attending. But fern research and curation Member and later President for 41 the excellent evening gala held in the years) was appointed as the official Alan Smith and his wife Joan middle of the week, featuring tradi- botanist on the HMS Endeavor and have established an endowment fund tional Chinese music and food, was a hired seven others to join him. Solan- that will support research in fern and good chance to mingle. Also, there were der, a Swedish naturalist, Apostle of lycophyte systematics and evolution. many satellite meetings and informal Linnaeus, and a Fellow of the Royal This research may include monography, gatherings of research groups or spe- Society of London, was Banks’ main phylogenetics, phylogeography, floris- cialists on particular topics. collaborator on the voyage. tics, curation, field work, and ensuing I gave three talks on spatial phylo- The stated intention of the ex- publication. This gift was motivated by genetics (see Jepson Globe issues 22(1), pedition was to observe the Transit their desire to provide support for the 2012 and 24(1), 2014, for more details of Venus (when Venus can be seen about this approach) in two symposia: institution and collection where Alan (Continued on page 2) “New insights on the assembly and bio- worked from 1969 until he retired in diversity of the flora of North America” 2007. ALSO IN THIS ISSUE and “Spatial phylogenetics as applied Alan’s interest in plants began early Baja flora website now available to floras around the world” (the latter as a young boy in Kansas, tending his Lifetime Members event symposium I co-organized). UC/JEPS family’s vegetable and flower garden Herbaria videos and working summers on a produce faculty curator Carl Rothfels was there What will your legacy be? and gave an excellent, well-attended farm. A high school botany course 2017 Larry Heckard awards talk on “Nuclear phylogenetics of ferns confirmed his interest in this field. Alan Fungal collections rehoused and its implications for taxonomy.” Mo- earned his bachelor’s degree from Kan- 2017 Workshop Year In Review Mei Chen organized a symposium on sas State University. His senior year, (Continued on page 6) (Continued on page 9) Cover photo: Alan Smith. Photo by Joan Smith. (Banks, continued from page 1) from Earth as a small black disk mov- its coast, and taking formal possession ing across the face of the Sun). There for England before resuming their voy- was also a more secretive aspect to the age westward across open sea. voyage—to find “unknown southern On 20 April 1770, Leuit Hickes lands” and, if discovered, claim them sighted a point along the southeastern for England before any other rival Eu- coastline of Australia and Cook named ropean power. it Point Hicks. Sailing north, Cook The voyage crossed the Atlantic, landed at Botany Bay, an extensive, rounded Cape Horn, and reached Tahiti shallow inlet. James Cook and crew in time to observe the transit of Venus. went ashore briefly and in Cook’s Once the observations were completed, journal he wrote, “ The great quantity Cook opened the sealed orders for the of plants Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander second part of his voyage: to search found in this place occasioned my giv- the south Pacific for signs of the postu- ing it the name of Botany Bay.” This lated rich southern continent of Terra represented the first European contact Australis, a hypothetical continent first on Australia’s eastern coastline. Cook posited in antiquity and which appeared then continued northwards, charting on maps between the 15th and 18th along the coastline. He stopped at Portrait of Sir Joseph Banks. From the centuries. Bustard Head on 24 May 1770, where Willis Jepson Papers, University and From Tahiti, with the help of a Ta- he and others went ashore. A mishap Jepson Herbaria Archives, University of California, Berkeley. hitian named Tupaia, who had extensive occurred when Endeavour ran aground knowledge of Pacific geography, Cook on a shoal of the Great Barrier Reef, on Australian Aborigines. He lived and set sail into the largely uncharted ocean, 11 June 1770. The ship was seriously worked on board the Endeavor in a stopping at the Pacific islands of Hua- damaged and the voyage was delayed small cabin surrounded by specimens. hine, Bora Bora, and Raiatea to claim almost seven weeks while repairs were He finished 280 botanical paintings and them for Great Britain. The expedition carried out on the beach near the docks produced over 900 sketches and draw- reached New Zealand on 6 October of modern day Cooktown, at the mouth ings. Sadly, on the return trip, Parkinson 1769, becoming only the second group of the Endeavour River. While there, became ill and died at Princes Island on of Europeans to do so. Cook and his Joseph Banks, Herman Spöring, and the way to Cape Town. He was buried crew spent the following six months cir- Daniel Solander made the first major at sea. When the ship returned to Lon- cumnavigating New Zealand, charting collections of Australian flora and these don, Banks hired five artists to create collections formed the basis watercolors of all of Parkinson’s draw- of Banks’ Florilegium. Before ings. Banks then hired 18 engravers they left the area to return to to create copperplate line engravings England, the expedition had from the 743 completed watercolors. charted 5,000 miles of Aus- Banks died in 1820 and the Florilegium tralian coastline with great was not printed during his life. Banks accuracy and Cook took for- bequeathed the plates to the British mal possession of New South Museum and the first complete full- Wales for England. The voyage color edition of the Florilegium was lasted almost three years. published between 1980 and 1990 in 34 The making of Banks’ Flo- parts by Alecto Historical Editions and rilegium the British Museum (Natural History). Joseph Banks hired Syd- Only 100 sets were made available for ney Parkinson to illustrate the sale. Each plate took from one week to two months to proof as color accuracy Detail of drawing by ship’s artist Sydney Parkin- plants and animals collected son, made in June 1770, showing James Cook’s En- by Banks and Solander on was checked against Parkinson’s notes. deavour being careened on the beach at the mouth the voyage of the Endeavour. Banks’ Florilegium represents a of the Endeavour River in Far North Queensland, The focus was to be on plants record of the plants collected by Banks Australia, in order to repair damages after having but Parkinson did make some and Solander in Madeira, Brazil, Tierra hit the Endeavour Reef (part of the Great Barrier other remarkable illustrations del Fuego, the Society Islands, New Reef) on 11 June 1770. Item is held by John Oxley as he was the first European to Zealand, Australia, and Java. It is the Library, State Library of Queensland. Public do- observe and draw a kangaroo, world’s largest 20th-century fine art main, Wikimedia commons. the Australian landscape, and printing project and has been exhibited 2 (Continued on page 3) (Banks, continued from page 2) all over the world. As graduates of the University of California (Lida received her under- graduate degree from UCLA and a masters degree from San Diego State University and Vernon received his PhD from the UC San Diego, Scripps Institu- tion of Oceanography), they wanted to give back to the university community and selected the University and Jepson Herbaria to receive their gift. The collection will be stored at UC Berkeley in the Marian Koshland Bio- science & Natural Resources Library in the Valley Life Sciences Building in the climate-controlled and secure rare book room. Displays of the material are being planned and when the time comes, we will share the details with our Friends. Above left: Hibbertia banksii (Dilleniaceae). Line engraving by Daniel MacKen- zie, after Sydney Parkinson (1770) and Frederick Polydore Nodder (1778). Plate 2. Sources: Wikipedia and BotanicalArt Above right: Banksia dentata (Proteaceae). Line engraving by Daniel MacKenzie, andArtists.com, July 2017. after Sydney Parkinson (1770) and James Miller. Plate 286. HERBARIA ALUMNI This August, the Herbaria hosted a picnic for our alumni and new graduate students. Many of our former stu- dents hold distinguished positions in industry, academics, and public agencies.