Johan Emanuel Wikstrom, with Historical Notes on the Genus Wikstroemia 1

Bo PETERSON 2

ABSTRACT: This paper is a biography of the Swedish botanist lohan Ema nuel Wikstrom (1789-1856), professor at the Bergius Botanic Garden, Stock holm, after whom the plant genus Wikstroemia Endl. (Thymelaeaceae) is named. A short history of the Hawaiian taxa of this genus is given.

THE PLANT GENUS Wikstroemia Endl. (Thy Carl Peter Thunberg (1743-1828), the melaeaceae) consists of about 50 species dis famous pupil of Linnaeus, was Wikstrom's tributed from Afghanistan to southern and teacher in medicine and natural science. Wik southeastern Asia and Australia and in the strom usually spent his vacations in Stock Pacific from the Hawaiian Islands to Norfolk holm at Bergielund, the Bergius Botanic Gar Island. In the Hawaiian Islands, it is repre den, where he became a good friend of Olof sented by 12 species the Hawaiians call 'akia. Swartz (1760-1818), Professor Bergianus. In Wikstroemia was named in 1833 by the Aus spired by these two famous botanists, Wik trian botanist and sinologist S. L. Endlicher strom's interest turned more and more to (1804-1849) to honor the Swedish botanist botany. Most likely, the advanced instruction l. E. Wikstrom (1789-1856). he received from Swartz became very impor tant to his life's achievement. In September 1818, Professor Swartz died Johan Emanuel Wikstrom and Wikstrom was proposed as his successor. lohan Emanuel Wikstrom (Figure 1) was He accepted the offer, left his medical career, born on 1 November 1789 in the small town and became a full-time botanist. Wikstrom of Viinersborg in southwestern Sweden. His was appointed to the position on 11 November father, lohan Wikstrom, a manufacturing es 1818 and was given the title of professor in tate manager, and mother, Carolina Charlotta 1823. Bahrman, came from well-to-do families. The horticultural school at the Bergius lohan Emanuel entered the University of Foundation was internationally famous for Uppsala on 18 February 1806. In accordance its fruit-tree plantations and vegetable gar with his father's wishes, he studied law, and dens. As director of this garden, Wikstrom for some time he worked at the district court taught and gave demonstrations to the in Viinersborg. However, the legal profession gardeners. Wikstrom also supervised the did not suit lohan Emanuel and he returned botanical museum of the Royal Academy of to Uppsala as a medical student, graduated Sciences. He was the right person for this in medicine in 1815, became a licentiate in task and spared no pains in properly caring medicine in 1817, and earned the degree of for the valuable botanical material. M.D. in the same year. He became a physi Among the eighteenth-century collections cian at a hospital in Stockholm. belonging to the academy (currently in the Natural History Museum) there is rich mate rial brought together by several of the pupils

1 Fieldwork in Hawai'i in 1983-1984 was supported of Linnaeus. Specimens collected by Thun by a grant (no. R-Ra 1725-100) from the Swedish Natu berg, Sparrman, and Osbeck often contain ral Science Research Council. Manuscript accepted 20 notes by Wikstrom. These notes, written in January 1995. Wikstrom's easily read hand (Figure 2 and 2 Botanical Museum, University of G6teborg, Carl Skottsbergs Gata 22, S-413 19 G6teborg, Sweden (de Burdet 1979: 203-204), are of great value to ceased). botanical history. 77 78 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 50, January 1996

FIGURE I. Johan Emanuel Wikstrom. Lithograph by O. Cardon. Original in the collection of portraits at the Ber gius Foundation, Stockholm. Used with permission.

Wikstrom also taught natural history at Johan Emanuel Wikstrom was a retiring the Stockholm secondary school from 1821 individual, very modest, and unwilling to mix to 1843. For want of subsidies, he taught in society. He was hardworking and careful, two-thirds of this time without salary; he had always friendly, and ready to help. Accord accepted the mastership solely out of devo ing to a statement (1869) by his successor and tion to science and youth. biographer, N. J. Andersson (1821-1880; FIGURE 2. Isoholotype of Wikstroemia sandwicensis Meisn., 1857, the first described species of Wikstroemia of the Hawaiian Islands. Leg. J. Macrae 1825 at Byron's Bay. Herb. K. 80 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 50, January 1996

circumnavigated the world on the frigate Eu Historical Notes on the Genus Wikstroemia genie [1851-1853] and collected on O'ahu), Wikstrom's home was extremely simple and Endlicher is not the only botanist who without comfort. He was a loner, only taking named a genus after Wikstrom. In 1821, pleasure in work. Heinrich Schrader (1767-1836) established a In spite of his duties and recurring periods genus Wikstroemia (now Laplacea H.B.K. of of illness, it was possible for Wikstrom to do Theaceae), and in the same year Kurt Spren research. He completed a special study of the gel (1766-1833) honored Wikstrom in de genus Daphne (1817, 1820) and published a scribing Wikstromia glandulosa, which turned comprehensive summary of Thymelaeaceae out, however, to be a species of Eupatorium. (1818). He described several new species in The specimens from which Endlicher de the genera Lonchostoma, Eriocaulon, Rosa, scribed the genus Wikstroemia originated and Fritillaria. These as well as two papers from Norfolk Island and were part of the on new species of Equisetum and Filices were collections made by Ferdinand Bauer (1760 published in the Kungliga Svenska Veten 1826), Austrian botanical artist on the expe skapsakademiens Handlingar. His reviews of dition (1774-1814) of the British explorer M the flora of St. Bartholomew (1825) and Flinders to Terra Australis (1801-1803). End Guadeloupe Island (1827) are based on ma licher corrected his original spelling "Wick terial collected by the Swedish travelers B. A. stroemia" (1833) in 1841. The type species for Euphrasen (1756-1796) and J. E. Forsstrom Wikstroemia established by Endlicher, W (1775-1824). Wikstrom's extensive excursions australis, is endemic to Norfolk Island. Wik in the surroundings of Stockholm resulted stroemia End!. has been listed as a nom. gen. in the publication of the first comprehensive cons. against Capura L., 1771, but is now description ofthe flora ofthat city. This work listed as a conserved generic name in the In also included important geological and fau ternational Code of Botanical Nomenclature. nistic surveys. It is also conserved against the earlier homo The academy had entrusted Wikstrom with nyms Wikstroemia Schrader, 1821, and Wik the task of publishing an annual review of stromia Sprengel, 1821. current domestic and foreign botanical re Wikstrom was not aware of the fact that search. These reports appeared from 1822 to the genus Wikstroemia forms an interesting 1852; some ofthem were translated into Ger part of the Hawaiian flora. The first docu man. This magnum opus contains more than mented specimens of Wikstroemia from the 12,000 pages. Another work, Conspectus lit island of Hawai'i were collected in 1779, but teraturae botanicae in Suecia, covered most no species of this genus from the Hawaiian of the Swedish botanical literature published Islands was described until after Wikstrom's from ancient times through 1831 and made death. Wikstrom the first historian of Swedish bo David Nelson (?-1789), naturalist on Cap tanicalliterature. tain James Cook's third world voyage (1776 Wikstrom was elected to the Royal Swed 1780), made the first collections of Wikstroe ish Academy of Sciences in 1820 and the mia spp. from the Hawaiian Islands (St. John Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture in 1976, 1978, 1979). The collections were made 1821. He was also a member of several for 26-29 January 1779 during a mountain trip eign learned societies. on the slopes of Mauna Loa, above Keala Outside Sweden, Wikstrom traveled only kekua Bay on the island of Hawai'i. The to Denmark and Germany. He visited Ham specimens are deposited in the Natural His burg in 1820 and Copenhagen in 1847 to at tory Museum, London. tend meetings with natural scientists. Two of the Wikstroemia species collected From his early years, Wikstrom had very by Nelson are endemic on the island of Ha poor health and in his last years he was con wai'i, W sandwicensis Meisn. and W phil fined to his bed for the most part. He died a lyreifolia A. Gray. A small twig of W uva bachelor on 4 May 1856. ursi A. Gray is also present in Nelson's col- Johan Emanuel Wikstrom-PETERsON 81

lections. This species is common even today 1855. W oahuensis and W uva-ursi were very near the coast at Waimea, Kaua'i. There among the specimens Remy collected. The is no evidence that Nelson went ashore on famous American botanist Asa Gray (1810 Kaua'i, but William Anderson did collect a 1888) described W oahuensis and W uva-ursi specimen of Argemone there. Perhaps he also in 1865 based on Remy's specimens. Gray collected W uva-ursi and gave a specimen to also described W buxifolia and W philly Nelson. The present distribution area for W reifolia as well as W elongata in the same uva-ursi includes Kaua'i, O'ahu, Moloka'i, year. However, the specimens from which and Maui. Nelson's collection of W uva-ursi these species were described came from the is cited by Seeman in Flora vitiensis (1867: material collected during the U.S. Exploring 206) as W buxifolia A. Gray. This name (now Expedition (1828-1842) under command of a synonym of W phillyreifolia) is also written Charles Wilkes (1798-1877). in pencil at the bottom of the sheet. In 1957, Heinrich Wawra (1831-1887, Austrian Carl Skottsberg determined the specimen as ship's surgeon and botanist) published a W uva-ursi. Skottsberg doubted the correct series of botanical papers from 1872 to 1875 ness of the locality because the collection was as Beitriige zur Flora der hawai'schen Inseln. not mentioned in his monograph ofthe genus He named a large-leaved species of Wik (1972). It is peculiar that Skottsberg did not stroemia he collected on Kaua'i W hanalei see Nelson's collections of W sandwicensis (1875). This species has been found only a and W phillyreifolia. Neither of these speci few times, the last in 1916. It may now be mens is mentioned in his monograph. extinct. Wawra dedicated the reprint of his The next collection of Wikstroemia in Ha Beitriige to "his Majesty Kalakaua by his wai'i was made by Archibald Menzies (1754 most obediant and humble servant, the 1842), British physician and naturalist. Men Author." zies served on HMS Discovery under Captain In the Flora ofthe Hawaiian Islands ([1888] George Vancouver (1792-1794). During that 1981), W. Hillebrand (1821-1886) described voyage Menzies collected on the Sandwich two new taxa of Wikstroemia: W villosa and Islands. One specimen of W oahuensis (A. W bicornuta, both locally very rare. Hille Gray) Rock var. oahuensis by Menzies from brand, a German physician and botanist, Mowee [Maui] is preserved at Bishop Mu lived in Hawai'i from 1851 to 1871. seum. The American botanist and teacher A. A. In 1857, Carl Meisner published his great Heller (1867-1944) rejected the name Wik monograph of Thymelaeaceae and he noted stroemia End!. in his paper on Hawaiian there the first species of a Hawaiian Wik plants (1897) because he considered it to be a stroemia. Wikstroemia sandwicensis is based later homonym of the earlier Wikstroemia on a collection made in July 1825 at Byron's Schrader. He published 11 new combinations Bay, Hawaiian Islands, by James Macrae (? of previously published names under the 1830). Macrae, a Scottish horticulturist, genus Diplomorpha Meisn., 1841, and added served on board HMS Blonde (1824-1826) one new name, which was not validly pub under Captain Lord Byron (George Anson), lished because it lacked a description. who was a cousin of the poet. The Blonde Wikstroemia fauriei was erected in 1911 carried the bodies of King Kamehameha II by the French botanist and clergyman H. (Liholiho) and Queen Kamamalu from Leveille (1863-1918) based on a collection England to Honolulu (the king and his queen from Hilo, Hawai'i, made by Pere Urbain had died of measles during a visit to King Faurie (1847-1915), a French missionary and George II). collector. The species was placed under W In the second halfofthe nineteenth century, sandwicensis in 1913 by Joseph Rock (1884 several new Hawaiian species and varieties of 1962), the "father of Hawaiian botany." Wikstroemia were described. The French bot Rock's The Indigenous Trees ofthe Hawaiian anist and traveler Jules Remy (1826-1893) Islands (1913) deals only with arboreal spe visited the Hawaiian Islands from 1851 to cies; therefore, only three species of Wik- 82 PACIFIC SCIENCE, Volume 50, January 1996 stroemia are mentioned: W oahuensis, W to visit the Islands again from 1983 to 1984. sandwicensis, and W furcata. Besides further field studies on O'ahu, I Professor Carl Skottsberg (1880-1963) studied the endemic species on Kaua'i and worked for several years on a monograph the island of Hawai'i. For my revision of the of Wikstroemia. In 1922, during Skottsberg's genus Wikstroemia in the Manual of the first visit to the Hawaiian Islands, he became Flowering Plants of Hawai'i (Wagner et al. interested in the genus Wikstroemia. During 1990), it was most valuable to see the living his next three botanical expeditions to the Is material and to study the rich herbarium col lands (1926; 1938, accompanied by Professor lections at the Herbarium Pacificum. O. H. Selling; 1948, accompanied by Professor The field investigations were critical to F. Fagerlind), the volume of field notes on understanding the enormous variation within and herbarium material of Wikstroemia col the genus Wikstroemia that certainly is a re lected increased considerably. Skottsberg's sult of adaptation to different sites. It is well Vascular Plantsfrom the Hawaiian Islands in known that variation is tremendous within cluded two parts on Wikstroemia (1936 : 124 many species of Thymelaeaceae, but the poly 146; 1944: 400-402,518), illustrated with sev morphism of the Hawaiian taxa is extreme. eral skillful drawings, especially of flower The transitions between the different ex details. Skottsberg described 15 new species tremes make it impossible to keep all the de and several infraspecific taxa. Among them scribed intermediate forms. In the Manual of were the very conspicuous W pulcherrima, the Flowering Plants of Hawai'i the number endemic on the island of Hawai'i, and the of species of Wikstroemia has been reduced tree-formed W monticola, endemic and very from 26 to 12. I am very much aware of the abundant on East Maui. fact that this number may be reduced after Professor O. H. Degener (1899-1988) sup further investigations if such studies include ported Skottsberg's work with Wikstroemia experimental methods. by sending him a tremendous amount of All Hawaiian species of Wikstroemia are material, sometimes living. Each collection endemic to the Islands. They are shrubs that consisted of a great number of specimens grow in various habitats or even trees. The showing the remarkable variation within the flowers are yellow or green-yellow and sweet Hawaiian Wikstroemia. scented in the evening. The decorative foliage Skottsberg had intended to publish some and the red or orange to brilliant red fruits of the new species before his monograph. make species of Wikstroemia worthy of culti They appeared in a paper, Wikstroemia no vation and landscaping. Johan Emanuel Wik vae hawaiienses, edited and published by B. strom has been commemorated botanically Sparre in 1964 with a supplement by Sparre. with a genus ofattractive and graceful plants. Unfortunately, Skottsberg never completed his monograph on Wikstroemia; after his death, his handwritten manuscript was edited and published in 1972. I had worked on ACKNOWLEDGMENTS African and Asiatic Thymelaeaceae for some I thank the entire staff of the Botany De years and had discussed problems within the partment, Bishop Museum, and the other Thymelaeaceae with Skottsberg. I was in botanical institutions in the Hawaiian Islands volved in the editing of The Genus Wikstroe for their generous support that made my stay mia End/. in the Hawaiian Islands. so successful. To gain a better understanding ofthe vari ation in the Hawaiian species of Wikstroe mia, I took a botanical trip to the Hawaiian Islands in 1981. I studied several species in LITERATURE CITED the field on the islands of O'ahu and Maui. With a grant from the Swedish Natural Sci ANDERSSON, N. J. 1869. Johan Emanuel ence Research Council, I had the opportunity Wikstrom. Levnadsteckn. ofver K. Sven. lohan Emanuel Wikstrom-PETERSON 83

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