Henry Noltie has written an interesting article in the current GEO
on the botanist Wight. The article also carries some rare botanical
paintings. Quite a few plants have been names after Wight. Theodore
Baskaran
--- In
Tamilbirds@yahoogro ups.co.in, "vsram2003" <vsram2003@. ..>
wrote:
>
> This is an interesting article on a botanist of Southern India. I
did
> some internet search and found that one of the books (Reminiscences
of
> Life & Sport in Southern India (London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1890) by
> Heber Drury is available for download at:
>
http://openlibrary. org/a/OL1171971A
> Santharam
>
> ------------ --------- --------- ---------
> Biodiversity
>
> Biodiversity
>
> The lost orchid
>
> S. THEODORE BASKARAN
>
> There has been renewed interest in the early botanists of British
> India. The story of Heber Drury and the rare orchid named after him.
>
>
> When I received an invitation for dinner with Botanical historian
> Henry Noltie of the Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh, I was
> enthusiastic. I have heard about his research, particularly the
> three-volume work on Robert Wight who, in 1836, trekked around the
> Palani ranges and documented the botanical wealth of the area. In
> recent years, there has been a renewed curiosity in the early
> botanists of British India and Noltie's work on the subject is
> considered seminal. My own interest in meeting him was to learn
about
> a British botanist named Drury. Over dinner Henry talked about
Drury.
>
> Heber Drury (1819-72) was a Colonel in the Madras Light Infantry
> stationed in Travancore. He wrote the Handbook of Indian Flora (3
> volumes) and the Useful Plants of India. Incidentally, the Handbook
is
> dedicated to the Prince of Travancore, showing that he was not the
> usual, snobbish Raj Officer of that era. The British government was
> interested in knowing the commercial potential of the plants in
their
> tropical colonies while naturalists like Drury were interested in
the
> plants as subjects of their study. As an adjunct to this study, a
> school of botanical painting developed in South India. We have a
> volume of drawings of grasses made by a "native" artist whom Drury
> employed while in Travancore. His autobiography, Reminiscences of
Life
> & Sport in Southern India (London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1890) provides
a
> window to the natural history of the period.
> Claim to fame
>
> Drury's another claim to fame is that a rare orchid of the Western
> Ghats has been christened after him. Paphiopedilum drury is endemic
to
> the Agasthya ranges near Tirunelveli, better known as the Courtallam
> ranges, almost at the southern end of the Western Ghats. This area
has
> now been recognised as one of the hot spots of biodiversity in the
> world. Incredibly rich in life forms, these hills traditionally are
> known for herbs and medicinal plants. The orchid we are talking
about
> grows in the grassy slopes of these ranges and blooms in May/June, a
> yellow-coloured flower 5-7 cm in size. There was another G.D. Drury,
> collector of Tiruvelveli, whom earlier I had mistaken to be the
orchid
> Drury.
>
> Known among orchid fanciers as "the Lost Orchid", now it is a much
> sought after collector's item. I have only seen a pressed specimen
in
> the herbarium of the Botanical survey of India, Coimbatore. There
was
> an orchid fancier in Bangalore who had two plants but would not
trust
> me enough to let me photograph them. What is special about this
plant
> is that it is one of the relict species; that is, species found in
the
> Himalayas and next only in the Western Ghats but nowhere in between.
> The red Rhododendron is another relict plant. Among mammals you have
> the tahr — the Nilgiri tahr here and the Himalayan tahr there — as
> relict species and among birds the Grey -headed flycatcher as relict
> species.
> Rallying point
>
> The lost orchid came to symbolise the disappearing floral wealth and
> the amazing biodiversity of the Western Ghats. To raise money to
save
> such rare botanical species of the world, the plant artist Stone
chose
> to paint the Lost Orchid and sold it to raise money.
>
> When I first learnt about this orchid in the early 1970s, I was
naïve
> enough to think that all you have to do is to walk around in this
area
> and you will see the plant. I went searching for it. In Courtallam,
I
> took the Puckle's path, which goes along the Chithar right up to the
> awe-inspring Thenaruvi (Honey falls). Beyond that I walked up to
> Paradesi cave (because it is near Paradise Estate) which contains an
> inscription yet to be deciphered. That was a memorable trek. But I
did
> not see the orchid. It was only later I learnt that this is a plant
of
> grasslands and that this terrestrial orchid is noticeable only
during
> the flowering season. This belongs to a variety popularly referred
to
> as "Lady's slipper orchid" after the shoe-shaped flower
> paphilopedilum. There are quite a few of this variety in the
Himalayas
> and the Northeast but only one in Western Ghats.
>
> Quite a number of the books on natural history written during the
Raj
> era are getting resurrected, some through reprint and some through
an
> electronic form on the Net. This is providing us with new insights
> about the pioneers, their work and the incredible wealth of wildlife
> in those years.
>
> S. THEODORE BASKARAN
>
> There has been renewed interest in the early botanists of British
> India. The story of Heber Drury and the rare orchid named after him.
>
>
> When I received an invitation for dinner with Botanical historian
> Henry Noltie of the Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh, I was
> enthusiastic. I have heard about his research, particularly the
> three-volume work on Robert Wight who, in 1836, trekked around the
> Palani ranges and documented the botanical wealth of the area. In
> recent years, there has been a renewed curiosity in the early
> botanists of British India and Noltie's work on the subject is
> considered seminal. My own interest in meeting him was to learn
about
> a British botanist named Drury. Over dinner Henry talked about
Drury.
>
> Heber Drury (1819-72) was a Colonel in the Madras Light Infantry
> stationed in Travancore. He wrote the Handbook of Indian Flora (3
> volumes) and the Useful Plants of India. Incidentally, the Handbook
is
> dedicated to the Prince of Travancore, showing that he was not the
> usual, snobbish Raj Officer of that era. The British government was
> interested in knowing the commercial potential of the plants in
their
> tropical colonies while naturalists like Drury were interested in
the
> plants as subjects of their study. As an adjunct to this study, a
> school of botanical painting developed in South India. We have a
> volume of drawings of grasses made by a "native" artist whom Drury
> employed while in Travancore. His autobiography, Reminiscences of
Life
> & Sport in Southern India (London: W.H. Allen & Co., 1890) provides
a
> window to the natural history of the period.
> Claim to fame
>
> Drury's another claim to fame is that a rare orchid of the Western
> Ghats has been christened after him. Paphiopedilum drury is endemic
to
> the Agasthya ranges near Tirunelveli, better known as the Courtallam
> ranges, almost at the southern end of the Western Ghats. This area
has
> now been recognised as one of the hot spots of biodiversity in the
> world. Incredibly rich in life forms, these hills traditionally are
> known for herbs and medicinal plants. The orchid we are talking
about
> grows in the grassy slopes of these ranges and blooms in May/June, a
> yellow-coloured flower 5-7 cm in size. There was another G.D. Drury,
> collector of Tiruvelveli, whom earlier I had mistaken to be the
orchid
> Drury.
>
> Known among orchid fanciers as "the Lost Orchid", now it is a much
> sought after collector's item. I have only seen a pressed specimen
in
> the herbarium of the Botanical survey of India, Coimbatore. There
was
> an orchid fancier in Bangalore who had two plants but would not
trust
> me enough to let me photograph them. What is special about this
plant
> is that it is one of the relict species; that is, species found in
the
> Himalayas and next only in the Western Ghats but nowhere in between.
> The red Rhododendron is another relict plant. Among mammals you have
> the tahr — the Nilgiri tahr here and the Himalayan tahr there — as
> relict species and among birds the Grey -headed flycatcher as relict
> species.
>
> Rallying point
>
> The lost orchid came to symbolise the disappearing floral wealth and
> the amazing biodiversity of the Western Ghats. To raise money to
save
> such rare botanical species of the world, the plant artist Stone
chose
> to paint the Lost Orchid and sold it to raise money.
>
> When I first learnt about this orchid in the early 1970s, I was
naïve
> enough to think that all you have to do is to walk around in this
area
> and you will see the plant. I went searching for it. In Courtallam,
I
> took the Puckle's path, which goes along the Chithar right up to the
> awe-inspring Thenaruvi (Honey falls). Beyond that I walked up to
> Paradesi cave (because it is near Paradise Estate) which contains an
> inscription yet to be deciphered. That was a memorable trek. But I
did
> not see the orchid. It was only later I learnt that this is a plant
of
> grasslands and that this terrestrial orchid is noticeable only
during
> the flowering season. This belongs to a variety popularly referred
to
> as "Lady's slipper orchid" after the shoe-shaped flower
> paphilopedilum. There are quite a few of this variety in the
Himalayas
> and the Northeast but only one in Western Ghats.
>
> Quite a number of the books on natural history written during the
Raj
> era are getting resurrected, some through reprint and some through
an
> electronic form on the Net. This is providing us with new insights
> about the pioneers, their work and the incredible wealth of wildlife
> in those years.
>
>
http://www.thehindu .com/mag/ 2008/09/07/ stories/20080907 50300700. htm
>
