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Botany
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80Mil BC |
Scientists in 2005 reported that, titanosaurian suaropods, plant eaters from this time, dined on a variety of grasses previously believed to have evolved 10 million years after dinosaurs disappeared. Links: Dinosaur, Botany, HistoryBC 
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55Mil BC |
An increase in temperature prompted a major shift in plant distribution. In 2005 scientists reported that Earth warmed 9 to 18 degrees over a 10,000 years to a warm period that lasted 80-120 thousand years. Plants in the southern US spread 1,000 miles from the gulf Coast to Wyoming, and disappeared when the climate cooled off. In 2007 scientists said that it took about 200,000 years for the atmospheric carbon from volcanic eruptions to be transferred to the deep ocean, allowing the planet to cool. Links: Environment, Earth, Volcano, Wyoming, Botany, HistoryBC
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32000 BC 30000 BC |
In 2012 A team of Russian scientists revived a plant, Silene stenophylla, whose seeds came from a squirrel’s chamber in Siberian permafrost dating to this time. Links: Russia, Siberia, Botany, HistoryBC
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11000 BC |
Scientists in 2009 said an oak bush in the Jurupa Hills of Riverside County, Ca., was about 13,000 years old, dating to about this time. Links: California, Botany, HistoryBC
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287 BC |
Theophrastus (b.c371BC), Greek philosopher, died. He produced the 1st known work on plant reproduction “De historia plantarum. He was a contemporary of Aristotle and succeeded him as head of the Lyceum. Links: Greece, Botany
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1628 Oct 28 |
After a fifteen-month siege, the Huguenot town of La Rochelle surrendered to Cardinal Richelieu's Catholic forces. John Tradescant, an English gardener who accompanied Duke George Villiers to rescue the Huguenots, had designed siege trenches prior to the surrender. Links: Britain, France, Botany
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1637 |
John Tradescant the younger, a widower with a son and daughter, undertook the first of three voyages from England to Virginia “to gather up all raritye of flowers, plants, shells.” The King’s request to search for useful trees and herbs, no doubt played a role in Tradescant’s decision to take this trip during what must have been a very difficult time. Links: Britain, USA, Virginia, Botany
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1638 |
John Tradescant (b.1570), English gardener and father of John Tradescant (1608-1662), died. In 2008 Jennifer Potter authored “Strange Blooms: The Curious Lives and Adventures of the John Tradescants. Links: Britain, Biography, Botany
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1662 |
John Tradescant the younger (b.1608), English traveler, horticulturalist, collector and gardener to Queen Henrietta Maria, died. His home in South Lambeth, called The Ark, was filled with his Museum Tradescantianum, a collection of rarities which included birds, fish, shells, insects, minerals, coins, medals and unusual plants. After his death the collection went to Elias Ashmole, who subsequently presented it to Oxford University, where it formed the basis of the Ashmolean Museum. In 2008 Jennifer Potter authored “Strange Blooms: The Curious Lives and Adventures of the John Tradescants. Links: Britain, Biography, Museums, Botany
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1673 |
In London the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries started the Chelsea Physic Garden as an educational tool for apprentices learning to grow medicinal plants. Links: Britain, Medical, Botany
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1682 |
Nehemiah Grew (1641-1712), English botanist and physician, postulated that plants reproduce sexually in his book “Anatomy of Plants.” His 1st book on plant anatomy was titled “The Anatomy of Vegetable Begun” (1672). Links: Britain, Books, Botany
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1705 Jan 17 |
John Ray (b.1627), English naturalist, died. His classification of plants in his “Historia Plantarum” (1686) was an important step towards modern taxonomy. Links: Britain, Botany
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1705 Jan 17 |
John Ray (b.1627), British naturalist and theologian, died. He had spent three years traveling in Europe collecting material for his book “Historia Plantarum.” The classification in his 1682 book “Methodus Plantarum Nova” is based on overall morphology. Ray's plant classification system was the first to divide flowering plants into monocots and dicots. Links: Britain, Botany
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1716 |
Thomas Fairchild brushed with a feather pollen from a sweet William over the stigma of a carnation, creating the first human-made hybrid plant. Links: Britain, Botany
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1733 |
John Bartram, American farmer, began sending seed boxes from Philadelphia to Peter Collinson, a London cloth merchant and passionate plant collector. Links: Britain, USA, Pennsylvania, Botany
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1752 May |
Dutch botanist Thomas Francois Dalibard (1709-1799) successfully performed Benjamin Franklin’s “sentry box” experiment proving that lightning is an electrical phenomenon. Links: Netherlands, Physics, Botany
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1768 Aug 26 |
Capt James Cook departed from Plymouth with Endeavour to the Pacific Ocean. Daniel Solander and Joseph Banks accompanied Cook to catalog plants and animals of Australia and New Zealand on the 3-year journey. Links: Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Botany
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1768 1771 |
Capt. James Cook charted the coasts of both the north and south islands of New Zealand and Australia. Cook made his historic voyages in colliers, slow but strong ships designed primarily for carrying coal. His ship was named the Endeavour. Cook's voyage to Australia kept a botanical record called the Banks Florilegium. The 738 original plates commissioned by Sir Joseph Banks was not printed until a 100 set limited edition in 1989. Links: Australia, Britain, New Zealand, Botany
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1778 |
Botanist Joseph Banks (1743-1820) became president of the British Royal Society. He had accompanied Capt. Cook to catalog plants and animals of Australia and New Zealand on the 3-year journey (1768-1771). Links: Britain, Botany
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1788 Apr 15 |
Mary Delany (b.1700), English artist and writer, died. She became known for her “Flora Delanica,” a collection of 985 botanically accurate portraits of flowers in bloom. In 2011 Molly Peacock authored “”The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life’s work at 72.” Links: Artist, Britain, Botany
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1827 |
Joseph Niepce, French inventor, met with English botanist Francis Bauer, who agreed to present Niepce’s ground breaking photographic work to the Royal Society, which rejected the bid. Before leaving London Niepce made a gift of his 1826 pewter image to Bauer. The pewter image was re-discovered in 1952 by photo historian Helmut Gernsheim. Links: Britain, France, Photography, Botany, Inventor
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1849 |
In Missouri Henry Shaw, a British immigrant, established the St. Louis Botanical Garden. Links: USA, Missouri, Botany
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1866 |
Henry Wickham (1846-1928) ventured from Britain to South America hoping to shoot exotic birds and ship home feathers for lady’s hats. This venture failed as the birds exploded from the rifle shots. He returned to the Amazon region and in 1876 gathered seeds of the Hevea brasiliensis tree, which produced latex. Less than 4% of some 70,000 seeds germinated, but this was enough to ship seedlings to Ceylon, India, Malaya and Singapore and begin a global rubber plantation boom. Links: Brazil, Britain, Fashion, Explorer, Trees, Botany, Birds, Ceylon
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1868 |
In Missouri Henry Shaw (1800-1889), British-born businessman, gave Tower Grove Park to St. Louis. In 2005 Carol Grove authored “Henry Shaw's Victorian Landscapes: The Missouri Botanical Garden and Tower Grove Park.” Links: USA, Missouri, Botany
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1870 |
William Robinson (1838-1935), Irish gardener and journalist, authored “The Wild Garden.” His most famous contribution to gardening was his book The English Flower Garden, (1883). Links: Ireland, Books, Botany
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1875 |
Charles Darwin (1809-1882) authored “Insectivorous Plants” as well as “The Movements and Habits of Climbing Plants.” Links: Britain, Writer, Insects, Books, Botany
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1876 |
The gladiolus rust, Uromyces trasversalis, was discovered in South Africa. Some 90 years later it turned up in the Mediterranean region then spread to Europe, South America, and Australia. In 2006 it was detected in the US. Links: South Africa, Microbiology, Botany
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1906 |
Baldassare Forestiere (1879-1946), Sicilian immigrant, began creating his 10-acre Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno, Ca. Links: California, Botany
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1910 |
The Brooklyn Botanic Garden was established under Dr. Charles Stuart Gager. Links: USA, NYC, Botany
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1911 Dec 10 |
Joseph Dalton Hooker (b.1817), British botonist and explorer, died. Links: Britain, Explorer, Botany
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1927 |
The Cranford Rose Garden was established in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden with a $15,000 donation from engineer Walter V. Cranford. His firm built many of Brooklyn’s subway tunnels. Links: USA, NYC, Donation, Botany
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1932 Dec 8 |
Gertrude Jekyll (b.1843), English gardener and writer, died. Links: Britain, Botany
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1933 |
Harold Peto (b.1854), English architect and gardener, died. In 2007 Robin Halley authored “The Great Edwardian Gardens of Harold Peto.” Links: Britain, Architect, Botany
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1946 Nov 7 |
Willis Linn Jepson (b.1867), “Profound Scholar, Inspiring Teacher, Indefatigable Botanical Explorer,” died in Berkeley, Ca. “In the ordered beauty of nature he found enduring communion.” Links: USA, SF Bay Area, Botany
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1946 Nov 10 |
Baldassare Forestiere, creator of the Forestiere Underground Gardens in Fresno, Ca., died in Fresno. Links: California, Botany
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1955 |
Ruth Stout authored “How to Have a Green Thumb Without an Aching Back.” Links: USA, Books, Botany
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1964 |
In Hillsborough, New Jersey, the indoor display gardens of Doris Duke were opened to the public. They were located in glass houses on the 2,740-acre Duke Farms estate. The main glass building, one of the largest in America, was designed by Horace Trumbauer and completed in 1917. In 2008 the display gardens were closed down as the estate transformed to an ecological and environmental learning center. Links: Environment, New Jersey, Botany
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1971 Jul 6 |
In Brazil rubber tapper Raimundo Irineu Serra (b.1892) died. He founded the Santo Daime (Saint Gimme) religion. It was based on a shamanic brew of ayahuasca, a hallucinogenic tea made from the Banisteriopsis caapi vine and Psychotria viridis leaf. Links: Brazil, Religion, Botany
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1971 |
Mary Bowerman (1908-2005) and Art Bonwell co-founded the Save Mount Diablo group and were instrumental in expanding the boundaries of the northern California Mount Diablo state park from 6,788 acres to over 20,000 acres in 2006. In 1944 Bowerman published her doctoral thesis: “Flowering Plants and Ferns of Mount Diablo.” Links: Environment, SF Bay Area, Horticulture, Botany, Mountain
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1973 |
In Occidental, Ca., Marshall Olbrich (d.1991) and Lester Hawkins (d.1985) opened their 3-acre Western Hills Nursery. They had designed and built the nursery in 1961 and proceeded to cultivate and popularize many plants that later thrived in the Bay Area gardens. Links: USA, California, Botany
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1982 |
Kenneth Thimann (1904-1997) received the Balzan Prize worth $110,000, awarded in scientific fields not covered by the Nobel Prize, for his work on plant hormones. The English-born Harvard scientist had isolated and purified the universal growth hormone known as auxin. Links: Britain, USA, Botany
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1982 |
Grace Marchant, the SF woman who maintained the garden on the east face of Telegraph Hill at the Filbert steps, died. The garden was later named in her honor. The retired seamstress had begun her work in 1949. Before her death she asked cab driver Gary Kray (d.2012) to continue her work. Links: USA, SF, Botany
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1982 |
In Monaco an aquarium was emptied that contained the exotic seaweed Caulerpa taxifolia. It mutated and thrived in the Mediterranean Sea and by 1997 occupied 8,000 acres and eliminated everything else. Its growth has tripled annually over the last three years. Links: Environment, Monaco, Botany
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1986 Sep 23 |
The US Congress selected the rose as the US national flower. Links: USA, Botany
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1989 |
Buffalo clover, last seen in 1907, emerged in some topsoil delivered to a botanist’s backyard. In 1788 historian S.P. Hildreth penned an image of the fertile frontier that described the plant: "Buffalo clover... nearly knee-high... afforded a rich pasture." Links: USA, Botany
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We offer additional services to help you as well including
tax attorney help with tax relief issues,
auto accident attorney services, and
sustainable development information to research going green!
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1995 |
The American Society of Botanical Artists was founded. Links: Artist, USA, Botany
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1996 |
"Plants, People, and Culture: The Science of Ethnobotony" was published by Michael J. Balick and Paul Alan Cox. Links: Books, Botany
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1998 Apr 8 |
It was reported that a 20-year int’l. survey of plant diversity found that 1 out of every 8 known plant species was threatened with extinction. Links: Botany, Extinction
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1998 |
In Uganda plant breeder William Wagoira found stem rust on his crops. The fungal wheat rust (Puccinia graminis) had not been seen since the Green Revolution. By 2010 the fungus had spread as far as Iran and South Africa and scientists feared further spread. Links: Microbiology, Uganda, Food, Botany
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1999 |
Anna Pavord authored “The Tulip,” a history of the flower. Links: Botany
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2000 Jan 19 |
Dr. G. Ledyard Stebbins Jr. (b.1906), considered to be the founder of evolutionary botany, died in Davis, Ca. His books included “Variation and Evolution in Plants” (1950), “Flowering Plants: Evolution Above the Species Level” (1974), and “Chromosomal Evolution in Higher Plants” (1971). In 2007 his autobiography was published under the title “The Ladyslipper and I, Autobiography of G. Ledyard Stebbins.” Links: USA, Biography, Botany
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2001 |
Richard Evans Schultes (b.1915), considered the father of ethnobotony, died. In 1997 Wade Davis authored "One River: Explorations and Discoveries in the Amazon Rain Forest," a biography of Schultes. Links: Biography, Botany
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2003 Apr 17 |
Graham Stuart Thomas (94), who reintroduced many forgotten plants to British and American gardens, died. His books included "Old Shrub Roses" and the meticulously illustrated "The Garden Through the Year." Links: Botany
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2007 Jun |
BP PLC said it will invest $90 million in a joint venture with UK-based D1 Oils PLC, a biofuels startup that is developing the jatropha plant in India and elsewhere. The oil rich, non-edible plant was first cultivated in South America and brought to India by Portuguese traders. Links: Britain, Oil, India, Botany
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2008 Feb 16 |
It was reported that the first flowering in 50 years had taken place in the bamboo forests of Bangladesh leading to a plague of rats. The last flowering in 1958 also caused a similar rodent plague. Links: Bangladesh, Animal, Botany
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2008 Jun 15 |
Arthur Galston (b.1920), the botanist who discovered Agent Orange (1943), died. As a graduate student at the Univ. of Illinois he had found that a mild spray of 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid helped soyabeans grow, but that a stronger dose caused the plants to release ethylene which led to defoliation. He was appalled when a potentised strain of his discovery, containing dioxin as a by-product of manufacture, was used in Vietnam (1962-1970), and led efforts for toxicological studies, which stopped its use. Links: USA, Vietnam, Chemistry, Botany
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2008 Jun |
Colombia’s government created the 25,000 acre Orito Ingi-Ande Medicinal Plants Sanctuary to protect plants, which the native Cofan people depend on for medicinal and spiritual purposes. Links: Colombia, Medical, Botany
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2008 |
Botanist Patrick Blanc authored “The Vertical Garden.” Links: USA, Books, Botany
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2009 Jan 17 |
Edmund de Rothschild (93), former chairman of N.M. Rothschild and Sons merchant bank and a noted horticulturist, died at his home in England. Links: Britain, Botany, Banking
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2009 May |
In San Francisco scientists identified an exotic seaweed growing at the SF Yacht Harbor at near Pier 40. The kelp known as Undaria pinnatifida, globally recognized as one of the top 100 invasive species, has plagued southern California harbors since 2000. Links: USA, California, SF, Botany
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