The first collection of Hawaiian plants by David Nelson in 1779. Hawaiian Plant Studies, 55

Author:

St. John, Harold

Title:

The first collection of Hawaiian plants by David Nelson in 1779. Hawaiian Plant Studies, 55

Periodical:

Pacific Science

Year:

1978

Volume:

32

Pages:

315-324

Subject:

Hawaiian plants Plant communities Hawaii Island

Summary:

This document describes the first collection of 55 Hawaiian plants that were studied in 1779 by David Nelson, a gardener and botanist, who travelled with Captain James Cook on his third exploratory expedition. During this expedition, the Sandwich (Hawaiian) Islands were discovered where Captain Cook met his tragic death. During the expedition, Nelson was able to participate in a four-day excursion to Mauna Loa where specimens were collected, dried, and delivered to Sir Joseph Banks, upon his return to England. Sir Banks then deposited the specimens in the British Museum of Natural History where they were studied by Dr. Daniel Solander, who classified and named some of the specimens. Upon Solander's death, Robert Brown then studied the residue of the collection and likely gave the specimens names such as, Ilicoides (Ilex) for Pelea, Hydrangeoides (Hydrangea) for Perrottetia, etc. Then, in 1935, the author of this paper visited the British Museum of Natural History and searched for the Hawaiian plants that were collected by Nelson. A four-week search in 1935 and a one-week search in 1974, found 136 species. However, it was felt that there were still more to be discovered. In the two centuries since Nelson was able to put together his collection of plants, many botanists have visited the "Kona" side of the island of Hawaii. Many collections, studies, and reports were done where a great majority of local endemic species were distinguished and published. However, since the area above Kealakekua is densely settled, since coffee plantations have extended to higher altitudes, and since extensive grazing has been done by feral animals, it is believed that many of the specimens collected by Nelson are extinct. Nonetheless, a detailed list of plants that were discovered by Nelson and studied by others is listed in this document.

Label:

Botany

URL:

http://hdl.handle.net/10125/1441

Date:

1978

Collection:

Periodicals