William Herbert (botanist)

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William Herbert
Born(1778-01-12)12 January 1778
Died28 May 1847(1847-05-28) (aged 69)
London
NationalityBritish
Alma mater Eton College
Christ Church
Exeter College
Merton College
Known forEarly taxonomy of bulbous plants
Scientific career
Fields Botany
Author abbrev. (botany) Herb.

The Hon. William Herbert (12 January 1778 – 28 May 1847) was a British botanist, botanical illustrator, poet, and clergyman. He served as a member of parliament for Hampshire from 1806 to 1807, and for Cricklade from 1811 to 1812. His botanical writings are noted for his treatment of Amaryllidaceae. [1]

Contents

Life

He was the third son and fifth child of Henry Herbert, 1st Earl of Carnarvon, by Lady Elizabeth Alicia Maria, eldest daughter of Charles Wyndham, 2nd Earl of Egremont. He was born on 12 January 1778, and was educated at Eton College. On 16 July 1795 Herbert matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford, but soon migrated to Exeter College, where he graduated B.A. on 6 June 1798. Subsequently, moving to Merton College, he proceeded M.A. 23 November 1802, B.C.L. 27 May 1808, D.C.L. 2 June 1808, and B.D. 25 June 1840. [2] In a political career, he was elected M.P. for Hampshire in 1806, and for Cricklade in 1811, and also seems to have practised at the bar. But soon after retiring from parliament in 1812 he changed his plans. In 1814 he was ordained, and was nominated to the rectory of Spofforth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. He left Spofforth in 1840 on his promotion to Dean of Manchester. [2]

Herbert died suddenly at his house in Hereford Street, Park Lane, London, on Friday, 28 May 1847. [2]

Works

In 1801 he brought out Ossiani Darthula, a small volume of Greek and Latin poetry. In 1804 appeared part i. of his Select Icelandic Poetry, translated from the originals with notes. Part ii. followed in 1806. These were early works on old Scandinavian literature in English. Lord Byron mentioned Herbert in his English Bards and Scotch Reviewers (1809). Other translations were from German, Danish, and Portuguese poems, with some miscellaneous English poems (1804). [2]

He contributed articles of a non-political character to the Edinburgh Review . Helga, a poem in seven cantos, came out in 1815, with a second edition in the following year; then Hedin, or the Spectre of the Tomb, a tale in verse from Danish history. London, 1820; Pia della Pietra, 1820; Iris, a Latin ode, York, 1820; and the Wizard Wanderer of Jutland in 1820–1. The epic poem entitled Attila, or the Triumph of Christianity, in twelve books, with a historical preface, was published in 1838; and a final volume of poems, The Christian, in 1846. [2]

Early interested in natural history, and a good shot, he helped James Rennie to edit Gilbert White's The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne in 1833, and contributed notes to Edward Turner Bennett's edition of the work in 1837. He wrote much for the Botanical Register and Botanical Magazine , particularly on the subject of bulbous plants. He cultivated a large number of these plants at Spofforth, and at Mitcham, Surrey; many of these were lost to cultivation. His standard volume on this group of plants, Amaryllidaceæ, [3] was issued in 1837. His Crocorum Synopsis appeared in the miscellaneous portion of the Botanical Register for 1843-4-5. Contributions on hybridisation made by him to the Journal of the Horticultural Society were the outcome of observation and experiment. A History of the Species of Crocus was reprinted separately from that journal, edited by John Lindley in 1847, just after his death. The genus Herbertia of Sweet commemorated his name. [2]

His major works, including sermons, reviews, and scientific memoirs, besides his early poetical volumes, appeared in 2 volumes in 1842. He edited Musae Etonensis (1795) while still at school and, on quitting Eton, obtained a prize for a Latin poem on the subject Rhenus, which was published. A translation appeared in Translations of Oxford Prize Poems, 1831. [2]

List of selected publications

Recognition

The International Bulb Society awards The Herbert Medal to persons making meritorious achievement in advancing the knowledge of bulbous plants.

Family

Herbert married the Hon. Letitia Emily Dorothea, second daughter of Joshua Allen, 5th Viscount Allen, on 17 May 1806, and was father of Henry William Herbert and three other children.

Commentary on Herbert

Charles Darwin wrote in On the Origin of Species (1859):

Natural Selection, as we shall hereafter see, is a power incessantly ready for action, and is as immeasurably superior to man's feeble efforts, as the works of Nature are to those of Art. ...The elder De Candolle and Lyell have largely and philosophically shown that all organic beings are exposed to severe competition. In regard to plants, no one has treated this subject with more spirit and ability than W. Herbert, Dean of Manchester, evidently the result of his great horticultural knowledge. [4]

Andrew Dickson White wrote in A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom (1896):

About 1820 Dean Herbert, eminent as an authority in horticulture, avowed his conviction that species are but fixed varieties. [5]

Science historian Conway Zirkle has written that Herbert had recognized the struggle for existence. According to Zirkle "he approached very closely to the natural selection hypothesis when he suggested that winter hardiness might become established in a hybrid stock through the survival of chance variations." [6]

The standard author abbreviation Herb. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>Hippeastrum</i> Genus of flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae

Hippeastrum is a genus of about 90 species and over 600 hybrids and cultivars of perennial herbaceous bulbous plants. They generally have large fleshy bulbs and tall broad leaves, generally evergreen, and large red or purple flowers.

Richard Anthony Salisbury British botanist and gardener (1761-1829)

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<i>Nerine sarniensis</i> Species of flowering plant

Nerine sarniensis, commonly known as Guernsey lily or Jersey lily, is a species of flowering plant in the family Amaryllidaceae. It is the type species of the Nerine genus. It is widely cultivated in the temperate world and is particularly associated with the island of Guernsey, as reflected in both its Latin and common names, though it does not originate there, nor is it a true lily. It is native to the Northern and Western Cape Provinces of South Africa, though it is now naturalized in France, Madeira and the Azores.

<i>Nerine</i> Genus of flowering plants

Nerine is a genus of flowering plants belonging to the family Amaryllidaceae, subfamily Amaryllidoideae. They are bulbous perennials, some evergreen, associated with rocky and arid habitats. They bear spherical umbels of lily-like flowers in shades from white through pink to crimson. In the case of deciduous species, the flowers may appear on naked stems before the leaves develop. Native to South Africa, there are about 20–30 species in the genus. Though described as lilies, they are not significantly related to the true lilies (Liliaceae), but more closely resemble their relatives, Amaryllis and Lycoris. The genus was established by the Revd. William Herbert in 1820.

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Joshua Allen, 5th Viscount Allen Irish peer and soldier

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The Herbert Medal is awarded by the International Bulb Society to those whose achievements in advancing knowledge of ornamental bulbous plants is considered to be outstanding.

<i>Ammocharis</i> Genus of flowering plants

Ammocharis is a small genus from sub-Saharan Africa, in the family Amaryllidaceae which includes seven species distributed in Africa. The plant grows as above-ground bulb, preferring seasonally wet, hot, sandy soils and full sun.

Charles Moore (botanist) Australian botanist (1820–1905)

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The Amaryllidaceae are a family of herbaceous, mainly perennial and bulbous flowering plants in the monocot order Asparagales. The family takes its name from the genus Amaryllis and is commonly known as the amaryllis family. The leaves are usually linear, and the flowers are usually bisexual and symmetrical, arranged in umbels on the stem. The petals and sepals are undifferentiated as tepals, which may be fused at the base into a floral tube. Some also display a corona. Allyl sulfide compounds produce the characteristic odour of the onion subfamily (Allioideae).

<i>Pyrolirion</i> Genus of flowering plants

Pyrolirion, commonly known as fire lilies or flame lilies, is a small genus of herbaceous, bulb-forming South American plants in the Amaryllis family, native to Chile, Peru, and Bolivia.

Amaryllidoideae Subfamily of flowering plants

Amaryllidoideae is a subfamily of monocot flowering plants in the family Amaryllidaceae, order Asparagales. The most recent APG classification, APG III, takes a broad view of the Amaryllidaceae, which then has three subfamilies, one of which is Amaryllidoideae, and the others are Allioideae and Agapanthoideae. The subfamily consists of about seventy genera, with over eight hundred species, and a worldwide distribution.

<i>Hippeastrum correiense</i> Species of flowering plant

Hippeastrum correiense is a flowering perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to Brazil.

<i>Hippeastrum miniatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Hippeastrum miniatum is a flowering perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to Peru.

<i>Hippeastrum psittacinum</i> Species of flowering plant

Hippeastrum psittacinum is a flowering perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to Brazil.

Taxonomy of <i>Narcissus</i> Classification of daffodils

The taxonomy of Narcissus is complex, and still not fully resolved. Known to the ancients, the genus name appears in Graeco-Roman literature, although their interest was as much medicinal as botanical. It is unclear which species the ancients were familiar with. Although frequently mentioned in Mediaeval and Renaissance texts it was not formally described till the work of Linnaeus in 1753. By 1789 it had been grouped into a family (Narcissi) but shortly thereafter this was renamed Amaryllideae, from which comes the modern placement within Amaryllidaceae, although for a while it was considered part of Liliaceae.

<i>Hippeastrum reticulatum</i> Species of flowering plant

Hippeastrum reticulatum, the netted-veined amaryllis, is a flowering perennial herbaceous bulbous plant, in the family Amaryllidaceae, native to South America.

William Masters (1796–1874) FHS was an English nurseryman, garden designer, and amateur botanist. Born at Canterbury on 7 July 1796, he founded a nursery in St. Peter's St., Canterbury, initially known as St Peter's Nursery Ground, later as Master's Botanical Garden and Nursery Ground, and later still as Master's Exotic Nursery. Masters specialized in the cultivation of exotic plants, and experimental hybridizations. He also founded the Canterbury Museum, of which he was Hon. Curator from 1823 to 1846. Masters replanted much of the Dane John Gardens in Canterbury with stock donated from his nursery, and also designed several of the terraces in the middle of the formal garden at Walmer Castle. However, Masters is chiefly remembered for his catalogue Hortus duroverni of 1831, which comprehensively listed and classified many seeds and plants. One of his introductions, the elm cultivar Ulmus × hollandica 'Superba', commonly known as the Canterbury Elm, became very popular as a street tree, notably in Germany, where it was propagated by the Spath nursery, Berlin.

Alstroemeria pygmaea is a species of monocotyledonous plant in the genus Alstroemeria, and in the family Alstroemeriaceae. It was described by William Herbert in 1837.

References

  1. ↑ Stearn 1952.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jackson 1885–1900.
  3. ↑ Amaryllidaceae, an attempt to arrange the Monocotyledonous Orders (1837)
  4. ↑ Charles Darwin, On the Origin of Species (1859) Ch.3 "The Struggle for Existence"
  5. ↑ Andrew Dickson White, A History of the Warfare of Science with Theology in Christendom Appleton (1922) Vol.1 p.65
  6. ↑ Zirkle, Conway (25 April 1941). "Natural Selection before the 'Origin of Species'". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society . Philadelphia, PA: American Philosophical Society. 84 (1): 71–123. ISSN   0003-049X. JSTOR   984852.
  7. ↑ IPNI.  Herb.

Bibliography

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