Garden Plot: Names of plants, animals trace back to explorers, naturalists

Clarkia, a pink native wildflower named for William Clark of the Lewis and Clark expedition, blooms along some of Tiburon’s fire roads each spring. (Diane Lynch / For The Ark)

Both plants and animals are named after people, often those who discovered them, those who played a role in bringing plants to the trade or those who are friends. The British, keen gardeners that they are, were quick to realize the potential of bringing foreign plants to their gardens. Institutions such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh financed many trips around the world to collect specimens that might do well in British gardens.

The Age of Discovery started in the early 1400s, followed by the Enlightenment from the late 1700s into the early 1800s. People became fascinated with finding what else was out there, and seagoing ships were capable of longer voyages. The crowns of Spain, Portugal, France, England and others had financial motivations to discover things like rubber, coffee, spices and other lucrative trade items. These voyages often included naturalists and gardeners who carefully packed barrels of specimens to be sent home for study and cultivation. These trips weren’t without risk, as plant explorers died in the pursuit of more and better plants; David Douglas, for instance, died young after a run-in with a bull while hunting plants in Hawaii.

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