Early years at The N e w York Botanical Garden HENRY A.

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Gleason, H. A. (The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, New York 10458, U.S.A.). Early years at The New York Botanical Garden. Brittonia 48: 318-321. 1996.--At the May 1950 annual meeting of the Corporation of The New York Botanical Garden, the late H. A. Gleason (Fig. 1), then Head Curator, who first arrived at NYBG in 1919, gave an account of the scientific activity during the early years of the institution. The text of his presentation is here reproduced, with some slight modification.

T h e first i n s p i r a t i o n for The N e w York B o t a n ical G a r d e n arose f r o m a botanical e x p e d i t i o n to S o u t h A m e r i c a . T h i s is h o w it h a p p e n e d . T h r o u g h m o s t o f the n i n e t e e n t h century, scarcely any b o t a n i s t s f r o m the United States h a d visited the tropics. T h e y had learned a great deal about the plants o f N o r t h A m e r i c a , a n d that task had been e n o u g h to keep t h e m busy. In 1885 Dr. H e n r y H. Rusby, later curator of o u r e c o n o m i c collections, m a d e his first trip into the m o u n t a i n s of Bolivia. He b r o u g h t back m a n y b o t a n i c a l specimens, w h i c h h e h a n d e d to Dr. N. L. B r i t t o n for study. Dr. Britton was then Professor o f B o t a n y at C o l u m b i a College, d o w n on 49th Street. Britton could not n a m e those plants from Bolivia. He had no p e r s o n a l k n o w l e d g e o f tropical plants; he had very few s p e c i m e n s in the h e r b a r i u m at Col u m b i a with w h i c h h e m i g h t c o m p a r e t h e m ; he had very few b o o k s in the libraries from w h i c h he m i g h t learn a b o u t them. All p r e v i o u s w o r k on the plants o f S o u t h A m e r i c a h a d b e e n d o n e in Europe, a n d all Britton could do was take the s p e c i m e n s to Europe. W h i l e w o r k i n g on t h e m at the Royal B o t a n i c G a r d e n s at Kew, j u s t outside o f L o n d o n , he a n d Mrs. Britton d e c i d e d that there should b e a similar scientific institution in the U n i t e d States. In due time their d r e a m c a m e true, The N e w York Botanical G a r d e n was organized, Britton b e c a m e its first director, and we are all part o f it today. Britton c h o s e as a task for the new G a r d e n the t h o r o u g h i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the p l a n t life o f North America, including Mexico, Central America, a n d the West Indies. For his o w n personal share in the p r o g r a m he took the West Indies and d e v o t e d h i m s e l f to it, with all his rem a r k a b l e energy, for s o m e thirty years. Year af-

ter year he w e n t to the West Indies h i m s e l f or sent m e m b e r s o f his staff. More than 4 0 expeditions f r o m this G a r d e n covered nearly all parts of the islands, from J a m a i c a and C u b a in the west to P u e r t o Rico and Haiti and all the smaller islands as far as Trinidad. Year by y e a r o u r collections grew, until he had built up the largest, the finest, the m o s t c o m p r e h e n s i v e collection o f West Indian plants in the world, and Britton, our director, a n d Wilson, his r i g h t h a n d man, h a d bec o m e international authorities on the plant life of all the islands. No l o n g e r did we h a v e to go e l s e w h e r e for help in s t u d y i n g West Indian plants. Instead, botanists c a m e to us. T h e g o v e r n m e n t botanists o f the various islands o f the British West Indies d e p e n d e d on us fully as m u c h as o n the botanical institutions in England. So did the F r e n c h botanists in M a r t i n i q u e and G u a d e l o u p e , a n d we were quite naturally the c h i e f source o f inform a t i o n for the botanists o f C u b a and P u e r t o Rico. A c c u m u l a t i o n o f k n o w l e d g e and botanical material is not our only function, however. We must m a k e o u r k n o w l e d g e easily a v a i l a b l e to others by publication. O u r West Indian work resulted, d u r i n g the 30 years of B r i t t o n ' s activity, in the p r i n t i n g o f the Flora o f the Bahamas, the Flora o f Bermuda, a n d the Flora o f Puerto Rico. A m o n u m e n t a l Flora o f Cuba was a l m o s t c o m pleted before Britton retired in 1930, and a Flora o f Trinidad, in c o o p e r a t i o n with the British, had b e e n started. All this work c e a s e d in 1930, and for the last 20 years we have d o n e very little more on the p l a n t life o f the West Indies. Britton h a d his troubles, of course, in s t u d y i n g the plants o f the West Indies. T h e s e plants are often closely s i m i l a r to those o f tropical S o u t h

Brittonia, 48(3), 1996, pp. 318-321. 9 1996, by The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY 10458-5126

ISSUED: 16 Oct 1996

1996]

GLEASON: EARLY YEARS AT THE G A R D E N

FIG. 1. Henry A. Gleason, former Head Curator of the Herbarium of The New York Botanical Garden, specialist in the Melastomataceae and author of various publications in plant taxonomy and plant ecology. A m e r i c a , and it was often difficult to decide w h e t h e r or not a West I n d i a n plant, g r o w i n g in G r e n a d a or St. Kitts or s o m e other island, was the same as o n e g r o w i n g in S u r i n a m or Venezuela. It b e c a m e n e c e s s a r y for us to add northern South A m e r i c a to our field of activity. T h e r e was a real task: a great e x p a n s e o f country, 2 0 0 0 miles f r o m the m o u t h o f the A m a z o n to the Pacific, 1000 m i l e s or m o r e north and south; t h o u s a n d s of square m i l e s o f land that h a d n e v e r b e e n mapped; lofty m o u n t a i n s that no white m a n had ever seen, great rivers on w h i c h his boats had n e v e r floated. It was far too m u c h for us to u n d e r t a k e alone, and in 1917 Britton o r g a n i z e d a c o o p e r a t i v e effort with the U.S. National Herb a r i u m in W a s h i n g t o n , D.C., and the Gray Herb a r i u m of H a r v a r d University. T h e same p r o b l e m faced us as had faced Britton in 1886. A m e r i c a n institutions still had v e r y few plants from tropical S o u t h A m e r i c a in their collections. Only a few A m e r i c a n botanists h a d ever collected plants there. T h e great majority o f

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collections were in Europe. We A m e r i c a n s h a d to start at the b o t t o m a n d w o r k up, j u s t as Britton h a d done 20 years before in the West Indies. I c a m e to the B o t a n i c a l G a r d e n in 1919, and the S o u t h A m e r i c a n w o r k was i m m e d i a t e l y assigned to me. I was appalled. It was a task for a Hercules, not for a poor b o t a n i s t w h o h a d n e v e r seen tropical A m e r i c a . B u t I pitched in, a n d for 20 years all m y r e s e a r c h was d o n e on S o u t h A m e r ican plants. T h e work o b v i o u s l y consisted of two p a r t s - the first, to a c c u m u l a t e large collections o f plants; the second, to d e v e l o p men with k n o w l edge about p l a n t s - - a n d the two had to go o n simultaneously. C o l l e c t i n g b e g a n in 1917, w h e n E W. Pennell, o f o u r staff, and the veteran R u s b y spent several m o n t h s in C o l o m b i a . It has continued ever since. T h e m e n h a v e c o m e m o s t l y from the three c o o p e r a t i n g institutions, but in recent years also f r o m the C h i c a g o M u s e u m o f Natural History, the P h i l a d e l p h i a A c a d e m y o f Sciences, and the U n i v e r s i t y o f California. Financial sponsorship has also c o m e f r o m various directions, but in b o t h w a y s - - i n f u r n i s h i n g m e n and in providing f u n d s - - - T h e N e w York Botanical G a r d e n has always been p r o m i n e n t . I should bore you b y reciting all the expeditions into S o u t h A m e r i c a since 1917, but I c a n say that they h a v e i n c l u d e d e v e r y country: B r o a d w a y into F r e n c h G u i a n a , M a g u i r e a n d S a m u e l s o n into S u r i n a m ; Hitchcock, Smith, M a guire, Pinkus into B r i t i s h G u i a n a ; Rusby, J o h n ston, Pittier, M a g u i r e into Venezuela; Pennell, Killip, Hazen0 Smith, R u s b y into C o l o m b i a ; H i t c h c o c k a n d C a m p into Ecuador; Smith, Killip, Pennell, M a c b r i d e , and others into Peru; Krukoff, Fries, S m i t h , Killip into the u p p e r A m azon. I a m o m i t t i n g reference to n u m e r o u s others with w h i c h o u r botanical garden h a d no official c o n n e c t i o n but f r o m w h i c h it usually profited greatly in the results. T h e n c a m e W o r l d W a r II and a huge d e m a n d for r u b b e r and quinine. N u m e r o u s y o u n g A m e r i c a n botanists r a n g e d o v e r the c o u n t r y f r o m the lowlands o f the A m azon to the h i g h A n d e s a n d b r o u g h t b a c k t h o u s a n d s of specimens. A n d h a v e we f o u n d all the plants? By no means. E v e r y expedition goes to a different section of the c o u n t r y or goes at a different season o f the year, a n d e v e r y o n e has b r o u g h t b a c k large n u m b e r s o f plants c o m p l e t e l y u n k n o w n to botanical science. We had generally a s s u m e d that E u r o p e a n bot-

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anists k n e w all a b o u t the plants o f S o u t h A m e r ica, but w e soon f o u n d out that they did not a n d that no one did. T h e r e were tens o f t h o u s a n d s of square miles, the plants of w h i c h were c o m pletely u n k n o w n . N o botanist h a d e v e r b e e n there. We had to go ourselves. T h e r e were t h o u s a n d s o f k i n d s o f plants that n o b o t a n i s t h a d ever seen. We had to find them ourselves. Let m e illustrate. Curare is a drug that has b e e n in use for m a n y years. N o one k n e w the plants f r o m w h i c h it was produced. T h e y were w o r k e d out right in this M u s e u m b u i l d i n g by m e m b e r s o f o u r o w n staff. T h e fish p o i s o n s of South A m e r i c a , source o f the i m p o r t a n t insecticide rotenone, were also of u n k n o w n origin, and they, too, were collected and studied b y t w o men, one o f t h e m a m e m b e r o f our staff. S t r y c h nine, one o f the m o s t valuable drugs o f the whole p h a r m a c o p o e i a , is a third, and it r e m a i n e d for a n o t h e r m a n o f our staff to study the numerous k i n d s o f Strychnos. O t h e r i m p o r t a n t studies o f e c o n o m i c plants have also b e e n carried out in this building, fin a n c e d largely by c o m m e r c i a l firms, especially on two g r o u p s of plants p r o d u c i n g latex, used for balata and for c h e w i n g gum, and still others h a v e b e e n c o m p l e t e d or are u n d e r w a y elsewhere, especially o n the p a l m s o f c o m m e r c i a l value, the k i n d s o f plants p r o d u c i n g Para rubber, and on the various k i n d s of Cinchona, source o f quinine. With e v e r y e x p e d i t i o n into South A m e r i c a o u r collections grew in size and scope. No l o n g e r does the A m e r i c a n b o t a n i s t h a v e to travel to Europe to learn a b o u t S o u t h A m e r i c a n plants. T h e collections here at h o m e are far better than those in Europe. W e lack only the earliest collections, m a d e a c e n t u r y or so ago by E u r o p e a n botanists, and p r e s e r v e d in E u r o p e a n institutions only, a n d these are often o f great historical value. We h a v e e v e n b e e n able to pick up some o f these by lucky bargains. In 1930 we secured f r o m C a m bridge U n i v e r s i t y in E n g l a n d m o r e than 3000 plants collected b y R i c h a r d Spruce, o n e o f the pioneer b o t a n i s t s a l o n g the u p p e r A m a z o n a n d its tributaries. Just last w e e k we r e c e i v e d f r o m S w i t z e r l a n d m o r e than 7000 s p e c i m e n s , representing o n e o f the basic collections in Paraguay. I do not m e a n to c o n v e y the idea that o u r botanical g a r d e n is a h e a d of e v e r y o n e else in the study o f Latin A m e r i c a n botany. S o u t h A m e r i c a is too large a n d the funds o f e v e r y A m e r i c a n institution are too limited to get a m o n o p o l y . B u t

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I a m proud to say that we at this G a r d e n h a v e in our c o l l e c t i o n s a representation o f F r e n c h G u i a n a s e c o n d only to that at Paris; o f the D u t c h colony o f S u r i n a m s e c o n d only to that at U t r e c h t in Holland; o f V e n e z u e l a and C o l o m b i a s e c o n d only to that o f the N a t i o n a l H e r b a r i u m in W a s h ington; o f Bolivia, Ecuador, British G u i a n a , a n d those strange m o u n t a i n s o f southern V e n e z u e l a p r o b a b l y s e c o n d to none; of A m a z o n i a n Brazil we h a v e a splendid collection, but I c a n n o t say h o w it ranks comparatively. In this c o n n e c t i o n I must speak v e r y briefly about those u n e x p l o r e d m o u n t a i n s in s o u t h e r n Venezuela, to w h i c h we have recently b e e n giving m u c h attention. T h e y stretch more than 4 0 0 miles east a n d west across V e n e z u e l a a n d reappear to the east in British G u i a n a a n d e v e n in Surinam, a n d o t h e r outliers rise a b o v e the plains o f eastern C o l o m b i a . They are p o o r l y k n o w n geographically, geologically, and botanically. In fact, they are the least k n o w n part o f all the Western H e m i s p h e r e . It is the area in w h i c h C o n a n D o y l e l o c a t e d his s t o r y " T h e L o s t W o r l d , " and he could not have c h o s e n a b e t t e r place. T h e first two or three contacts with these m o u n t a i n s were at the famous M o u n t Roraima, and we h a v e s o m e o f the plants collected then. R o r a i m a has since b e e n visited b y the G e r m a n Ule, and we h a v e m a n y o f his collections, a n d still later b y Tate and Pinkus, and we h a v e all those plants. Next c a m e the ascent o f the fabulous M o u n t D u i d a by Tate, and we h a v e all o f his collections. A few years later Tate a s c e n d e d A u y a n - t e p u f - - f a m o u s for the h i g h e s t waterfall in the world, d r o p p i n g f r o m its flat top o v e r the vertical s i d e s - - a n d we h a v e that collection. Since then, Steyermark, Cardona, Hitchcock, and Mrs. P h e l p s s u c c e e d e d in c l i m b i n g several other peaks, a n d we have a large share of their collections. Last c a m e M a g u i r e ' s e x p e d i t i o n to Sipapo and M a r a h u a c a , and of course we h a v e those plants. N o o t h e r institution has as fine a collection f r o m this region as we, a n d yet we p r o b a b l y k n o w only a quarter of the m a n y kinds o f strange plants that grow there. We w a n t to get the other t h r e e - q u a r t e r s and we w a n t to b r i n g some o f their r e m a r k a b l e plants into our greenhouses. You s h o u l d see some o f the beautiful orchids of t h e s e m o u n t a i n s w h i c h b l o o m for us from time to time, m o s t of t h e m w i t h o u t n a m e s , u n k n o w n to science, and all sent b a c k by Dr. M a g u i r e f r o m his expeditions.

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GLEASON: EARLY YEARS AT THE G A R D E N

As our collection of the plants of Latin America have grown, so has our knowledge grown. No one in the world e v e r knew as much about the plants o f the West Indies as our former director, Dr. N. L. Britton, and our former curator Percy Wilson. No one ever knew as much about the plants of southern Venezuela as our present curator Bassett Maguire. S i m i l a r statements could be made for various other botanists who are the leading authorities on the plants of other tropical American countries. A hundred and fifty years ago, European botanists knew more about the plants of the United States than we did. A hundred years ago they knew more about the plants of Latin A m e r i c a than we Americans knew. Now that is all changed. A m e r i c a n s - North Americans and South A m e r i c a n s - - a r e fully capable of handling their own botanical problems. There are probably 60,000 kinds of plants in tropical South A m e r i c a and 20,000 more in tropical North America. No one person can possibly be acquainted with more than a small fraction of such a large number. Botanists must be content with acquiring more-detailed knowledge of limited groups of plants. During the past 30 years or less, we have developed in the United States a dozen or twenty persons who are now international authorities on particular groups of plants. Three, possibly four, of them are at our botanical garden. The botanists and botanical institutions of the world turn to these botanists for accurate information about these plants from all parts of tropical America. The usual custom is to send to us for study specimens of plants, which are kept for our collections, and only a written report is returned to the sender. Because of the reputation of these botanists, the most important existing collections of a half-dozen groups of plants are housed in this building. We need still more such concentrated knowledge in this country. There have been times, and there may c o m e other times, when you will need that knowledge and experience very much and very quickly. I need only mention the sudden

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demand for quinine at the beginning of World War II, when the g o v e r n m e n t had to requisition practically every young taxonomist in the country to search for Cinchona trees in South America. We should have a great body of knowledge constantly on tap in this country, constantly ready for use w h e n e v e r an emergency arises. And if we do plan for such an increase in knowledge, The N e w York Botanical Garden must be included in the plan. A botanical k n o w l e d g e should be both useful and ornamental. Its usefulness lies largely in the knowledge and experience of its personnel and in the storage of knowledge in its library and herbarium. Dr. Robinson, for many years Director of the Gray Herbarium at Harvard University, had a favorite motto which I have often heard him repeat: "Strengthen the strong." To strengthen ourselves in the strong position we now occupy and have occupied for 50 years in the investigation of plant life of Latin America, we need more money for exploration, more money for trained botanists to evaluate the results of the exploration, more m o n e y to publish the results of their study for the ultimate benefit of mankind. In what I have been saying I have mentioned only two Latin A m e r i c a n botanists, and those very incidentally, but I must emphasize that there have arisen in Latin America a number of important botanical institutions and a group of botanists, most of them young and vigorous, who are actively studying the plant life of their own countries as rapidly as their opportunity permits. I must not take time to mention any of them individually, or to name the flourishing universities and other institutions with which they are connected, but I will, in closing, pay one last tribute to one of them: Henri Pittier, native of Switzerland, citizen of Venezuela, noted botanist, botanical explorer, and botanical author, prominent in the development of his adopted country, active in his profession for 60 years, who passed away two months ago in his ninetythird year.