Fieldwork, while extremely important to the study of botany, is not always pleasant. Botanists put themselves in many difficult situations when going into the field to collect. They face dangerous terrain, unpredictable weather, annoying insects, uncomfortable travel conditions, and exposure to disease.. Botanists venture into new territories, scale giant trees, hang off rocky cliffs, and even dive underwater in search of new plants.
Botanists take to the field to bring home new varieties of flowering and non-flowering plants for study and to further expand their knowledge of plants. Many of these plants provide new food sources or medicines. All provide insight into the complexity of the living world. As Thomas Jefferson noted: "The greatest service which can be rendered to any country is to add a useful plant to its culture..." [The Jeffersonian Cyclopedia, 1900]
Besides the possible agricultural or medicinal value that these finds bring, there is also an element of excitement in being the first to find and identify a new species of plant. Roland Thaxter (1858-1932), Professor of Cryptogamic Botany and Curator of the Farlow Herbarium at Harvard, stated in a diary entry from his 1905 collecting trip to South America, "The heart of Smith, poor man, could not beat in unison with the sensation of a botanist at the moment of his first contact with a wholly strange flora."
Botany appears to have had originated as far back as the Stone Age. Early man's interest may have been simply to learn what different herbs and plants could be used as food. This could be seen as an early and basic form of plant classification, grouping them as edible and inedible. Written manuals for the use of herbs in medicine existed as far back as 3000 BC in Mesopotamia and China. While the Egyptians also wrote much on the medicinal uses of plants the study of botany, the earliest written botanical information that we possess today came from the Greeks.
The term "botany" itself probably came from the Greek words botanikos (botanical) and botane (plant or herb). The Greek philosopher Aristotle collected information about plants but it was really his student Theophrastus [371-286 B.C.] who inherited his teacher's library and began to devise more complex systems of plant classification. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of Botany."
Plants were exchanged and studied in early cultures, but it wasn't until Columbus began his voyages in 1492 that we have record of the interchange of plants between the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. Columbus left Spain to search for new routes and sources for importing spices from the East. He returned from his voyages with corn and other crop plants including capsicum peppers, orange, lemon, and lime seeds. He also brought products to the countries he visited. He introduced sugar cane to Santo Domingo and cucumbers and other vegetables from Europe to Haiti. This, in effect, doubled the food crop resources available to peoples on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 1603 Adriaan van de Spiegel (1578-1625) published instructions on producing dried herbarium specimens in Isagoges in Rem Herbarium. This was a new technique that had come into practice during the previous 50 years. The collecting, exchange, archiving, and study of pressed, dried plants mounted on sheets of paper engendered a quiet revolution in taxonomy, floristics, and systematics. This advance was followed rather quickly by Gaspard Bauhin (1560-1624) who used a clear concept of genus and species in his botanical classification work. In 1623 he published his concept in the book Pinax Theatri Botanici which later influenced Carolus Linnaeus.
Linnaeus, who is often called the Father of Taxonomy, was one of the first botanists to embrace the practice of extensive travel for fieldwork. It is reported that between 1745 and 1792 nineteen of Linnaeus's students went of to distant lands to collect new plant specimens. Half of these students perished. Many died of fever, some were never heard from again and a few went insane.
Fieldwork took another giant step forward when, in 1768, James Cook set aboard the Endeavor on a scientific mission. With him were the young naturalists Joseph Banks and Daniel Charles Solander (a pupil of Linnaeus) as well as team of artists. In April 1770 the ship arrived in Botany Bay, so named because of the fabulous amount of new plants collected by Banks and Solander.
In the 19th century botanists began to travel to more and more remote locations. They traveled all over Africa, Asia, Antarctica, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America in their search of plants, animals, and minerals for agriculture and for medicine. This increased knowledge has helped us to "master" the living world.
Not all botanical exploration takes place on land. As not all vegetation is terrestrial, thus, neither are all botanists. One such botanist who was not limited to dry land was Ivan Mackenzie Lamb. While he certainly botanized on land, he also SCUBA dove extensively to survey marine algae. Lamb went as far as Antarctica to dive for algae, but a series of well-documented dives was made much closer to home. In 1962 and 1963, Lamb and a changing cast of characters (including Richard E Waterhouse, R.A. Fralick, Martin Zimmermann, and Bob Knowles) made numerous dives off the coasts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. One area off of Cape Ann, Massachusetts was monitored in a long-term study. The results of this study can be read in Lamb and Zimmerman's collaboration "Marine Vegetation of Cape Ann, Essex County, Massachusetts." (Rhodora 66 (1964): 217-254).
A dive log was kept for the Cape Ann and other dives. This log, which now resides in the archives of the Farlow Library, initially presents a serious record of weather conditions, water temperatures, divers present, and specimens collected. Soon, however, it becomes a humorous collaborative diary of the divers' adventures. Indeed, many entries refer not to dives, but to ski trips to North Conway, New Hampshire. Lamb's entry on page 20 is especially silly. He writes C-c-c-come on in, the W-w-w-water's F-f-f-fine! and signes in a shaky hand with the letters made to look like they are dripping freezing water.
This dive log/diary also includes photographs, including pictures of divers in full diving regalia. In this photo of Lamb note that "Mack [Lamb] is recognizable by his pointed helmet--for rank." (Ann Venable, diving log, page 52) Some of these photos might indicate that the cold water may have made the divers a little silly. The photo to the left reads: After a dive to recover a "hot" space capsule... Note intense radiation emited from eyes and neck
The jovial tone of the logbook hides the fact that the dives were taken in water that was often just above the freezing point. In fact, Fralick writes of one dive in Rockport, Massachusetts, "If the Antarctic is no worse than today, it will actually be enjoyable." (diving log, page 56) The series of dives off of Deer Island, Maine were particularly brutal. Air temperatures hovered around 15º F, with a water temperature of 33º. Divers had to remain fully immersed or their breathing regulators would freeze. At one point, the divers' boat became coated in a layer of ice. The combination of ice and the motion of the sea caused Lamb to fall overboard and the boat to become swamped. No one was injured, but the day's diving was ruined. Even when injury did occur, however, it did not dampen the spirits of the divers. When Martin Zimmerman cut his hand on a submerged anchor, his injury was thus immortalized:
Lamb's diving log gives a glimpse into the trials, tribulations, and fun of fieldwork. While risks to life, limb, and core body temperature are often present, the excitement of scientific discovery can make it all worthwhile.
Roland Thaxter (1858-1932) left Boston on August 17, 1905 for Liverpool, England where he he gained passage on the Pacific St. Navigation Company's S.S. Orissa bound for Brazil.
Early in the trip Thaxter's plans for collecting were thrown into disarray when he was informed by the first officer that a smallpox epidemic was raging in Chile, especially in Valparaiso, where the bodies were being piled in the streets. Thaxter spent the next few days in "considerable mental disturbance" trying to decide how to reorder his visit so that he could still reach the areas he wishes to collect in.
On September 25th Thaxter arrived in Buenos Aires. He spent his time there collecting bugs and fungus, making contacts, visiting museums, and meeting with Carlos Spegazzini, the eminent Argentine mycologist. Unfortunately, during this time his health had begun to suffer. Because of digestive issues Thaxter had lost fourteen pounds since he left Liverpool on August 31st. This weak stomach was a problem that would plague him throughout most of this journey.
On October 21st Thaxter left Buenas Aires onboard the Venus heading to Montevido. His collecting there was much more successful "I have been able to gather in a good many Laboulbenias and I would think among them not less than 30 new species and half a dozen new genera as far as I can see". His luck changed when, less than a week later he left for Coronel, Chile. There were many hot and dry weeks and it was impossible to collect. "The impression of a first landing in Chile are not pleasing, the general dirt, dilapidation, and squalor, a great contrast to ones first impression of the Argentine as gained from Buenes Aires and looking at the people one feels as if he were landed in a paradise of cutthroats and does not wonder that the traveler is almost universally advised to carry a revolver."
Thaxter became very ill early in January, 1906. He debated returning home but felt he was too sick to undertake such a journey. That same month he left for Puenta Arenas on the steamer Eedfu. During much of his time on board he continued to feel very sick. He woke often with his arms and legs asleep. He was seen by the ships doctor who gave a diagnosis of "vasomotor neurasthenia" (chronic fatigue) and told him not to strain his heart.
Thaxter arrived in Puenta Arenas on January 22nd.He found lots of algae loose on shore among the "dead cats which stretch for a couple of miles". On February 1st while out collecting "... I saw a gruesome object lying in the sun, the hair dark and bristly, the arms extended. A new pair of shoes and clothes but little worne [sic]. After all the varied assortment of dumpage I had traversed among which dead dogs, cats, sheep, hens, and calves were copiously distributed, I seemed to take this last item almost as a matter of course, and after a cursory examination I continued my way to the turn of the point and then struck across inland over the flat rather sterile region which characterizes this spit of land".
On April 29th Thaxter received a cable "Eliot ill come home". His eldest son Eliot had become sick. Thaxter hurridly changed his plans but was able to leave that day. The next day he received a second cable that read "physicians given up all hope" and quickly Thaxter booked passage on a ship home. On May 18th he reached Lisbon. “I received a cable which told me that all was over and that Eliot had died the day after I left Rio... Determined not to go overland as it appeared I could not take a steamer sooner by doing so. Begged the pursar to let me have a room to myself as several were vacant... It seemed queer to me that neither he nor either of the two others to whom I had spoken of my trouble were human enough to speak to me about it or ask as to my news. The Dr. to whom I had brought my first cable never mentioned the matter again and kept speaking of his own son -about Eliot's age- at school."
Thaxter presented a talk at a Botanical Society of America meeting about this trip and the materials he collected but besides this only a short paper was printed in the Botanical Gazette in 1910 titled Notes on Chilean Fungi. Unfortunately, a full treatment of this material was never completed.
The Gaspe Peninsula is located in southeastern Quebec, Canada. It is north of New Brunswick and Chaleur Bay and south of the mouth of the St. Lawrence River. It covers approximately 11,390 square miles and is thickly forested with many lakes and rivers. The Mi'kmaq, who occupied this area when the first Europeans arrived, called it 'Gespeg' meaning 'the place where the land ends.'
Whether it was the harsh weather or rugged mountains or a combination of both, after Sir William Logan (1798-1875) exploration in 1844, no definitive attempt was made to explore and describe the region for quite a few years.
During the summer of 1923 seven botanists and three guides spent July and August exploring and botanizing the Gaspe Peninsula, mostly in the area of the Shickshock Mountains. They crossed the Cap Chat River on July 6th, 1923 and headed to their home base. A cabin they referred to as the Locked Camp. This camp consisted of a cabin where they stored their extra supplies and food while they were out collecting in the field. Every few days their guides would trek back to Locked Camp to restock. The botanists also traveled back there a couple of times during their trip to drop off mounted specimens. The members of the party were:
Each man carried a knapsack (weighing between 30 and 80 lbs) containing a camera, vasculum or collecting box, emergency rations, matches, compass, and a whistle. They uses their whistles to communicate and devised a code of whistle signals to help locate each other, communicate danger, and, most importantly, to announce when dinner was ready.
The party faced many hardships including extremely rough weather. Most of the party dressed in waterproof coats or slickers because rain and even hail came down at a moments notice. At night they wore all of the clothes that they had packed but still, it often wasn't enough to keep warm. On at least four nights the temperature fell well below freezing.
Carrying Gear across Washed-out Road
One of the challenges of fieldwork is the isolation. Botanists may spend months in transit, followed by months in the field, without any contact with the outside world. Today, of course, global communication is often fairly easy (most of the time), but in the past it was not so. The letter was the primary method of contact for the early botanists. Charles Wright was one botanist who kept in contact with colleagues via the mails. Through his letters to Asa Gray, we can read about Wright's tribulations.
Some expeditions required Wright to be shipboard for months. One such expedition was the U.S. North Pacific Exploring Expedition of 1853-1856. While on board the steamer John Hancock, Wright found few people with whom he could discuss scientific matters, and so had to rely on his correspondence with Gray for intellectual stimulation. "I shall hail with pleasure any letters from you. I find no one on our ship who takes any interest in science. We have one poet in our mess--but he with the rest if they have a penchant for any thing, it is for drinking whiskey only." Wright sent data from the field to Gray, while Gray sent Wright updates from Cambridge along with new botanical publications. Wright also depended on Gray to send collecting supplies. Primarily, though, Wright's correspondence to Gray was social in nature, describing the adventures of the day.
Wright was also not shy about expressing dissatisfaction with his surroundings. After transferring to the ship Vincennes, Wright had this to say about his new accommodations: "I told you I was in ill humor. I was satisfied with my [illegible] mess and with the great liberty I enjoyed on board the Steamer. Here I was put into a dirty room (it has not been cleaned yet) amid ships with the racket of Babel in front of it--without curtains or writing desk and no boy yet to wait on me and my boots haven't been blacked for a week." Other letters to Gray only hint at Wright's shipboard adventures. In one letter, Wright writes, tantalizingly, "Before this reaches you the rumor of our late Commander's derangement will have been spread through the country by the numerous papers." Unfortunately for the modern reader, details of the Commander's derangement are not given. While the rumors may have reached Gray, they did not reach us.
Wright did not return directly to the United States after his work on the exploring expedition was complete. He stopped in Nicaragua for approximately six weeks to do some collecting. Tropical botanizing comes with a variety of problems. Wright described the Hong Kong climate as "most villainous," a description that could be applied to many tropical climates. Beyond the issue of comfort, the heat and humidity often wreaked havoc on botanical specimens, causing them to mold or rot. While in Nicaragua, Wright also discovered another hazard of fieldwork: political unrest. Wright had to be careful in the content of his letters to Gray as negative comments about the government would be censored. Wright also suspected that more innocent letters were also seized from the mail. One letter that did get through to Gray describes the trouble that Wright had in trying to leave Nicaragua. Rumors were flying that outward bound transport would soon be halted, so Wright hastily tried to arrange his journey to New York. For a time it seemed that no amount of money could either secure a berth or charter a ship, but eventually Wright was able to arrange transport back to New York.
Despite his trials, Wright was not discouraged from fieldwork. Like his contemporaries, he understood the risks and hazards of working in the field, but went ahead anyway. Unlike some of the more academic botanists of the time, Wright truly seemed to enjoy being out in the field collecting. Herbaria around the world were enriched by his zeal.
Click on the links in the table of contents to see botanists in the field. Photographs are organized by timeperiod.