The first serious horticultural and botanical expeditions to take place in Nepal were in 1952 and 1954. These were joint ventures between The Royal Horticultural Society and the Natural History Museum in London. Whilst a considerable number of pressed specimens were taken (for depositing in the herbarium at the Natural History Museum, with duplicate specimens being sent to other major herbaria) the main purpose of the expeditions was HORTICULTURAL. The main UK participants were Polunin, Sykes & Williams (1952) and Stainton, Sykes & Williams (1954); Bill Sykes was the RHS representative, whilst Williams was a botanist at the Natural History Museum. Oleg Polunin, a botany master at Charterhouse, had already accompanied Bill Tilman on early mountaineering expeditions to Nepal (which opened its borders for official expeditions in the late 1940s). Funding such major expeditions was exceedingly difficult, so the driving force behind the expeditions, George (later Sir) Taylor deserves our commendation - he was shrewd enough to engage Adam Stainton, a young man of independent means, to join the 1954 expedition, on the basis of paying in full, his share of the costs - which in today's money would run to tens of thousands of pounds. But even with this windfall, money must have been tight and the long-standing tradition of shareholders paying for a share applied for the 1954. I do not know how much individuals invested in return for a share of the seed but it would have been modest. In the hey-day of plant hunting, certain businessmen invested tens of thousands (in today's money) to fund an individual plant hunter's expeditions into China. I did write articles and visit Wisley to find out what had happened to the introductions from these expeditions, some 40 years later (shall be adding the very limited feed-back I received). Even with such a major expedition, record-keeping is often poor (even at the major institutions), so all too soon, they rapidly get mixed up. A complicating factor was that other than the more arid districts of Nepal (close to the border with Tibet), the conditions in most of Nepal (and the Eastern Himalaya in general) are NOT well-suited as a provenance for subsequent cultivation at the RHS HQ at Wisley - particularly for primulas, meconopsis and rhododendrons, desirable though they are ornamentally ... With a lot of effort, and especially if the material arrived as roots or bulbs (not that there are many bulbous species in the Himalaya), some may have flowered but would not have lasted long. List of Recipients of Seed from the 1954 S,S&W Expedition to Nepal 1. Sir Willliam Wright Smith - Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh 2. Lord Aberconway - Bodnant 3. The Director, RHS Gardens, Wisley 4. Major Knox Finlay - Keillour Castle 5. J. Renton Esq. - Branklyn 6. R. Cooke Esq. - Corbridge, Northumberland 7. W. Bentley Esq. - Burghclere, Berks 8. E.B. Anderson Esq. - West Porlock, Somerset 9. F. Knight Esq. - The Nursery, Woodbridge, Suffolk 10. E. Savill Esq. - The Great Park, Windsor 11. Norman Haddon Esq. - Porlock, Somerset 12. Jack Drake Esq. - Inshriach Alpine Plant Nursery, Aviemore 13. Dr. H. Dovaston - West of Scotland College of Agriculture, Ayr 14. David Livingstone Esq. - Carluke, Lanarkshire 15. W. Hepburn Esq. - Superintendent's Office, Hyde Park 16. W. Buchanan Esq. - Beasdon, Dumbartonshire 17. Mrs Berry - Portland, Oregon, USA 18. Prof. P. Richards - University College North Wales, Bangor 19. Miss M. Campbell - Natural History Museum, London 20. The Hon. Lewis Palmer - Headbourne Worthy Grange, Winchester 21. Lady Evelyn Malcolm - Liphook, Hants 22. Hon. D. Bowes Lyon - St. Paul's Waldenbury, Herts 23. A. Johnston Esq. - Invergowrie, Dundee 24. Mr Maurice Mason - Fincham, Norfolk 25. A.P. Balfour Esq. - Lothian Cottage, Slough This may sound strange but was a trial ground for Sutton Seeds - so there is a tradition of growing Himalayan plants in Slough! 26. Col. D.G Lowndes - Ringwood, Hants 27. R. Cooke Esq. - Oorbridge, Northumberland 28. W. Bentley Esq. - Burghclere, Berks 29. Miss Goodman - Horsham, Sussex 30. F. Wood Esq. - Durrington, Sussex 31. Prof. A Urbain - Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle, Paris 32. Dr. F. Mendenca - Centro de Notanico da JUnta de Investigacces Coloniais, Lisbon, Portugal 33. Colonel F.C. Stern - Goring-by-Sea, Sussex 34. Miss Davenport Jones - Hawkhurst, Kent 35. Capt. Collingwood Ingram - Granbrook, Kent 36. John Innes Horticultural Institute - Bayfordbury, Herts 37. Sir William Milner Bt. - Parcevall Hall, Skipton, Yorks 38. Sir John Ramsden Bt. - Muncaster Castle, Cumberland 39. Colonel Niall Rankin - House of Treshnish, Isle of Mull, Argyll 40. Capt. A Walmsley M.C. - Garlieston, Wigtown 41. P.M. Synge Esq. - c/o RHS, Vincent Square, London 42. Colonel F.N. Bailey - Cromer, Norfolk 43. Miss Logan Home - Edrom Nurseries, Coldingham, Berwickshire 44. Mrs Cicely Crewsdon - Kendal, Westmorland 45. Andre Harley Esq. - Blinkbonny, Kirkcaldy 46. T. Hay Esq. - Haslemere, Surrey 47. F. Wood Esq. - Durrington, Sussex 48. John Dudley North - Bridgnorth, Salop 49. Dr C. Fuller - Duryard Grange, Exeter, Devon 50. The Director - The University Botanic Gardens, Cambridge 51. Rev. L. Ahrendt - Broughton Rectory, Banbury, Oxon 52. James Russell Esq. - The Nurseries, Sunningdale, Berks 53. The Director - Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass., USA 54. J. Stevenson Esq. - Ascot, Berks 55. C. B. Cherriff Esq. - Craigmarloch, Kilmalcolm 56. Major G. Sherriff, Kirriemuir, Angus 57. M. Williams Esq. - St. Keverne, Cornwall 58. T. Jackson Esq. - Kitale, Kenya 59. The Curator - Cheksea Physic Garden, London 60. Dr D. Humphreys - The General Hospital, Birmingham 61. R. Masterton - Cluny, Aberfeldy, Perthshire 62. G. Berry Esq. - Enfield, Middx. 63. Lady Linlithgow - Hopetown House 64. Dr. Harry Smith - Universitets Botaniska Museum, Uppsala, Sweden 65. Mrs Purnell - Birmingham 66. Mrs Fladk - Beeston, Nottingham 67. Mrs Ludlow - Hawkchurch, Axminster 68. The Director - The New York Botanical Garden, Bronx Park, NY, USA 69. Dr Charles Baehni - Conservatoire et Jardin Botaniques, Geneva, Switzerland 70. Dr H Lam - Leiden, Holland 71. Prof. W. Robyns - Jardin Botanique de l'Etat, Brussels, Belgium 72. W. Th. Ingerwersen - Birch Farm Hardy Plant Nursery, East Grinstead, Sussex 73. Prof. Lily Newton - Botany Dept. Univsersity Coll. of Wales, Aberystwyth 74. Edgar Robers - Syston, Leics. 75. J. Hicks Esq. - Cheltenham, Glos 76. Fred Meyer - Missouri Botanic Garden, St. Louis, Missouri 77. Major General D. Murray - Pitlochry, Perthshire 78. The Curator - Lloyd Botanic Garden, Darjeeling, India 79. Col. Horlick - Isle of Gigha, Argyllshire 80. W. Bishop Esq.- Parks Dept., Harrogate, Yorks 81. Kibble & Clare Ltd. - Ascot Wood Nursery, Ascot 82. M. Noble - Cairndow, Argyll 83. Major A. Pam - Broxbourne, Herts 84. The Hon. Robert James - Richmond, Yorks 85. Dr. A Lisvey - Dorchester, Dorset 86. Prof. N. Burgel - Dept. of Botany, The University, Liverpool 87. Lord Stair - Loch Inch, Wigtownshire 88. O. Hambro Esq. - Logan House, Wigtownshire 89. Lord Digby - Cerne Abby, Dorchester 90. Sir Henry Price - Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, Sussex 91. The Director, Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 92. Hillier & Sons - Winchester, Hants |