BICENTENARY of LINNAEUS

CELEBRATION OF BICENTENARY OF LINNAEUS AT CALICUT

Text of the talk by D. C. S. Raju, F.L.S., Central National Herbarium, Botanical Survey of India, Howrah

Honourable Vice Chancellor Dr. Purushottaman, Respected Dr. Gopalakrishnan, Dr.Achutan, Prof. Manilal, and Friends of this August meeting, I have great pleasure to be with you  in  a  wonderful   habitat  with  a glorious past.

I am not going to speak much of Linne as Dr Gopalakrishnan spoke of categories, species and conservation of natural resources but I wish to mention the role played by people of Kerala, during 16th -18th centuries, when explorations for trade and scientific knowledge were going on. It is strange enough  that Calicut was hospitable to seafarers 500 yrs ago just as it is a travellers’ paradise today. Spice trade from Cochin encouraged  botanical studies by Europeans just as Calicut University  is  promoting taxonomic  research  on  Flora of Malabar  today.

Now coming to the point of plant wealth of Kerala and its relevance to Linnaean Classics  I should first  make reference to the Dutch East India Company. We very well know that  Van Rheede an army officer returned from Holland as Governor of Malabar. He  got translations of Sanskrit texts  and brought out Hortus Malabaricus 300 years ago. But it was George Clifford, the richest Banker of Amsterdam who actually cultivated many trees of Malabar at Hartecamp. He also maintained a zoo as it was  a fashion those days.

The young Linnaeus was lucky to be in the employ of Clifford as a physician and pursue his botanical research for over 2 yrs. Well, as I am curious about red banana of Kerala, Linne was also interested in the plantain from Malabar. He grew this plantain in a hot house, got it flowered and fruited and fully described. This work on banana is a rare book as only 500 copies were printed. One copy is right here as exhibit of 1736. Along with this Linne also gave the world a classification of Nature to distinguish various kinds of plants, animals and rocks. Linne explored Lapland covering 1400 miles and made name in geography. As he was a doctor, Linne prepared Materia Medica in 1749 and included many indian plants. He obtained seeds from Aleppo through friends like Russell and pupils like Koenig working in Coramandel. All our plants were classified according to sexual system and given latin names like Sonerila, Areca, Myristica, Oryza, Melastoma etc. For many names Linne cited Hortus Malabaricus tables and since 1753 his binomial system became standard for whole world.

Following Linnaean system of nomenclature T.F. Bourdillon wrote the  first  Forest Flora  of Kerala, 85 yrs ago, which is really an Indian Flora of plant geographers as Malabarica and Coromandelia are natural regions of India. The Dutch Professor J. Burman cultivated Cinnamon trees and published Flora Malabarica in 1769, whereas his son N. L. Burman  brought out a Flora Indica in 1768 while Linne was revising his Species Plantarum.

Incidentally I like to mention here that Loeseneriella bourdillonii (Gamble) Raju is a  Hippocratea species in honour of Bourdillon with new status. Dr Buchanan, Cleghorn, Beddome, Wight, Fischer, Gamble, Hohenacker, Rama Rao and others studied rich vegetation of  Kerala when this area was quite sylvan and not industrialised and there were no universities. Now the gigantic trees are gradually disappearing  before their life histories are known, Habitats are shrinking with unforeseen results after  few generations. A single  Linnean species  in food-chain or ecosystem  makes a difference if it is a  key species.

Very few botanists in our country know the true nature of  Indian vegetation as enunciated by Prof. Van Steenis. Indian vegetation is part of monsoon forests of Asia  with moist deciduous  elements dominated by Dipterocarpus family. The evergreen forests of Assam valley with  Dipterocarpus turbinatus, D. manni, Shorea robusta in indo-gangetic plains, Shorea tumbuggaia, Shorea talura in Eastern ghats, Hopea parviflora  right near Calicut University, Vatica sp in Sahyadri range of Western ghats are pointers with their winged seeds  as just dipterocarps in relation to regional habitat at macro and micro levels   for proper evaluation  to   ensure conservation of plant resources .

A Flora of Kerala is the immediate need of the day as it was  for Linne  in 1745 to write a Swedish Flora for many practical purposes. Linne studied Wild Rye (Elymus) and somebody is recently searching wild nutmegs of Kerala for a gene bank. I am myself wondering about Poeciloneuron and Myristica malabarica, as I have not seen them  though they are noblest trees of Malabar. Linnaeus cultured pearls, cured cancers, talked of solar energy. He classified diseases and classified scientists and systems of classification. How  many of us know Linnaeus is called Dioscorides 2nd  whereas we call him as Prince of Botanists.

I am sure that Prof. Manilal and all his colleagues would simulate a school of Linnaeus in Calicut to unravel mysteries of biology, reproduction and chromosome behavior in the footsteps of Janaki Ammal the great botanist who reorganised Botanical Survey of India. With these few words of enthusiasm  I join you all and thank you for the hospitality.

INDIAN ASSOCIATION FOR ANGIOSPERM TAXONOMY

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Please visit :-

• Carl von Linné
• Kyd - Roxburgh - Indian Botanic Garden - BSI
• Tribute to Francis - Griffith - Prain - Gage

THANK YOU

Carl von Linné

BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF CAROLUS VON LINNAEUS

BY D. C. S. RAJU

The name Carl Linnaeus is immortalised with classification of plants and Binomial System of Nomenclature. Linnaean Schools of Plant Taxonomy and Linnean Societies were established in many parts of the world.

Born at Rashult, Sweden on 23 rd May, 1707, Linnaeus had his education at Vaxjo. Like many children, the young Carl feared rod and did not get interested in theological subjects. Instead he was learning more about nature, logic and classical Latin. Later he studied medicine at the University of Lund and Uppsala.

The beautiful garden at Uppsala and Burser Herbarium gave Linnaeus an impetus to study Natural History. His great teachers Celsius and Rudbeck encouraged him in his higher learning. Rudbeck planned the Lapland travels for him and a teaching assignment in botany at  Uppsala. During another travel in Dalarna, he met Sara Lisa Moraea who became his wife later. With a view to broaden his outlook he went to Holland. In 1735 he received his medical degree from Harderwijk University under Prof. Gorter. During this time he visited Boerhaave and Gronovius, the well-known Dutch Botanists at Leiden. Linnaeus showed his manuscript “Systema Naturae” to Gronovius who was not only impressed but undertook its immediate publication. Boerhaave recommended Linne to John Burman of Amsterdam Garden and to George Clifford, a rich Director of the East India Company. For two years he worked at Hartecamp where Clifford had a famous garden full of plants from the East. During this period linnaeus published 12 works including Musa Cliffortiana, Genera Plantarum, Flora Lapponica and Bibliotheca Botanica. On a short visit to England he met Sir Hans Sloane, Philip Miller and Professor Dillenius. Before returning home Linnaeus visited Paris and stayed with Jussieu and made field trips to Versaille and Fountainbleau. He founded the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences and served as its 1st President in 1739. Later he was appointed Physician to Admiralty. He married monandrian Lily Sara Lisa Moraea at Falun in 1739 and next year became Professor at Uppsala. In 1747 he published the Flora Zeylanica.

Linnaeus taught botany and attracted many students from far off countries. He was knighted in 1753 as “Polar Star” and ennobled in 1762. He published his Species Plantarum(1753) and 12 editions of Systema. It can be rightly said that Linne is the father of the Binomial System of Nomenclature. He sent many pupils to all corners of the globe who in turn sent him the tea plant from China, jute from India, and tobacco from America. The “apostles’ sailed on high seas and sent seeds from tropical jungles. He described many new genera in commemoration of his friends, students, benefactors and men of learning. David Gorter, the author of Flora Ingrica (1761) had excellently composed a verse on Linnaean system of plant identification which reflects the glories of Linnaean age.

On January 10th, 1778, Linnaeus had his eternal sleep at Hammarby. His friends and students erected a memorial inscribing it to the “Prince of Botanists”. Linnean Society of London was founded to spread his ideas; memorials were built as mark of respect. Bicentenary of Linnaeus is celebrated throughout the botanical world. With acceptance of binomial nomenclature for plants, botanical latin and generic concept by International code, Linnaeus was immortalised.

“Vivat Scientia ! Vivat Linnaeus”

IMPORTANT WORKS OF LINNAEUS

1732,  Iter Lapponicum	1733,  Iter Dalekarlicum	1735,  Systema Naturae
1736,  Fundamenta Botanica	1736,  Bibliotheca Botanica	1736,  Musa Cliffortiana
1737,  Critica Botanica	1737,  Flora Lapponica	1737,  Genera Plantarum
1738,  Classes Plantarum	1747,  Flora Zeylanica	1748,  Flora Suecica
1748,  Hortus Upsaliensis	1749,  Materia Medica	1749,  Amoenitates Academicae
1751,  Philosophia Botanica	1753,  Species Plantarum	1763,  Genera Morborum
1767,  Mantissa Plantarum	1774. Systema Vegetabilium

EXHIBITION

An Exhibition on the Life and Works of Linnaeus was organised in important centres of  the country. The exhibits included Publications of Linnaeus, Linnaean Herbarium as Microfiche edition, Portraits  of Linnaeus, Photographs of Monuments and Linnaean Plants from India. A function was held  at  Indian Museum Complex, Calcutta with live Linnaean taxa displayed at Industrial section, Botanical Survey of India.

The text of this document was printed as brochure of 6 pp with an image of Linnaeus and a hand drawing of Dryas octopetala L. by Linnaeus in Ms-Iter Lapponicum.

The exhibition was held at Waltair, Madras, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Calicut, Peechi, Hyderabad, Pune ,Bombay, Jodhpur, Allahabad, Delhi, Dehradun, Lucknow, Shillong, Bhubaneswar, Bhagalpur, Tirupati, Jadavpur University,Calcutta as well as Howrah in the Central National Herbarium. Few herbarium specimens, live plants and portraits of makers of Indian Botany were displayed during the visit of President of India.

Sri D.C.S.Raju, F.L.S., F.B.S., F.I.S.T.E, acknowledeges Dr.S.K.Jain and Dr M.P.Nayar, Dr G.H.M.Lawrence and Dr Cramer for their help and inspiration to execute this special project.

• A special exhibition on Marine plant resources and mangrove flora of India was organised at Tirupati.
• Live collection of wild relatives of crops were displayed during International Conference on  Genetics

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earlier posts :-

• Kyd - Roxburgh - Indian Botanic Garden - BSI

• Tribute to Francis - Griffith - Prain - Gage