Walter Davis (14 September 1847 – 18 November 1930) was an English

plant collector A botanical specimen, also called a plant specimen, is a biological specimen of a plant (or part of a plant) used for scientific purposes. Preserved collections of algae, fungi, slime molds, and other organisms traditionally studied by botanists a ...

, who collected in South America for

James Veitch & Sons The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into ...

Chelsea, London Chelsea is an area in West London, England, due south-west of Kilometre zero#Great Britain, Charing Cross by approximately . It lies on the north bank of the River Thames and for postal purposes is part of the SW postcode area, south-western p ...

Career

Early life

Davis was born at Sarson Street, now part of

Amport Amport is a village and civil parish in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, a few miles west of Andover. It incorporates the small hamlet of East Cholderton and has a population of about 1,200. There is a village green is surrou ...

, near

Andover, Hampshire Andover ( ) is a town in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England. The town is on the River Anton, a major tributary of the River Test, Test, and lies alongside the major A303 road, A303 trunk road at the eastern end of Salisbury Plain, ...

. According to ''

Hortus Veitchii James Herbert Veitch F.L.S., F.R.H.S. (1 May 1868 – 13 November 1907), was a member of the Veitch family who were distinguished horticulturists and nursery-men for over a century. Early days James was born at Chelsea, London, the elder son o ...

'', he ''"inherited from his father a taste for

Natural History Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

and outdoor pursuits, which later took the form of a love of gardening"''. At 12 years old, he left school and started work in the gardens of the

Marquess of Winchester Marquess of Winchester is a title in the Peerage of England that was created in 1551 for the prominent statesman William Paulet, 1st Earl of Wiltshire. It is the oldest of six surviving English marquessates; therefore its holder is considered th ...

Amport House Amport House is a country house near the village of Amport, Andover, Hampshire, England. It is a Grade II listed building. The house was built in 1857 by John Paulet, 14th Marquess of Winchester. After being requisitioned during the Second Wor ...

; the house had been rebuilt in 1857, and the gardens were being re-modelled. He then moved to

Wilton Park Wilton Park is an executive agency of the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office providing a global forum for strategic discussion. Based since 1951 at Wiston House in Sussex, it organises over 70 dialogues a year in the UK and overs ...

Gardens, at

Beaconsfield Beaconsfield ( ) is a market town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Buckinghamshire, England, northwest of central London and southeast of Aylesbury. Three other towns are within : Gerrards Cross, Amersham and High Wycombe. The ...

where he stayed for four years, rising to the rank of departmental foreman. His travels then took him to work for Mr. C. Ryder at Slade, Kent followed by a spell at the gardens of Mr. T. W. Evans at Allestree Hall,

Derby Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, before, in 1870, he joined

James Veitch & Sons

At Chelsea, he worked under

John Dominy John Dominy (1816 – 12 February 1891) was a British horticulturist and plant hybridiser. He is best known as a gardener at the Veitch Nurseries, where he worked most of his life, first at James and James Veitch in Exeter (1834–1841) and later ...

in the "New Plant Department" and eventually became foreman in charge of the ''

Nepenthes ''Nepenthes'' ( ) is a genus of carnivorous plants, also known as tropical pitcher plants, or monkey cups, in the monotypic family Nepenthaceae. The genus includes about 170 species, and numerous natural and many cultivated hybrids. They are m ...

'' and fine foliage plants. In 1873, following the departures of George Downton and A. R. Endres,

Harry Veitch Sir Harry James Veitch (24 June 1840 – 6 July 1924) was an English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London. He was instrumental in establishing ...

was looking for a

to travel to South America to locate and collect a quantity of the

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

, '' Masdevallia veitchiana'', which had been introduced to England in 1867, following its discovery by Richard Pearce but was still scarce. Veitch selected Davis, and on 2 August 1873 he departed for South America. He remained in South America for three years, during which time he crossed the Andean Cordilleras in Peru,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

and

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

at least twenty times, at elevations of up to and, like his predecessor

Gustav Wallis Gustav Wallis (1 May 1830 – 20 June 1878) was a German plant collector who introduced over 1,000 plant species to Europe, many of which were named after him. He was particularly focused on orchid hunting during the Victorian orchid craze, but ...

he traversed the continent, travelling the entire length of the Amazon River. During his trip, he was successful not only in collecting ''M. veitchiana'' but several other

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

, including the graceful violet-blue '' M. ionocharis'' (which he found in the Andean valley of Sandia, in the province of Carabaya, Peru, at elevation) and the golden-yellow '' M. davisii'' (the

Inca The Inca Empire, officially known as the Realm of the Four Parts (, ), was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The administrative, political, and military center of the empire was in the city of Cusco. The History of the Incas, Inca ...

s' ''Qoriwaqanki'' or "golden waqanki"), which Davis discovered in the vicinity of

Cusco Cusco or Cuzco (; or , ) is a city in southeastern Peru, near the Sacred Valley of the Andes mountain range and the Huatanay river. It is the capital of the eponymous Cusco Province, province and Cusco Region, department. The city was the cap ...

, Peru. He sent flowers to Heinrich Reichenbach for identification; in

The Gardeners' Chronicle ''The Gardeners' Chronicle'' was a British horticulture periodical. It lasted as a title in its own right for nearly 150 years and is still extant as part of the magazine '' Horticulture Week''. History Founded in 1841 by the horticulturists Jose ...

, Reichenbach described this new species as ''"M. davisii"'', saying:

"This is a beautiful thing, much like '' M. harryana'' and '' veitchiana''.... The other parts of the flower are yellowish, white and of the deepest splendid orange inside; so that it would appear to give a most welcome contrast in a group of the scarlet and vermillion and white Masdevallias. It was discovered by a, most probably new collector, Mr. W. Davis... I have a very good opinion of this collector, who was introduced to me by a set of new dried Orchids; so I thought it my duty to attach the name of such a promising collector to such a welcome Masdevallia."

Near

Arequipa Arequipa (; Aymara language, Aymara and ), also known by its nicknames of ''Ciudad Blanca'' (Spanish for "White City") and ''León del Sur'' (Spanish for "South's Lion"), is a city in Peru and the capital of the eponymous Arequipa (province), ...

in Peru, he also discovered a new species of tuberous begonia, ''

Begonia davisii ''Begonia davisii'' is a plant in the begonia family, Begoniaceae, which was used in the early days of breeding ''Begonia × tuberhybrida'' cultivars. It was discovered by the Victorian era, Victorian Plant collecting, plant collector Walter Dav ...

'', which was also named after him. ''B. davisii'' was later used in the early days of breeding ''

Begonia × tuberhybrida Tuberous begonias (''Begonia'' × ''tuberhybrida'' Voss, also known as the Tuberhybrida Group or the Tuberosa Group) are a group of ''Begonia'' cultivars, sometimes regarded as some of the most spectacular of the genus. One of the first hybrid ...

'' cultivars by

John Seden John Seden (1840–1921) was a hybridist and horticulturist best known for the hybrids he created while in the employment of Veitch Nurseries. He was trained in hybridizing by John Dominy in 1861. In 1873 he began hybridizing tuberous begonia ...

in the

Veitch Nurseries The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into ...

Coombe Wood Coombe Wood is a small () woodland and garden area in the old village of Coombe, South Croydon near the junction of Coombe Lane and Conduit Lane. The Coombe Wood Gardens are divided into a series of rooms which together give an all-year-round ...

Return to England

On his return to England in 1877, Davis was selected to conduct a botanical analysis of herbage on the experimental plots at Rothamsted. He returned to Chelsea on the termination of this engagement and re-commenced employment for Veitch Nurseries, working in the

plant propagation Plant propagation is the process by which new plants grow from various sources, including seeds, Cutting (plant), cuttings, and other plant parts. Plant propagation can refer to both man-made and natural processes. Propagation typically occurs as ...

department. He became a specialist in this field, and wrote for the

Exchange & Mart ''Exchange and Mart'' is an online classified advertising website, owned by Newsquest, Newsquest Media Group. Exchange and Mart specialises in new and used motor vehicles, including commercial vehicles, motorcycles, caravans and motorhomes and cate ...

for many years under the pseudonyms of ''Charles Benett'' (using his mother's maiden name) and ''Curiosus''.

Later life

Davis continued to work for

until the dissolution of the business in 1914, after which he became secretary to the

Geological Society The Geological Society of London, known commonly as the Geological Society, is a learned society based in the United Kingdom. It is the oldest national geological society in the world and the largest in Europe, with more than 12,000 Fellows. Fe ...

and then the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

. He also acted as secretary to a philanthropic society managed by American women in London. Following a paralytic stroke which led to failing eyesight, Davis spent the last ten years of his life in retirement, in the care of his eldest daughter, in

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

. He died on 18 November 1930, and his obituary in the

Journal of Botany This is a list of academic journal An academic journal (or scholarly journal or scientific journal) is a periodical publication in which Scholarly method, scholarship relating to a particular academic discipline is published. They serve as pe ...

praised his contribution to botany: ''"with his passing the world of orchidology bids farewell to one of the last reminders of an elegant and exciting period in orchid discovery and cultivation".''

Publications

*Plant Propagation (1922) – "Description of the various methods employed by both amateur and professional gardeners."Extracts on Million Book Project
/ref>

References

External links

Article on www.orchids.co.inEntry
on

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

Herbarium Index of Botanists {{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Walter English botanists 1847 births 1930 deaths People from Andover, Hampshire Veitch Nurseries Botanists active in South America Plant collectors