Andrew Bloxam
Encyclopedia
Andrew Bloxam was an English clergyman and naturalist; in his later life he had a particular interest in botany. He was the naturalist on board during its voyage around South America and the Pacific in 1824–26, where he collected mainly birds. Later as a Church of England
minister he lived in Warwickshire
and Leicestershire
and made significant contributions to the study of the natural history of the area. His special interest was in fungi and the genera Rubus
and Rosa
. His botanical author abbreviation is "A.Bloxam".
, on 22 September 1801. He was the fourth son of Rev. Richard Rouse Bloxam, who was a schoolmaster at Rugby School
, and Ann(e) Lawrence, who was the sister of the painter Sir Thomas Lawrence. He was educated at Rugby School from 1809 and Worcester College, Oxford
from 1820.
In the autumn of 1824, he was appointed as a naturalist on board , commanded by Capt. Lord Byron
, cousin of the poet George Gordon Byron
. His brother, R. Rowland Bloxam (1798–1877), was the chaplain. The voyage lasted over 18 months, during which time he visited South America and various islands of the Pacific, including the Galápagos Islands
and the Hawaiian Islands
(then called the Sandwich Islands). Most of Bloxam's collections during the voyage eventually found their way to the British Museum
.
After returning from the voyage on 15 March 1826, he was ordained on 25 June 1826 (Trinity Sunday) as a Church of England
minister. He spent some time in Leicestershire
and as a curate in Atherstone
, before he became the Vicar of Twycross
(c.
1840). He remained there until c.
1872, when he was made Vicar of Radford Semele
and shortly afterwards Rector of Harborough Magna
, where he died on 2 February 1878. He was married to Ann(e) Roby.
the bodies of King Kamehameha II
and Queen Kamamalu
who had died of measles
while visiting England. Andrew Bloxam was appointed as a naturalist; his brother Rowland Bloxam was the chaplain. The Royal Horticultural Society
sent the Scottish botanist James Macrae, whose MS
diary was edited by William Wilson and published in 1922.
, England on 28 September 1824. Following a call at Madeira
, they reached Rio de Janeiro
, Brazil
on 27 November 1824. After spending time both in Rio de Janeiro and St Catherine's
, they left Brazil on 1 January 1825, bound for Valparaíso
, Chile
, which they reached on 4 February 1825. They sailed north up the coast to reach Callao
, Peru
, on 16 March 1825, before sailing west to the Galapagos Islands
, where they remained from 25 March to 3 April 1825. The Blonde arrived in the Hawaiian Islands
(then known as the Sandwich Islands) on 4 May 1825.
The party remained in the Hawaiian Islands from 4 May to 18 July 1825. They left planning to go to Tahiti
, but actually landed first at Malden Island
on 30 July 1825 and then at Mauke
in the Cook Islands
on 8 August 1825, before returning to Valparaíso, which they reached on 6 September 1825. After spending some time exploring the coast of Chile, they finally left Valparaíso on 13 October 1825, bound for St Helena in the South Atlantic, which they reached on 23 January 1826, leaving five days later. The voyage ended back in Spithead, England on 15 March 1826, after an absence of 532 days.
20 species of fungi and plants (see below), his contributions during the voyage were mainly to ornithology
. At the time of the voyage of the Blonde, he was young and inexperienced. According to Macrae's diary (as edited by Wilson), "Andrew Bloxom [sic] acted as a sort of amateur naturalist on the Blonde"; the diary contains other disparaging remarks about Bloxam. Maria Graham (later Maria Callcott
) took a somewhat different view: "For the few notices concerning natural history which the work [i.e. her book] contains, it is chiefly indebted to the zealous attention of Mr. A. Bloxam [..] who, if not a learned naturalist, deserves the praise of a diligent and sensible collector." She is in turn critical of Macrae, saying that she regretted that "the practised collector of botanical specimens who went in the Blonde to the Sandwich Islands should not have furnished any account of the plants [..] which he collected."
For a long time the only published record of Bloxam's naturalising during the voyage was a very short section in Graham's book. Only in 1925 was his diary published. Between 1986 and 1996, Olson
published detailed studies of Bloxam's ornithological work in the Hawaiian Islands, based on both the diary and unpublished notebooks. Although Olson echoes criticisms of Bloxam ("the ship's callow, humble, and none too ardent naturalist" ), he also says that those descriptions which Bloxam did produce are of "commendable accuracy" and that the methods he used to prepare specimens ensured that they survived in "remarkably good condition".
Having been appointed by the Admiralty
, on his return Bloxam had written to thank them and to give an account of the specimens he had collected. A barrel contained geological
and mineralogical
specimens, along with insects, shells and other marine objects from South America and the Pacific islands visited by the Blonde. Two cases contained "about one hundred" specimens of birds. Of these, 27 specimens of 11 species were from the Hawaiian Islands.
One of Bloxam's most well-known bird collections was the [[ʻĀmaui|Oahu Thrush]], which he originally called Turdus woahensis (now Myadestes lanaiensis woahensis). Bloxam's 1825 specimens are the only ones in existence, since this rather dull olive-brown thrush-like bird was the first bird species in the Hawaiian islands to become extinct. Bloxam recorded that it was common and that its "melodious notes" came from the only songster on the island of Oahu
. Another of his scientific discoveries was the Oahu ʻAkepa, which he named Fringilla rufa (now Loxops wolstenholmei or L. coccineus wolstenholmei). This bird too is now extinct.
Bloxam also noticed that the Hawaiian nectar-feeding birds were different from both humming birds
and the genus with which they were then associated, Certhia
(creepers). He put them into a new genus Nectarina and wrote that in their flight they resembled finches. It was some 150 years later that it was accepted that the Hawaiian honeycreeper
s (now in several different genera) had evolved from cardueline finches.
In 1995, Olson named the Greater Patagonian Conure after Bloxam (Cyanoliseus patagonus bloxami). Bloxam collected a specimen in 1825 near Concepcion, Chile.
, a fellow clergyman who was originally from Leicestershire and who was already an "ardent and promising botanist" according to their younger contemporary James Bagnall
. Bloxam worked with Babington on the flowering plants of Charnwood Forest
. He supplied Hewett C. Watson
with copies of the London Catalogue of British Plants marked up with plants seen within three miles of Atherstone and of Twycross; this information was incorporated into Watson's Topographical Botany (1873–74). Bloxam was a major contributor to the first Flora of Leicestershire whose author, Mary Kirby, wrote that the Flora "would never have been attempted without [his] encouragement and invaluable assistance" and that "[s]pecimens of every doubtful plant have been submitted to [him]".
Bloxam had a particular interest in brambles (genus Rubus
, particularly section Rubus) and roses (genus Rosa
). According to Bagnall, Bloxam was one of the earliest English students of these genera, and from 1840 onwards issued 'fasciculi' (i.e. separate sections intended eventually to form a book), which were of great value to beginners who wished to study these plants. Bloxam gave scientific names to at least six species of Rubus, including Rubus colemannii, named after W.H. Coleman, another Midlands clergyman with an interest in natural history.
In 1875, not long before he died, Bloxam was visited by Bagnall, who later wrote that Bloxam was "still full of love for botanical pursuits, with quite a host of brambles and roses cultivated in his garden, so that he might watch them more readily, and I shall always remember with pleasure my walk with him in the lanes around his village, where he pointed out the various special Rubi and Roses of that locality."
Bloxam was also interested in fungi. He was associated with M.J. Berkeley
, another clergyman from the English Midlands, who has been called the founder of British mycology
. In 1854, Berkeley and his co-worker Broome gave a fungal genus the name Bloxamia in honour of Bloxam's work on the group of fungi then called the Sphaeriacei; they also named after him Agaricus bloxamii (now called Bloxam's Entoloma, Entoloma bloxamii
). Bloxam gave new scientific names to at least 11 species of fungi in the Index Fungorum, including the Toasted Waxcap, now Hygrocybe
colemanniana.
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
minister he lived in Warwickshire
Warwickshire
Warwickshire is a landlocked non-metropolitan county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, although the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare...
and Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
and made significant contributions to the study of the natural history of the area. His special interest was in fungi and the genera Rubus
Rubus
Rubus is a large genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are...
and Rosa
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
. His botanical author abbreviation is "A.Bloxam".
Life
Andrew Bloxam was born at Rugby, WarwickshireRugby, Warwickshire
Rugby is a market town in Warwickshire, England, located on the River Avon. The town has a population of 61,988 making it the second largest town in the county...
, on 22 September 1801. He was the fourth son of Rev. Richard Rouse Bloxam, who was a schoolmaster at Rugby School
Rugby School
Rugby School is a co-educational day and boarding school located in the town of Rugby, Warwickshire, England. It is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain.-History:...
, and Ann(e) Lawrence, who was the sister of the painter Sir Thomas Lawrence. He was educated at Rugby School from 1809 and Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
from 1820.
In the autumn of 1824, he was appointed as a naturalist on board , commanded by Capt. Lord Byron
George Byron, 7th Baron Byron
Admiral George Anson Byron, 7th Baron Byron was a British naval officer, and the seventh Baron Byron, in 1824 succeeding his cousin the poet George Gordon Byron in that peerage...
, cousin of the poet George Gordon Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, later George Gordon Noel, 6th Baron Byron, FRS , commonly known simply as Lord Byron, was a British poet and a leading figure in the Romantic movement...
. His brother, R. Rowland Bloxam (1798–1877), was the chaplain. The voyage lasted over 18 months, during which time he visited South America and various islands of the Pacific, including the Galápagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
and the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
(then called the Sandwich Islands). Most of Bloxam's collections during the voyage eventually found their way to the British Museum
British Museum
The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture in London. Its collections, which number more than seven million objects, are amongst the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originate from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its...
.
After returning from the voyage on 15 March 1826, he was ordained on 25 June 1826 (Trinity Sunday) as a Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
minister. He spent some time in Leicestershire
Leicestershire
Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
and as a curate in Atherstone
Atherstone
Atherstone is a town in Warwickshire, England. The town is located near the northernmost tip of Warwickshire, close to the border with Staffordshire and Leicestershire and is the administrative headquarters of the borough of North Warwickshire.-History:...
, before he became the Vicar of Twycross
Twycross
Twycross is a small village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England on the A444 road. Parts of it are called Norton juxta — Latin for 'next to' — Twycross or Little Twycross...
(c.
C.
c. may refer to:* Circa: in genealogy and historical writing, c. means circa, and is used when the dates of events are approximately known...
1840). He remained there until c.
C.
c. may refer to:* Circa: in genealogy and historical writing, c. means circa, and is used when the dates of events are approximately known...
1872, when he was made Vicar of Radford Semele
Radford Semele
Radford Semele is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, close to the town of Leamington Spa. According to the 2001 UK census, Radford Semele parish had a population of 2,034. It lies to the east of Leamington, on the A425 road between Leamington and Southam. It has a 16th century pub...
and shortly afterwards Rector of Harborough Magna
Harborough Magna
Harborough Magna is a village and parish in Warwickshire, England.Along with the adjoining hamlet of Harborough Parva and nearby Cathiron, the parish has a population of 461 ....
, where he died on 2 February 1878. He was married to Ann(e) Roby.
Voyage of the Blonde
The main purpose of the voyage was to return to the Kingdom of HawaiiKingdom of Hawaii
The Kingdom of Hawaii was established during the years 1795 to 1810 with the subjugation of the smaller independent chiefdoms of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lānai, Kauai and Niihau by the chiefdom of Hawaii into one unified government...
the bodies of King Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II
Kamehameha II was the second king of the Kingdom of Hawaii. His birth name was Liholiho and full name was Kalaninui kua Liholiho i ke kapu Iolani...
and Queen Kamamalu
Kamamalu
Kamāmalu Kalani-Kuaana-o-Kamehamalu-Kekuaiwa-o-kalani-Kealii-Hoopili-a-Walu was Queen consort of the Kingdom of Hawaii as the wife of King Kamehameha II. She is not to be confused with Princess Victoria Kamāmalu who was her niece...
who had died of measles
Measles
Measles, also known as rubeola or morbilli, is an infection of the respiratory system caused by a virus, specifically a paramyxovirus of the genus Morbillivirus. Morbilliviruses, like other paramyxoviruses, are enveloped, single-stranded, negative-sense RNA viruses...
while visiting England. Andrew Bloxam was appointed as a naturalist; his brother Rowland Bloxam was the chaplain. The Royal Horticultural Society
Royal Horticultural Society
The Royal Horticultural Society was founded in 1804 in London, England as the Horticultural Society of London, and gained its present name in a Royal Charter granted in 1861 by Prince Albert...
sent the Scottish botanist James Macrae, whose MS
Manuscript
A manuscript or handwrite is written information that has been manually created by someone or some people, such as a hand-written letter, as opposed to being printed or reproduced some other way...
diary was edited by William Wilson and published in 1922.
Itinerary
The ship left SpitheadSpithead
Spithead is an area of the Solent and a roadstead off Gilkicker Point in Hampshire, England. It is protected from all winds, except those from the southeast...
, England on 28 September 1824. Following a call at Madeira
Madeira
Madeira is a Portuguese archipelago that lies between and , just under 400 km north of Tenerife, Canary Islands, in the north Atlantic Ocean and an outermost region of the European Union...
, they reached Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro , commonly referred to simply as Rio, is the capital city of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city of Brazil, and the third largest metropolitan area and agglomeration in South America, boasting approximately 6.3 million people within the city proper, making it the 6th...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
on 27 November 1824. After spending time both in Rio de Janeiro and St Catherine's
Santa Catarina (island)
Florianópolis Island is an island in the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. It is located on the south coast of Brazil between the south 27° latitude and west 48° longitude...
, they left Brazil on 1 January 1825, bound for Valparaíso
Valparaíso
Valparaíso is a city and commune of Chile, center of its third largest conurbation and one of the country's most important seaports and an increasing cultural center in the Southwest Pacific hemisphere. The city is the capital of the Valparaíso Province and the Valparaíso Region...
, Chile
Chile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
, which they reached on 4 February 1825. They sailed north up the coast to reach Callao
Callao
Callao is the largest and most important port in Peru. The city is coterminous with the Constitutional Province of Callao, the only province of the Callao Region. Callao is located west of Lima, the country's capital, and is part of the Lima Metropolitan Area, a large metropolis that holds almost...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, on 16 March 1825, before sailing west to the Galapagos Islands
Galápagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, west of continental Ecuador, of which they are a part.The Galápagos Islands and its surrounding waters form an Ecuadorian province, a national park, and a...
, where they remained from 25 March to 3 April 1825. The Blonde arrived in the Hawaiian Islands
Hawaiian Islands
The Hawaiian Islands are an archipelago of eight major islands, several atolls, numerous smaller islets, and undersea seamounts in the North Pacific Ocean, extending some 1,500 miles from the island of Hawaii in the south to northernmost Kure Atoll...
(then known as the Sandwich Islands) on 4 May 1825.
The party remained in the Hawaiian Islands from 4 May to 18 July 1825. They left planning to go to Tahiti
Tahiti
Tahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
, but actually landed first at Malden Island
Malden Island
Malden Island, sometimes called Independence Island in the nineteenth century, is a low, arid, uninhabited island in the central Pacific Ocean, about in area...
on 30 July 1825 and then at Mauke
Mauke
Mauke is a raised atoll island, the eastern most of the Cook Islands.-Geography:...
in the Cook Islands
Cook Islands
The Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
on 8 August 1825, before returning to Valparaíso, which they reached on 6 September 1825. After spending some time exploring the coast of Chile, they finally left Valparaíso on 13 October 1825, bound for St Helena in the South Atlantic, which they reached on 23 January 1826, leaving five days later. The voyage ended back in Spithead, England on 15 March 1826, after an absence of 532 days.
Bloxam's contribution as a naturalist
Although in later life, Bloxam was a noted mycologist and botanist and named c.C.
c. may refer to:* Circa: in genealogy and historical writing, c. means circa, and is used when the dates of events are approximately known...
20 species of fungi and plants (see below), his contributions during the voyage were mainly to ornithology
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
. At the time of the voyage of the Blonde, he was young and inexperienced. According to Macrae's diary (as edited by Wilson), "Andrew Bloxom [sic] acted as a sort of amateur naturalist on the Blonde"; the diary contains other disparaging remarks about Bloxam. Maria Graham (later Maria Callcott
Maria Callcott
Maria Graham , later Maria, Lady Callcott , was a British writer of travel books and children's books, and also an accomplished illustrator....
) took a somewhat different view: "For the few notices concerning natural history which the work [i.e. her book] contains, it is chiefly indebted to the zealous attention of Mr. A. Bloxam [..] who, if not a learned naturalist, deserves the praise of a diligent and sensible collector." She is in turn critical of Macrae, saying that she regretted that "the practised collector of botanical specimens who went in the Blonde to the Sandwich Islands should not have furnished any account of the plants [..] which he collected."
Storrs L. Olson
Storrs Lovejoy Olson is an American biologist and ornithologist from the Smithsonian Institution. He is one of the world's foremost avian paleontologists....
published detailed studies of Bloxam's ornithological work in the Hawaiian Islands, based on both the diary and unpublished notebooks. Although Olson echoes criticisms of Bloxam ("the ship's callow, humble, and none too ardent naturalist" ), he also says that those descriptions which Bloxam did produce are of "commendable accuracy" and that the methods he used to prepare specimens ensured that they survived in "remarkably good condition".
Having been appointed by the Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, on his return Bloxam had written to thank them and to give an account of the specimens he had collected. A barrel contained geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
and mineralogical
Mineralogy
Mineralogy is the study of chemistry, crystal structure, and physical properties of minerals. Specific studies within mineralogy include the processes of mineral origin and formation, classification of minerals, their geographical distribution, as well as their utilization.-History:Early writing...
specimens, along with insects, shells and other marine objects from South America and the Pacific islands visited by the Blonde. Two cases contained "about one hundred" specimens of birds. Of these, 27 specimens of 11 species were from the Hawaiian Islands.
One of Bloxam's most well-known bird collections was the [[ʻĀmaui|Oahu Thrush]], which he originally called Turdus woahensis (now Myadestes lanaiensis woahensis). Bloxam's 1825 specimens are the only ones in existence, since this rather dull olive-brown thrush-like bird was the first bird species in the Hawaiian islands to become extinct. Bloxam recorded that it was common and that its "melodious notes" came from the only songster on the island of Oahu
Oahu
Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...
. Another of his scientific discoveries was the Oahu ʻAkepa, which he named Fringilla rufa (now Loxops wolstenholmei or L. coccineus wolstenholmei). This bird too is now extinct.
Bloxam also noticed that the Hawaiian nectar-feeding birds were different from both humming birds
Hummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
and the genus with which they were then associated, Certhia
Certhia
Certhia is the genus of birds containing the typical treecreepers, which together with the Spotted Creeper make up the family Certhiidae.The typical treecreepers occur in many wooded parts of the North Temperate Zone...
(creepers). He put them into a new genus Nectarina and wrote that in their flight they resembled finches. It was some 150 years later that it was accepted that the Hawaiian honeycreeper
Hawaiian honeycreeper
Hawaiian honeycreepers are small, passerine birds endemic to Hawaii. Some authorities still categorize this group as a family Drepanididae, but in recent years, most authorities consider them a subfamily, Drepanidinae, of Fringillidae, the finch family...
s (now in several different genera) had evolved from cardueline finches.
In 1995, Olson named the Greater Patagonian Conure after Bloxam (Cyanoliseus patagonus bloxami). Bloxam collected a specimen in 1825 near Concepcion, Chile.
Contributions to English Natural History
Bloxam does not appear to have maintained a serious interest in ornithology once he had taken up his various clerical posts in Warwickshire and Leicestershire. During the major part of his life in the English Midlands, he combined his duties to his parishes with botanical research and collecting. In his early days in Leicestershire, he became friends with Churchill BabingtonChurchill Babington
Churchill Babington was an English classical scholar, archaeologist and naturalist, born at Rothley Temple, in Leicestershire....
, a fellow clergyman who was originally from Leicestershire and who was already an "ardent and promising botanist" according to their younger contemporary James Bagnall
James Eustace Bagnall
James Eustace Bagnall ALS was an English naturalist with a particular interest in botany, especially bryology. He was the author of the first Flora of Warwickshire in 1891. A noted bryologist, he wrote the Handbook of Mosses in the Young Collector Series, various editions of which were published...
. Bloxam worked with Babington on the flowering plants of Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest is an upland tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough, and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally 600 ft and upwards, the area...
. He supplied Hewett C. Watson
Hewett Watson
Hewett Cottrell Watson was a phrenologist, botanist and evolutionary theorist. He was born in Firbeck, near Rotherham, Yorkshire, on 9 May 1804, and died at Thames Ditton, Surrey, on 27 July 1881, aged 77.-Biography:...
with copies of the London Catalogue of British Plants marked up with plants seen within three miles of Atherstone and of Twycross; this information was incorporated into Watson's Topographical Botany (1873–74). Bloxam was a major contributor to the first Flora of Leicestershire whose author, Mary Kirby, wrote that the Flora "would never have been attempted without [his] encouragement and invaluable assistance" and that "[s]pecimens of every doubtful plant have been submitted to [him]".
Bloxam had a particular interest in brambles (genus Rubus
Rubus
Rubus is a large genus of flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae, subfamily Rosoideae. Raspberries, blackberries, and dewberries are common, widely distributed members of the genus. Most of these plants have woody stems with prickles like roses; spines, bristles, and gland-tipped hairs are...
, particularly section Rubus) and roses (genus Rosa
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
). According to Bagnall, Bloxam was one of the earliest English students of these genera, and from 1840 onwards issued 'fasciculi' (i.e. separate sections intended eventually to form a book), which were of great value to beginners who wished to study these plants. Bloxam gave scientific names to at least six species of Rubus, including Rubus colemannii, named after W.H. Coleman, another Midlands clergyman with an interest in natural history.
In 1875, not long before he died, Bloxam was visited by Bagnall, who later wrote that Bloxam was "still full of love for botanical pursuits, with quite a host of brambles and roses cultivated in his garden, so that he might watch them more readily, and I shall always remember with pleasure my walk with him in the lanes around his village, where he pointed out the various special Rubi and Roses of that locality."
Bloxam was also interested in fungi. He was associated with M.J. Berkeley
Miles Joseph Berkeley
Miles Joseph Berkeley was an English cryptogamist and clergyman, and one of the founders of the science of plant pathology....
, another clergyman from the English Midlands, who has been called the founder of British mycology
Mycology
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans as a source for tinder, medicinals , food and entheogens, as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or...
. In 1854, Berkeley and his co-worker Broome gave a fungal genus the name Bloxamia in honour of Bloxam's work on the group of fungi then called the Sphaeriacei; they also named after him Agaricus bloxamii (now called Bloxam's Entoloma, Entoloma bloxamii
Entoloma bloxamii
Entoloma bloxamii, commonly known as Bloxam's entoloma or the big blue pinkgill, is a mushroom in the Entolomataceae family of fungi...
). Bloxam gave new scientific names to at least 11 species of fungi in the Index Fungorum, including the Toasted Waxcap, now Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe
Hygrocybe is a genus of agarics in the family Hygrophoraceae. Called "waxcaps" in English , basidiocarps are often brightly coloured and have waxy to slimy caps, white spores, and smooth, ringless stems...
colemanniana.
External links
- Sir Thomas Lawrence, P.R.A. (1769-1830): Double portrait of Richard Rowland Bloxam (1797-1877) and Andrew Bloxam (1801-1878), retrieved 2009-12-07; archived 2009-12-01. The account gives the name of Andrew Bloxam's mother as "Lucy"; the Dictionary of National Biography entries for both Andrew Bloxam and Sir Thomas Lawrence say that her sister Ann or Anne was his mother.