Guillermo Kalbreyer
Encyclopedia
Wilhelm Kalbreyer (1847–1912) was a German plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, London
Chelsea, London
Chelsea is an area of West London, England, bounded to the south by the River Thames, where its frontage runs from Chelsea Bridge along the Chelsea Embankment, Cheyne Walk, Lots Road and Chelsea Harbour. Its eastern boundary was once defined by the River Westbourne, which is now in a pipe above...

 to collect new plants in West Africa
West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries and an area of approximately 5 million square km:-Flags of West Africa:...

 and South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...

.

According to Hortus Veitchii, the Veitch family history:
"Guillermo Kalbreyer, a promising young man, twenty-nine years of age, entered Messrs. Veitch's service as a plant-collector in 1876, and his first trip was to the West Coast of Africa in search of tropical flowering and foliage plants, very popular at that time."

West Africa

Kalbreyer set off from Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

 in November 1876 and arrived at the island of Fernando Po
Bioko
Bioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of...

 in the Gulf of Guinea
Gulf of Guinea
The Gulf of Guinea is the northeasternmost part of the tropical Atlantic Ocean between Cape Lopez in Gabon, north and west to Cape Palmas in Liberia. The intersection of the Equator and Prime Meridian is in the gulf....

 on Christmas Eve before travelling on to Victoria in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

 a week later. His travels took him into neighbouring southern Nigeria
Nigeria
Nigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...

, including exploring the coastal areas around Calabar
Calabar
Calabar is a city in Cross River State, southeastern Nigeria. The original name for Calabar was Atakpa, from the Jukun language....

 and Bonny
Bonny
Bonny is a town and a Local Government Area in Rivers State in southeast Nigeria, on the Bight of Biafra. It was also the capital of the Kingdom of Bonny. Traditionally it was a major trading post of the eastern delta....

, as well as the Cameroon mountains
Mount Cameroon
Mount Cameroon is an active volcano in Cameroon near the Gulf of Guinea. Mount Cameroon is also known as Cameroon Mountain or Fako or by its native name Mongo ma Ndemi ....

 and the Sanaga River
Sanaga River
The Sanaga River is a river of South Province, Cameroon, Centre Province, Cameroon, and West Province, Cameroon. Its length is 890 kilometers.The Sanaga River forms a boundary between two tropical moist forest ecoregions...

 basin. At that time travelling in the region was difficult, and, owing to the hostility of native traders, foreigners were unable to penetrate far into the country.

Whilst in Victoria, Kalbreyer met Rev. George Thomson
George Thomson (botanist)
George Thomson was a Scottish missionary in Cameroon who collected plants to send to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and to the British Museum.Thomson was born in Balfron, 16 miles north of Glasgow and trained as an architect...

, a Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...

 missionary
Missionary
A missionary is a member of a religious group sent into an area to do evangelism or ministries of service, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care and economic development. The word "mission" originates from 1598 when the Jesuits sent members abroad, derived from the Latin...

 and amateur plant collector, who assisted him on his plant gathering expeditions.

In July 1877, after suffering from frequent attacks of malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...

, Kalbreyer's health deteriorated and he returned to England, bringing with him a small collection of plants and seeds, including Adenorandia kalbreyeri (originally known as "Gardenia kalbreyeri"), five species of Mussaenda (a flowering plant in the Rubiaceae
Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae is a family of flowering plants, variously called the coffee family, madder family, or bedstraw family. The group contains many commonly known plants, including the economically important coffee , quinine , and gambier , and the horticulturally valuable madder , west indian jasmine ,...

 family) and two new orchids: Brachycorythis kalbreyeri
Brachycorythis kalbreyeri
Brachycorythis kalbreyeri is a species of flowering plant in the Orchidaceae family. It is endemic to Equatorial Africa and was first discovered on Mount Cameroon by Guillermo Kalbreyer. It was subsequently named after Kalbreyer by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach. The species is unique from others in...

, a terrestrial species named by Reichenbach
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach
Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach was an ornithologist, botanist and the foremost German orchidologist of the 19th century...

 after its discoverer, and Pachystoma thomsonianum, an epiphyte
Epiphyte
An epiphyte is a plant that grows upon another plant non-parasitically or sometimes upon some other object , derives its moisture and nutrients from the air and rain and sometimes from debris accumulating around it, and is found in the temperate zone and in the...

, named, at Kalbreyer's request, in honour of George Thomson. He also brought back seeds of Pararistolochia promissa which were successfully grown at Chelsea – this was described by Masters
Maxwell T. Masters
Maxwell Tylden Masters was an English botanist and taxonomist. He was educated at King's College London and the University of St Andrews...

 as, "one of the most extraordinary members of an extraordinary genus." The flowers extend into three tails, which sometimes reach a length of 2 feet.

Colombia

Following the disappointment of Kalbreyer's first expedition, Harry Veitch
Harry Veitch
Sir Harry James Veitch was an eminent English horticulturist in the nineteenth century, who was the head of the family nursery business, James Veitch & Sons, based in Chelsea, London...

 decided to send Kalbreyer to Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...

 "where the climate is delightful on the highlands and mountain-slopes, though in the lowlands and along the coast almost as hot as in parts of Africa". Kalbreyer departed in October 1877 and collected in the Eastern Cordillera near Ocaña, where he mostly collected various species of Odontoglossum
Odontoglossum
Odontoglossum, first named in 1816 by Karl Sigismund Kunth, is a genus of about 100 orchids. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words odon and glossa , referring to the two tooth-like calluses on the base of the lip...

, including Odontoglossum nobile
Odontoglossum nobile
Odontoglossum nobile, the Grand Odontoglossum, is a species of orchid endemic to Colombia.-Synonyms:*Odontoglossum pescatorei Linden ex Lindl.*Oncidium pescatorei Beer...

and 0. spectatissimum
Odontoglossum spectatissimum
Odontoglossum spectatissimum is a species of orchid ranging from northwestern Venezuela to Ecuador....

.

In February 1878 he left Ocaña to return to England, travelling down the Magdalena River
Magdalena River
The Magdalena River is the principal river of Colombia, flowing northward about through the western half of the country. It takes its name from the biblical figure Mary Magdalene. It is navigable through much of its lower reaches, in spite of the shifting sand bars at the mouth of its delta, as...

 to the coast at Barranquilla
Barranquilla
Barranquilla is an industrial port city and municipality located in northern Colombia, near the Caribbean Sea. The capital of the Atlántico Department, it is the largest industrial city and port in the Colombian Caribbean region with a population of 1,148,506 as of 2005, which makes it Colombia's...

. Because of the low state of the river, the passage to the coast was difficult and the journey (normally from seven to ten days) required nearly a month. Kalbreyer finally arrived in England at the end of April, by when more than half his collection was unusable.

He returned to Ocaña in July 1878, and he again proceeded to the Eastern Cordillera, through the towns of San Pedro, Salazar
Salazar de las Palmas
Salazar de las Palmas is a Colombian municipality and town located in the department of North Santander.-References:...

 and Pamplona
Pamplona, Colombia
Pamplona is a municipality and city in Norte de Santander, Colombia.-Colonization:Nueva Pamplona del Valle del Espíritu Santo, the name by which Don Pedro de Ursúa and Don Ortún Velasco de Velázquez paid tribute to the capital of the province of Navarre in Spain, was founded on 1 November 1549...

. Once again, he collected some extraordinary forms of Odontoglossum
Odontoglossum
Odontoglossum, first named in 1816 by Karl Sigismund Kunth, is a genus of about 100 orchids. The scientific name is derived from the Greek words odon and glossa , referring to the two tooth-like calluses on the base of the lip...

including 0. tripudians
Odontoglossum tripudians
Odontoglossum tripudians is a species of orchid endemic to Colombia....

, 0. crocidipterum
Odontoglossum crocidipterum
Odontoglossum crocidipterum, the Saffron-yellow Two-winged Odontoglossum, is a species of orchid found from Colombia to northwestern Venezuela....

and the rare 0. blandum
Odontoglossum blandum
Odontoglossum blandum, the Charming Odontoglossum, is a species of orchid found from Ecuador to Peru....

together with related species such as Oncidium hastilabium
Oncidium hastilabium
Oncidium hastilabium is a species of orchid found from northwestern Venezuela to western South America.-External links:*...

and Otoglossum chiriquense. After sending several consignments of orchids back to Chelsea, Kalbreyer returned to England, bringing with him a large collection of orchids. Kalbreyer was described as a "particularly conscientious collector" who always wrote lengthy reports on the habitats of the plants he collected. He was praised for his "judicious packing and careful superintendence of the transport" of the scarce Odontoglossum blandum
Odontoglossum blandum
Odontoglossum blandum, the Charming Odontoglossum, is a species of orchid found from Ecuador to Peru....

which all arrived at Chelsea in good condition.

In September 1879, he again left England for Colombia, on this occasion travelling down the Magdalena River to the Central and Western Cordillera, and as far west as the Atrato River
Atrato River
The Río Atrato is a river of northwestern Colombia. It rises in the slopes of the Western Cordillera and flows almost due north to the Gulf of Urabá , where it forms a large, swampy delta....

. According to the account in Hortus Veitchii, "passing from the water-shed of the Atrato to the plains, he was particularly struck by the richness of the vegetation", especially the luxuriant palm trees
Arecaceae
Arecaceae or Palmae , are a family of flowering plants, the only family in the monocot order Arecales. There are roughly 202 currently known genera with around 2600 species, most of which are restricted to tropical, subtropical, and warm temperate climates...

, of which he collected specimens of more than 100 species. Here he also collected samples of the giant arum
Arum
Arum is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the family Araceae, native to Europe, northern Africa, and western Asia, with the highest species diversity in the Mediterranean region....

, Anthurium veitchii, with leaves over six feet in length, which had been discovered by a previous Veitch employee, Gustav Wallis
Gustav Wallis
Gustav Wallis was a German plant collector, who introduced over 1,000 plant species to Europe, many of which were named after him.-Early life:...

 in 1874. On this expedition, Kalbreyer travelled throughout the province of Antioquia
Antioquia Department
Antioquia is one of the 32 departments of Colombia, located in the central northwestern part of Colombia with a narrow section that borders the Caribbean Sea. Most of its territory is mountainous with some valleys, much of which is part of the Andes mountain range...

 passing through the towns of Rionegro, Medellín
Medellín
Medellín , officially the Municipio de Medellín or Municipality of Medellín, is the second largest city in Colombia. It is in the Aburrá Valley, one of the more northerly of the Andes in South America. It has a population of 2.3 million...

, Santa Fe de Antioquia, Sopetrán
Sopetrán
Sopetrán is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia....

, Frontino, Amalfi
Amalfi, Antioquia
Amalfi is a town and municipality in the Antioquia Department, Colombia. Part of the subregion of Northeastern Antioquia....

, Concordia
Concordia, Antioquia
Concordia is a town and municipality in the Colombian department of Antioquia. Part of the subregion of Southwestern Antioquia.This municipality is located at 2000 mt over sea level 6° 2'59.82"N 75°55'11.88"W. Has a population of 25,000 including the surrounding areas...

 and many others – en route, he collected more orchids, including Odontoglossum sceptrum, Miltonia vexillaria, Cattleya aurea
Cattleya aurea
Cattleya aurea is a species of labiate Cattleya orchid. The diploid chromosome number of C. aurea has been determinded to be 2n = 40.-Footnotes and External Links:...

, Phragmipedium longifolium
Phragmipedium longifolium
Phragmipedium longifolium is a species of orchid ranging from Costa Rica to Ecuador. Phragmipedium longifolium is a herb found natively in the coastal and Andean regions of Ecuador, among other surrounding countries.-References:...

, P. schlimii
Phragmipedium schlimii
Phragmipedium schlimii is a species of orchid endemic to Colombia....

alba, and several species of Masdevallia
Masdevallia
Masdevallia, abbreviated Masd in horticultural trade, is a large genus of flowering plants of the Pleurothallidinae, a subtribe of the orchid family . There are over 500 species, grouped into several subgenera...

.

After sending several consignments of orchids to Chelsea, Kalbreyer returned to England in September 1880, bringing with him many living plants and some 360 species of dried fern
Fern
A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants belonging to the botanical group known as Pteridophyta. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem . They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants...

s, including eighteen new discoveries. These were described by John Gilbert Baker
John Gilbert Baker
John Gilbert Baker was an English botanist.Baker was born in Guisborough, the son of John and Mary Baker and educated at Quaker schools in Ackworth and York....

 in the Journal of Botany
Journal of Botany, British and Foreign
Journal of Botany, British and Foreign is a monthly journal that was edited by Berthold Carl Seemann between 1863–1871....

 for July 1881.

Kalbreyer's last journey as a plant-collector commenced in December 1880; on this occasion he again proceeded to Ocaña, where he arrived in January 1881, quickly sending home a further consignment of orchids. Leaving Ocaña at the end of the month, he went southwards to Cundinamarca
Cundinamarca Department
- Origin of the name :The name of Cundinamarca comes from Kundur marqa, an indigenous expression, probably derived from Quechua. Meaning "Condor's Nest", it was used in pre-Columbian times by the natives of the Magdalena Valley to refer to the nearby highlands....

 and to Bogotá
Bogotá
Bogotá, Distrito Capital , from 1991 to 2000 called Santa Fé de Bogotá, is the capital, and largest city, of Colombia. It is also designated by the national constitution as the capital of the department of Cundinamarca, even though the city of Bogotá now comprises an independent Capital district...

, on the high plains of the Eastern Cordillera. In this neighbourhood he collected more orchids, especially Odontoglossum crispum
Odontoglossum crispum
Odontoglossum crispum is an epiphytic orchid from the genus Odontoglossum. It is considered by many to be the most beautiful orchid of all but is also one of the most difficult to grow.-Description:O...

, which he brought safely to England in June 1881.

Following his return to England in 1881, his engagement with Veitch ended, and after a short stay he returned to Colombia, where he set up business in Bogotá as a nurseryman and exporter of orchids continuing to send interesting finds back to the Veitch Nurseries
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 two separate businesses - based at Chelsea and...

.

Honours

Many plant species have been named after Kalbreyer, including:
  • Adenorandia kalbreyeri (Hiern
    William Philip Hiern
    William Philip Hiern was a British mathematician and botanist.Hiern attended St. John's College, Cambridge, from 1857 to 1861 and attained a "first class degree" in mathematics...

    )
  • Cyathea kalbreyeri (Baker
    John Gilbert Baker
    John Gilbert Baker was an English botanist.Baker was born in Guisborough, the son of John and Mary Baker and educated at Quaker schools in Ackworth and York....

    )
  • Columnea kalbreyeriana (Mast.)
  • Cryosophila kalbreyeri
    Cryosophila kalbreyeri
    Cryosophila kalbreyeri is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found in Colombia and Panama. It is threatened by habitat loss.The plant is named after the Victorian plant collector, Guillermo Kalbreyer .-References:...

    (Dammer ex Burret
    Max Burret
    Karl Ewald Maximilian Burret, commonly known as Max Burret was a German botanist.Burret was born in Saffig near Andernach in the Prussian Rhine Province. He originally studied law at Lausanne and Munich at the instigation of his father...

    )
  • Dennstaedtia kalbreyeri (Maxon
    William Ralph Maxon
    William Ralph Maxon, was an American botanist and pteridologist. He graduated from Syracuse University with a Ph.B. in 1898, and spent about one year at Columbia University doing post-graduate work on ferns with Lucien Marcus Underwood...

    )
  • Masdevallia kalbreyeri (Rchb. f. ex Kraenzl.)
  • Maxillaria kalbreyeri (Rchb. f.)
  • Paphinia rugosa
    Paphinia rugosa
    Paphinia rugosa is a species of orchid endemic to Colombia.-About:The classification of this orchid species was published by Heinrich Gustav Reichenbach in Linnaea; Ein Journal für die Botanik in ihrem ganzen Umfange, xli. 110, 1877 - Berlin, Germany. This species is found in Colombia, at an...

    var. kalbreyeri (Rchb. f.)
  • Spathiphyllum kalbreyeri (Maxon
    William Ralph Maxon
    William Ralph Maxon, was an American botanist and pteridologist. He graduated from Syracuse University with a Ph.B. in 1898, and spent about one year at Columbia University doing post-graduate work on ferns with Lucien Marcus Underwood...

    )
  • Wettinia kalbreyeri
    Wettinia kalbreyeri
    Wettinia kalbreyeri is a species of flowering plant in the Arecaceae family.It is found in Colombia and Ecuador. The plant is named after the Victorian plant collector, Guillermo Kalbreyer . It is commonly called the Macana Palm....

    (Burret
    Max Burret
    Karl Ewald Maximilian Burret, commonly known as Max Burret was a German botanist.Burret was born in Saffig near Andernach in the Prussian Rhine Province. He originally studied law at Lausanne and Munich at the instigation of his father...

    )


The palm genus, Kalbreyera, was named after Kalbreyer but the only species in the genus has now been re-classified as Geonoma triandra (Burret
Burret
Burret is a commune in the Ariège department of southwestern France.-Population:Inhabitants of Burret are called Burretois....

) Wess.Boer
.

The small genus of Acanthus
Acanthaceae
The family Acanthaceae is a taxon of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing almost 250 genera and about 2500 species....

, Kalbreyeriella (Lindau
Gustav Lindau
Gustav Lindau , was a German mycologist and botanist.- Biography :Gustav Lindau studied natural history in Heidelberg and Berlin, where he studied under Simon Schwendener . He completed his doctoral thesis on the apothecia of lichens in1888...

)
, found in Colombia and Ecuador also bears Kalbreyer's name.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK