Gustav Wallis
Encyclopedia
Early life
Wallis was born in LüneburgLüneburg
Lüneburg is a town in the German state of Lower Saxony. It is located about southeast of fellow Hanseatic city Hamburg. It is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region, and one of Hamburg's inner suburbs...
, in Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony
Lower Saxony is a German state situated in north-western Germany and is second in area and fourth in population among the sixteen states of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where his father was an advocate. Wallis was deaf and mute until six years of age, and it was not until 1836 that he was able to talk. As a consequence, he suffered from a speech defect during his entire life.
In about 1836 his father died, leaving his mother a widow with six children. With no means of support, she found it necessary to leave Lüneburg and move to Detmold
Detmold
Detmold is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, with a population of about 74,000. It was the capital of the small Principality of Lippe from 1468 until 1918 and then of the Free State of Lippe until 1947...
, her native town. It was here that Wallis attended school and, in the surrounding mountains and forests, developed the love of nature and botany which later gave him the desire to travel abroad and visit the tropics. As a youth, Wallis had great energy and an indomitable will, and despite his speech impediment he acquired considerable proficiency in foreign languages, an accomplishment which stood him in good stead during the course of his career.
At the age of sixteen he was apprenticed to a goldsmith but, disliking the work, he quit and took an apprenticeship with a gardener at Detmold. At the end of his apprenticeship, he obtained employment in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, from where he often visited the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
to collect and study plants.
In 1856, Wallis went to southern 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...
, where he set up a horticultural establishment for a German firm but, following the bankruptcy of the parent company, the branch was forced to close and Wallis was left practically penniless.
Jean Linden
In 1858, he was engaged as a plant-collector by Jean LindenJean Jules Linden
Jean Jules Linden , was a Belgian botanist and explorer, horticulturist and businessman, specialising in orchids, on which subject he wrote a number of books....
’s orchid company, L’Horticulture Internationale, of Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
. Wallis then began a hazardous journey, crossing the continent of South America, starting at the mouth of the River Amazon and traversing the total length to its source, exploring the river and many of its more important tributaries.
In 1866, Wallis was exploring the low-lying areas where the Rio Negro meets the Amazon, when he came across an unknown Cattleya
Cattleya
Cattleya is a genus of 113 species of orchids from Costa Rica to tropical South America. The genus was named in 1824 by John Lindley after Sir William Cattley who received and successfully cultivated specimens of Cattleya labiata that were used as packing material in a shipment of other orchids...
species growing among the branches of macucus trees. Wallis was able to send a large shipment to Linden, who named the new species Cattleya eldorado, and the following year had more than 700 plants of the new species in bloom on display in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
.
James Veitch & Sons
In 1870, he was engaged by James Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, LondonChelsea, 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...
who sent him to the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
to search for orchids of the Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis
Phalaenopsis Blume , abbreviated Phal in the horticultural trade, is an orchid genus of approximately 60 species. Phalaenopsis is one of the most popular orchids in the trade, through the development of many artificial hybrids....
species which were indigenous to those islands. Although he was able to make sufficient finds to send a shipment back to England, including Paphiopedilum argus
Paphiopedilum argus
Paphiopedilum argus is a species of orchid endemic to Luzon Island of the Philippines. The name is a reference to the Greek god Argus, who had one hundred eyes, like the spots on the petals. The flower size goes up to 4" . It is commonly found on limestone in altitudes 600 to 2000 feet high....
, P. haynaldianum
Paphiopedilum haynaldianum
Paphiopedilum haynaldianum is a species of orchid endemic to the islands of Negros and Luzon of the Philippines....
, Dendrobium amethystoglossum
Dendrobium amethystoglossum
The Amethyst-colored Dendrobium is a species of orchid....
and Lilium philippinense, the mission proved too expensive to be considered a success and Wallis had to be recalled.
In December 1872, he was sent 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 he had explored previously, returning in 1874 with many finds, including two giant-leaved Anthurium
Anthurium
Anthurium , is a large genus of about 600–800 species, belonging to the arum family . Anthurium can also be called "Flamingo Flower" or "Boy Flower", both referring to the structure of the spathe and spadix....
s, A. veitchii andA. warocqueanum, as well as several interesting and valuable orchids, including various 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...
.
Later career and death
His contract with Veitch was terminated in 1874, but he continued to collect plants in South America at his own expense, commencing his last journey at the end of the summer of 1875, when he left to explore the northern and central regions of the continent. Whilst in Colombia, he discovered Zamia wallisiiZamia wallisii
Zamia wallisii is a species of plant in the Zamiaceae family. It is endemic to Colombia. It is threatened by habitat loss.-History:Zamia wallisii was described in 1875 by Alexander Braun from material collected by Gustav Wallis in Colombia. The species was collected once again in 1888 by Guillermo...
but his samples were lost; it was only in the 1980s that the plant was re-located.
He was next heard of in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, dangerously ill with yellow fever
Yellow fever
Yellow fever is an acute viral hemorrhagic disease. The virus is a 40 to 50 nm enveloped RNA virus with positive sense of the Flaviviridae family....
and 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...
. He recovered from his illness and was able to re-commence work, but his second attack, combined with dysentery
Dysentery
Dysentery is an inflammatory disorder of the intestine, especially of the colon, that results in severe diarrhea containing mucus and/or blood in the faeces with fever and abdominal pain. If left untreated, dysentery can be fatal.There are differences between dysentery and normal bloody diarrhoea...
, proved fatal. His last letter was dated Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca, Ecuador
Cuenca is the capital of the Azuay Province. It is located in the highlands of Ecuador at about 2500 m above sea level...
, 24 March 1878, where, according to the collector Edward Klaboch, Wallis died in hospital on 20 June.
Honours
- Anthurium wallisii
- Batemannia wallisii
- Calathea wallisii
- Dieffenbachia seguineDieffenbachia seguineDieffenbachia seguine is a species of Dieffenbachia native to the tropical Americas —from Southern Mexico, through Central America, to northern South America and Brazil . It is also native to several Caribbean islands, including Puerto Rico ....
subvar. wallisii - Dracula wallisii
- Epidendrum wallisii
- Homalomena wallisiiHomalomena wallisiiHomalomena wallisii is a species of flowering plant in the Araceae family from Venezuela. It reaches about 6" in height but with a much wider spread. The leaf blades are elliptic to ovate-oblong in shape about 5 - 8" in length, on rather short stalks, arching or recurving, bright-green in colour...
- Houlletia wallisii
- Masdevallia wallisii
- Odontoglossum wallisii
- Spathiphyllum wallisiiSpathiphyllum wallisiiSpathiphyllum wallisii, commonly known as Peace lily, White sails, or spathe flower is a very popular indoor house plant of the family Araceae. The genus name means "spathe-leaf," and the specific epithet is named after Gustav Wallis, the German plant collector.It is a caespitose herbaceous perennial...
- Stenospermation wallisii
- Zamia wallisiiZamia wallisiiZamia wallisii is a species of plant in the Zamiaceae family. It is endemic to Colombia. It is threatened by habitat loss.-History:Zamia wallisii was described in 1875 by Alexander Braun from material collected by Gustav Wallis in Colombia. The species was collected once again in 1888 by Guillermo...