From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coast Douglas-fir cone, from a tree
grown from seed collected by David Douglas in 1826
David Douglas (25 June 1799 – 12 July 1834) was
a Scottish botanist. He worked as a gardener, and
explored the Scottish Highlands, North America, and Hawaii, where
he died.
Early
life
The son of a stonemason, he was born in the village of Scone north-east of Perth,
Scotland. He attended Kinnoull School and upon leaving he found work
as an apprentice gardener in the estate of the 3rd Earl of Mansfield at Scone Palace. He
spent seven years at this position before leaving to attend college
in Perth to learn more of the scientific and mathematical aspects
of plant culture. After a further spell of working in Fife (during which time he had access
to a library of botanical and zoological books) he moved to the
Botanical Gardens of Glasgow
and attended botany lectures at the University of Glasgow. The
Professor of Botany was greatly impressed with him and took him on
an expedition to the Highlands before
recommending him to the Royal Horticultural Society
of London.
Explorations
On behalf of Sir William Hooker of the Royal Botanic Institution of
Glasgow, the resourceful and often intrepid Douglas undertook a
plant-hunting expedition in the Pacific Northwest in 1824 that ranks
among the great botanical explorations of a heroic generation. In
the Spring of 1826, David Douglas was compelled to climb a peak
(Mt. Brown, of the mythical pair Hooker and Brown) near Athabasca Pass to
take in the view. In so doing, he became the first mountaineer in
North America. He introduced the Douglas-fir into cultivation in 1827. Other
notable introductions include Sitka Spruce, Sugar Pine, Western White
Pine, Ponderosa Pine, Lodgepole Pine,
Monterey Pine, Grand Fir, Noble
Fir and several other conifers that transformed the British
landscape and timber industry, as well as numerous garden
shrubs and herbs such as the Flowering currant, Salal, Lupin, Penstemon and California poppy. His success was well
beyond expectations; in one of his letters to Hooker, he wrote "you
will begin to think I manufacture pines at my pleasure". Altogether
he introduced about 240 species of plants to Britain.
He first briefly visited Hawaii in 1830 on his way to the
Pacific Northwest. He returned again in December 1833 intending to
spend three months of winter there. He was only the second European
to reach the summit of the Mauna Loa volcano.[1]
He died under mysterious circumstances while climbing Mauna Kea in Hawaiʻi at
the age of 35 in 1834. He apparently fell into a pit trap and was
possibly crushed by a bull that fell into the same trap. He was
last seen at the hut of Englishman Edward "Ned" Gurney, a bullock
hunter and escaped convict. Gurney was also suspected in Douglas's
death, as Douglas may have been carrying gold in a money purse.
Douglas was buried in an unmarked common grave near Mission House
in Honolulu, Hawaii.[2] Later,
in 1856, a marker was erected on an outside wall at Kawaiahaʻo
Church. A monument was built at the spot where Douglas died by
members of the Hilo Burns Society including David
McHattie Forbes. It is called Ka lua kauka ("Doctor's
Pit" in the Hawaiian language), off Mānā Road on
the Island of Hawaiʻi.
A small stand of Douglas-fir trees have been planted here.[3]
Legacy
Although the common name Douglas-fir refers to him, the tree's
scientific name, Pseudotsuga menziesii, honors a rival
botanist, Archibald Menzies. Several Hawaiian
plants were named after him in earlier taxonomies, such as Pandanus
tectorius known in Hawaiian as hala, sometimes
given the name Pandanus douglasii.[3]
There is a memorial to David Douglas in his birthplace of Scone. David Douglas High School in
Portland,
Oregon is named after him.
Writings
- Douglas, David (1914). Journal
kept by David Douglas during his travels in North America
1823-1827 : together with a particular description of
thirty-three species of American oaks and eighteen species of
Pinus, with appendices containing a list of the plants introduced
by Douglas and an account of his death in 1834. W. Wesley
& Son under the direction of the Royal Horticultural
Society.
Available online through the
Washington State Library's Classics in Washington History
collection
References
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