Henry William Ravenel (1814-1887)
ARCHIVED ONLINE EXHIBIT
John Nelson
Chief Curator, A.C. Moore Herbarium
Patrick Scott
Director, Rare Books & Special Collections
Originally displayed at the Thomas Cooper Library, University of South Carolina
Archived September 27, 2013
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Archived Online Exhibit ................................................................................................................................. 1
Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Introduction to the Botanical Collection....................................................................................................... 4
Applied Botany: Some Cultivated Plants ...................................................................................................... 7
Ravenel in the South Caroliniana Library ...................................................................................................... 9
Type Specimens in the Ravenel Collection ................................................................................................. 12
Some Rare Plants ........................................................................................................................................ 14
Some Noteworthy Plants ............................................................................................................................ 18
A new species of a fresh-water alga ........................................................................................................... 20
Weedy Plants from South Carolina ............................................................................................................. 21
Specimens from Some of Ravenel’s Southern Colleagues .......................................................................... 22
Specimens from some of Ravenel’s Northern Colleagues .......................................................................... 26
Plants named after Ravenel ........................................................................................................................ 29
References .................................................................................................................................................. 31
INTRODUCTION
Henry William Ravenel (1814-1887) was one of the foremost botanists of the American
Civil War era. Born in Pineville in present-day Berkeley County, he was a student at
South Carolina College from 1829 until he graduated in 1832. He soon established
himself as an eager student of natural history, and his interests in botany, and especially
mycology, continued through his middle and later years. Ravenel developed friendships
and correspondence with an extensive range of contemporary botanists, and he shared
with them many of the specimens he collected. His scientific interests focused especially
on the collection of fleshy fungi; Ravenel’s five-volume sets of dried fungal
specimens, Fungi Caroliniani Exsiccati (1853-1860), and his contributions to the 8volume series Fungi Americani (London, 1878-1882), were widely distributed, upon a
subscription basis, and many of these collections now figure heavily into the systematic
taxonomy of fungi.
Ravenel was also, throughout his life, a serious collector of vascular plants, and his
personal herbarium, with over 6,500 individual plant specimens, remains of great research
significance, especially for current understanding of the flora of the southeastern United
States. Ravenel’s Private collection of vascular plants, which was housed for many years
at Converse College in Spartanburg, is now located in the University of South Carolina’s
Department of Biological Sciences, as the H. W. Ravenel Collection of Converse College,
within USC’s A. C. Moore Herbarium. We were especially pleased to have several
colleagues from Converse with us at the exhibition opening, including Vice-President Jeffrey
H. Barker, Prof. Joe Ann Lever, Prof. Robert Powell, and Prof. Douglas Jensen. We are
grateful also for the support and interest of Prof. Nelson’s emeritus colleagues at USC, Prof.
John H. Herr and Prof. David Rembert; of Prof. Harry Shealy of USC-Aiken; and of
members of the Ravenel family.
The current exhibition brings together a wide-ranging selection of the plant specimens from
that collection, together with manuscript and other items from the Ravenel papers in the
South Caroliniana Library, and selected botanical books from Thomas Cooper Library’s
Rare Books & Special Collections. The contemporary photographs in the upright cases are
reproduced from Ravenel’s own album in South Caroliniana. The exhibition has been
curated by John Nelson (Department of Biological Sciences), in collaboration with Patrick
Scott (Rare Books & Special Collections), and with Henry Fulmer and Beth Bilderback
(South Caroliniana Library, manuscripts and the photographic materials).
INTRODUCTION TO THE BOTANICAL COLLECTION
Ravenel’s South Carolina
Rand McNally’s New Business Atlas of South Carolina
Chicago: Rand McNally, 1892. Courtesy of the Map Library.
Henry William Ravenel was born in St. John’s Parish, Berkeley
County, brought up there at Woodville, Pineville, and
Pooshee, and educated nearby in Pineville and at college in
Columbia. Following his marriage in 1835, he settled near his
parents, building a main home at Northampton, and a summer
home at Pinopolis (area indicated by red arrow). In 1853, he moved for health reasons to
Aiken, living first at Hampton Hill outside the city and then in Aiken itself (area indicated by
purple arrow).
The third (red) arrow on the overlay indicates Society Hill, the South Carolina home of
Ravenel’s friend and correspondent Moses Curtis, who supplied him with specimens from
that area of the state.
Henry William Ravenel
From the original photograph in Ravenel’s album.
Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library.
The Social Basis of South Carolina Botany
John L[innaeus]. E. W. Shecut, 1778-1831.
Flora carolinensis: or, A historical, medical, and economical display of
the vegetable kingdom; according to the Linnean or sexual system
of botany.
Charleston: Printed for the author, by J. Hoff, 1806. Black roan. Phelps
Memorial Collection.
Ravenel bridged the transition in South Carolina botany from the informed gentlemenamateurs to professional science. The subscription list for this volume shows the range of
prominent South Carolinians interested in botany in the early nineteenth
century. Nonetheless, Shecut, a Charleston physician, lost $1800 on publishing seven
numbers of this Flora.
Botany at South Carolina College in the 1830's
[Edward W. Johnston], Catalogue of the Library of the South Carolina
College.
Columbia, SC: the Telescope, 1836.
During Ravenel’s years as a student at South Carolina College (18291832), the College library already had significant holdings of books about
botany. The library catalogue published in 1826 was arranged by subject
and indicates the library’s strength in this field.
Botanical Illustration in South Carolina, I: The state flower
Unknown artist, c. 1765.
“The Humming Bird of South-Carolina and Yellow Jesemin.”
Current name: Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) J. Saint-Hilaire; “Yellow
Jessamine.”
From the collection presented by Mrs. William Carroll Brown, Belton, S.C.
This original sketch comes from the earliest surviving sizeable collection of
natural history watercolors done in the United States. This is a mid-18th century album of
32 paintings from South Carolina and east Florida, depicting both plants and birds. The
album was acquired by Mr. and Mrs. William Carroll Brown in 1952, and donated to Thomas
Cooper Library by Mrs. Brown in 1991. At various times the sketches have been attributed
to Mark Catesby (1683-1749), William Bartram of Philadelphia (1739-1823), John Abbot
(1749-1840), or (most recently) to the South Carolinian amateur artist John Laurens
(1754-1782), son of Henry Laurens, who was in east Florida in the relevant years.
The state flower of South Carolina, as collected by Ravenel
Gelsemium sempervirens Ait.
Aiken S.C.
Apr. 86
HWR
Current name: Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) J. Saint-Hilaire; “Yellow
Jessamine.”
No matter their source, herbarium specimens of vascular plants are always made with the
same, simple demands: living plants must be pressed with sufficient pressure to flatten
them, and they must be dried quickly enough to avoid the effects of mold. Modern plant
collecting techniques differ very little from those used by Ravenel and his contemporaries.
Gelsemium sempervirens, which was named officially as our state flower in 1924, is found
in every county of South Carolina. This specimen was collected by Ravenel in Aiken in
April, 1886. The specimen itself has been remounted: all that remains of the original sheet
is the label, which has been taped onto the existing sheet. In remounting, the plant parts
have been taped down. The date of repair of this specimen is difficult to
ascertain. Although it is likely that a number of specimens were repaired and/or remounted
by Ravenel himself, other specimens were clearly repaired and/or annotated while the
collection was housed at Converse College. Many of the annotations on specimens were
supplied by personnel at the Smithsonian Institution, indicating that much of the collection
had been sent on loan from Converse to the Smithsonian, now the home of the United
States National Herbarium.
A modern specimen of the same flower
Gelsemium sempervirens (L.) Aiton
Climbing vine¼Woodruff between Spartanburg and Greenville.
Jacquelin A. Clark #56 Apr 8, 01
This contemporary specimen of the same plant is from Spartanburg
County, collected recently. Modern herbarium specimens, and those at the
A. C. Moore Herbarium, are mounted on acid-free, archival paper. Generally, a printed
label is attached (glued) to sheets. (The star indicates that information from this specimen
has been entered into the Herbarium's database.) The plant materials on both of these
sheets are hardly distinguishable as far as quality of preparation. The recent specimen
continues to feature the yellow color of the flower’s corolla; however, the colors of all a
plant’s parts will eventually fade. Transient features such as flower color, flower aroma,
pollinators, plant stature, etc. are properly recorded on the label as observational data
impossible to reproduce after the time of collection.
Properly prepared specimens feature all the parts of the plant (as is practical). Dried
specimens of plants, in general, retain essentially all the morphological features necessary
for systematic study, and thus very old specimens remain valuable. Beyond outright
measurements of the plant’s parts, many aspects of morphological study are available,
including, among other techniques, investigations of stomatal patterns and density,
epidermal features, trichome (hair) characteristics, and pollen features. Herbarium
specimens, depending on their condition and the taxon involved, may offer substantial
sources of study involving anatomy, biochemistry, and even molecular characteristics,
including DNA sequencing.
APPLIED BOTANY: SOME CULTIVATED PLANTS
A specimen of a cultivated grape
Herbemonte grape from
Flushing - Long island
from Dr McDonalds
Current name: Vitis vinifera L., the variety known as "Herbemont".
Throughout his life, Ravenel was actively involved in agriculture as well as
in science. He wrote not only for scientific publications, but also for more
general readerships in the Southern Agriculturist & Horticulturist, the Southern Cultivator,
the Southern Farmer & Market Gardener, and Farmer and Planter. Ravenel grew an
assortment of grape varieties at Hampton Hill, near Aiken. His diary indicates, in the
summer of 1860, that he was very interested in the development of the local fruit industry,
and was himself involved in shipping considerable amounts of peaches to New York. The
Herbemonte grape was a popular variety, growing well in the southern states.
Sorghum, a potentially useful food and forage crop
Sorghum
Sept. 4 1857
found at Genl. Hammond's place
in Barnwell - said to grow wild on Savannah River.
Current name: Sorghum vulgare L.; “Cane sorghum.”
HWR
This specimen had been widely grown as a source of sorghum molasses,
and also for seed and fodder. Ravenel almost certainly knew James H. Hammond socially;
Hammond (1807-1864), later to serve as state senator (and governor), had been elected as
a General within the local militia, prior to the Civil War. In addition to being a rather
flamboyant political personality, Hammond was a successful planter, and was very
interested in new crops for introduction.
There are two separate plants on this sheet, and they are likely from different
populations. The specimen was repaired in the 1930's, remounted on period paper, and
then sent to Agnes Chase for determination.
A specimen of “Rhamie”
Boehmeria
Boehmeria [in pencil: "tenacissima"]
Rhamie cultivated
Aiken S.C.
H.W.R.
Current name: Boehmeria nivea (L.) Gaudich; "Rhamie."
Cultivated in Aiken, probably collected in the 1880s. Rhamie has enjoyed a reputation as
an important fiber crop (the fibers obtained from tissues in the stems) and it was grown with
some success in 19th Century South Carolina.
An ornamental tree, grown in Aiken
Sterculia platanifolia
Japan varnish tree
Aiken S.C.
Jul 84
HWR
Current name: Firmiana simplex Wight; “Parasol tree.”
One of Ravenel's late collections, taken from a cultivated street tree in Aiken. This plant is
introduced from Asia, and is still commonly grown in warmer parts of the USA. Its green
bark and twigs, deeply lobed leaves, fragrant flowers, and prominent, yellow fall foliage
make it an attractive curiosity. It still grows around Aiken, as well as other cities in South
Carolina. (It appears in a few places on the USC campus, and around downtown Columbia.)
During the later years of his life, Ravenel, as seen in his journal, became less and less
interested in politics, and became more devoted to his garden and to sharing information
with other botanists. He died three years to the month after collecting this specimen.
RAVENEL IN THE SOUTH CAROLINIANA LIBRARY
Henry William Ravenel on Fungi, 1855
Henry William Ravenel, Aiken, Autograph Letter, Signed, to Charles
Montague, Paris
Letter, May 15, 1855,
"My lichens have all been placed in the hands of Mr Tuckennan, among
which he has found several new species I shall be pleased to make up a
package of American Fungi for you it will be only the discharge of a just
debt, to return to you an equivalent in this humble wav."
Ravenel’s Fungi and the South Carolina College library, 1860
Private Journal of Henry William Ravenel, January 18, 1860
"I wrote a letter today to Prof Laborde of Columbia, to ask if the
College intended taking the other numbers of my 'Fungi Exsic.'
They took the first, but have not called for the others."
The Natural Historian in Wartime, 1865
Henry William Ravenel, Hampton Hill, Autograph Letter, Signed, to his
brother-in-law, Dr. Richard Y. Dwight, April 1, 1865,
"I have suffered as much from my 'friends' (Wheeler's cavalry) as we did
from the enemy My worst loss is the breaking open of my desk & the
loss & mutilation of my papers, records, manuscripts, packages of letters, botanical
correspondence of 20 years Not many of my books were taken nor was my herbarium
touched."
Ravenel looks back at his achievements, 1866
Private Journal of Henry William Ravenel, July 22, 1866
"It [life as a planter] suited my previous inclination & my turn of
mind. I had paid much attention to Chemistry & Natural Philosophy in College & was
pleased with this glimpse I got of the world of Nature. I lived in the country & took up a
fondness for Botany making a few collections-- plants & fossils. I had a visit from a travelling
naturalist a Mr Olmstead who was collecting plants. He initiated me fairly in the mode of
making collections, & so interested me in the subject that I commenced then to collect &
study. At the end of the first season I had made a very respectable beginning. My house at
Northampton was burned down the following winter & all my collection destroyed. I began
anew in the spring, & with the aid of Dr Bachman at first, & then afterwards of Dr Curtis,
Prof Gray & others, continued the recreation. About 1846 I commenced the investigation of
Cryptogamic botany, & made much progress in my collection having the correspondence &
aid of Dr Curtis & Mr Berkeley on the fungi, of Tuckerman in the Lichens & Sullivant in the
Mosses."
A Tintype Photograph of Ravenel
Undated, but c. 1870.
Ravenel’s Guide for Post-War Gardeners
Ravenel, Henry William, 1814-1887.
The southern gardener, or Short and simple directions for the culture
of vegetables and fruits at the South.
Charleston, S. C.: Walker, Evans & Cogswell, 1871. Original wrappers. Gift
of Mr. Thomas Burgess, 2004.
This brief guide, written in the aftermath of war, focuses on growing
foodstuffs, rather than on scientific botany. Alongside the pamphlet itself are
shown a page from Ravenel’s original manuscript and Ravenel’s
wheel-shaped foldout chart indicating planting seasons and the seasons for other garden
tasks.
Collecting as a Source of Income, 1881
Private Journal of Henry William Ravenel, February 28, 1881
"I received a letter yesterday from Prof Sargent stating that he has
undertaken the collection of wood specimens of our trees for the American
Museum of Nat. History in New York, & asking my assistance in procuring
specimens from this region. The compensation will be the same as for the
[census] work last year. I have written to him
TYPE SPECIMENS IN THE RAVENEL COLLECTION
A type specimen of "Canby's mountain-lover"
Pachystima myrsinites, Pursh var.?
Coll. WM. M. CANBY
Giles County, VIRGINIA, May, 1869
Handwritten by Canby below this: "P. Canbyi, M. A. Curtis, sp.nov."Current
name: Pachystima canbyi A. Gray; "Canby's mountain-lover."
A "type" specimen is one upon which the original description of a plant is
based. In Ravenel's time, when a botanist published the name and description of a new
species, it was not necessary to explicitly designate a specimen as the type, as it is now, a
rule enacted in 1958.
This is a mixed collection. (Note that the correct authority is Gray, not Curtis.) The exposed
plant at top was collected by William Canby of Wilmington, Delaware (1831-1904), who
presumed that it was a variety ofPachystima myrsinites Rafinesque, a western
species. Two envelopes contain plant material as well: the upper is probably from the same
collection as the Giles County plant, and is so labeled. The lower envelope is labeled
"Pachystima myrsinites Raf....N. Mexico. coll. Fendler." August Fendler (1809-1883), a
native Prussian, botanized extensively in the 1840's under the direction of George
Engelmann and Asa Gray; his collections are among the first from New Mexico. Ravenel
included both taxa on the same sheet, and inscribed this sheet at lower right corner, "P.
Canbyi Gray & P. myrsinitesRaf." The upper specimen almost certainly represents type
material of P. canbyi; the holotype is at Harvard's Gray Herbarium. In his description of the
new species, Gray indicates that it was Curtis, while still alive, proposed that the name of
the new species honor its discoverer. Canby visited Ravenel in Aiken in 1869, and the two
communicated extensively.
A specimen of Baptisia from the sandhills of Aiken County
Baptisia stipulacea Rav.
June
Aiken, S.C.
HWR
Current name: Baptisia microphylla Nuttall; “Small-leaved wild indigo.”
This specimen is probably a type. Ravenel described this species in 1856,
later (1876) remarking that it is "sparingly disseminated in the poor sand-hill region in the
vicinity of Aiken." J. K. Small, in his 1903 Flora of the Southeastern United States,
maintained recognition of this plant as a good species (as B. microphylla), although more
current taxonomic judgment holds it as a hybrid between B. perfoliata ("rabbit-bells") and B.
tinctoria ("wild indigo"), both of which are fairly common in modern Aiken County.
Probably introduced species, perhaps cultivated, but more likely a pest. Hanover House
refers to the ancestral home of Ravenel's great-grandfather, originally located in Berkeley
County, then transported to Clemson University (prior to the inundation of Lake Moultrie),
now on the grounds at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. Solanum is a large genus in
the tomato family (Solanaceae), perhaps best known locally known as the native S.
caroliniense, which is a fairly benign (although somewhat toxic) weed. Solanum
sodomeumwas named in 1753 by Linnaeus, and remains a valid species. However, this
specimen is likely a different taxon. Other species of Solanum, especially (and recently) S.
viarum, or “tropical soda-apple”, have been implicated as serious agricultural weeds in the
Southeast.
SOME RARE PLANTS
The Cumulation of Botanical Knowledge, I
Stephen Elliott, 1771-1830.
A Sketch of the Botany of South-Carolina and Georgia.
Charleston, S.C.: J.R. Schenck, 1821-24. Black roan.Phelps Memorial
Collection.
This sample opening, with its references to “Walt” [Thomas Walter] and
“Mich” [Andre Michaux] shows the slow cumulation of knowledge about
South Carolina plants. Elliott, a Charlestonian banker who graduated from
Yale in 1791, also served as professor of natural history and botany at the
Medical College and as a contributor to Legare's Southern Review.
A specimen of Elliottia racemosa, a threatened species
Elliottia racemosa Muhl.
on David L. Adam's premises
near Hamburg S.C.
1854
Printed: In GEORGIA et CAROLINA, circa urbem Augusta, legerunt
S[tephen]. T[hayer]. Olney et J[esse]. Metcalf
Current name: Elliottia racemosa Muhlenberg ex Elliott; “Georgia plume.”
This is the "long-lost" Elliottia, the genus named in commemoration of Stephen Elliott (17711830), whose Sketch of the Botany of South Carolina and Georgiawas heavily used by
Ravenel as a source. USC's Elliott College was named in his honor in 1847. The
genus Elliottia was established by Henry Muhlenberg (1752-1815) as a tribute to Elliott, who
published the name in 1817 in the first volume of his Sketch. This species is now
apparently restricted, in nature, entirely to Georgia; there are now no known naturallyoccurring populations east of the Savannah River, though it is historically known from South
Carolina, as this collection proves, on the south side of present-day North
Augusta. Although the plants in natural populations in Georgia produce viable seeds,
seedlings are never seen; the species is commonly propagated vegetatively, and is
sometimes seen in cultivated in gardens. This species is officially recognized as
"threatened” by the state of Georgia, but does not enjoy federal protection.
Stephen Olney (1812-78), a businessman and botanist of Rhode Island, specialized in
algae and vascular plants, primarily from the northeastern states. His collecting partner was
Jesse Metcalf (dates not known). The two were later involved in operating a mill in
Providence, Rhode Island, producing cotton cloth during the Civil War.
Ravenel and the Elliott Society
Henry W. Ravenel, Notice of some New and Rare Phaenogamous Plants
found in this State,
Proceedings of the Elliott Society of Natural History of Charleston,
South-Carolina, vol. I (November 1853-December 1858): 50-54. From the
library of Prof. Yates Snowden.
This is the second of two papers that Ravenel contributed to the
proceedings of this society, named for the South Carolina botanist Stephen
Elliott (1771-1830), although Ravenel was not often able to attend the
Society’s meetings. Following his more scientific discoveries, Ravenel
reports visiting the grave near Santee of Thomas Walter, author of Flora Caroliniana (1788).
A specimen of an uncommon coastal shrub
Sageretia Michauxii Brongniart
Sept/68--Seen [illeg.] on Coast of S.C.
misit J[oseph]. H[enry]. Mellichamp
This seems to be the S. Michauxii as described in Chapman's Flora, with
some slight difference. Chapman quotes Rhamnus minutiflora Mx as a
synonym. The plant described under this last name in Ell. Sk. scarcely agrees with this plant
& Elliott seems not to have been familiar....[continued on other side of label, which is taped
down]
Current name: Sageretia minutiflora (Michaux) Trelease; "Shellmound buckthorn."
Mellichamp collected the specimen and sent it to Ravenel. This is a reasonably rare species
in South Carolina, and it somewhat characteristic of shell-midden or shell-ring communities
along the coast. Ravenel mentions the works of both Chapman and Elliott, both of which he
(HWR) would have been using extensively.
A mixed specimen of "Star-vine," endemic to the southeastern United
States
Schisandra coccinea Mx
Bluffton S.C.
from Dr. Mellichamp
Scizandra coccinea Mx
June 85 Bluffton S.C.
Dr Mellichamp
Scizandra coccinea Michx.
Deep swamp, Beaufort District, So. Car.
June, 1884, Dr. Mellichamp
Current name: Schisandra glabra (Brickell) Rehder.
A very rare species in South Carolina known only from Beaufort and Jasper Counties. The
plant was named by John Brickell (1749-1809) as Stellandria glabra in 1803, and
subsequently (very soon afterward) by André Michaux asSchisandra coccinea, apparently
unaware of Brickell's name. Although Brickell got the name first, the genus name that
Michaux invented (viz. Schisandra) is a "conserved" generic name against Stellandria. As
Brickell named it first, Rehder (1863-1949) transferred Brickell's name into the
genus Schisandra. All of the above labels are present on the same sheet, along with two
additional packets containing material. Dr. Joseph Hinson Mellichamp achieved
considerable stature as a botanist, particularly around the Bluffton area, and was a steady
correspondent with Ravenel.
A dwarf juniper from Aiken County, the single population in South
Carolina
In pencil: Juniperus communis L.
Prostrate, taking root, one dead limb
near 10 ft long - on poor sandy soil, on
Mt [?]
Aiken S.C. Sep 21 69
HWR
Current name: Juniperus communis L. var. depressaPursh; Ground juniper.
This is a circumpolar species, generally known in the Southeast only from high elevations.
The prostrate variety is known from a few disjunct localities, such as this one. Taxonomic
questions remain concerning the status of the variety, as it sometimes forms small
trees. Ravenel found two populations in Aiken County, in what is now present-day
Hitchcock Woods. Ravenel refers to this collection, and explicitly to the label thereon, in his
journal entry for September 21, 1869. This entry credits his (only) son, "Harry," with the
discovery of the two populations. "Harry" was Henry St. Julien Ravenel, born in 1848. The
natural occurrence of this population has been questioned, although Ravenel himself
addressed this issue in 1876:
This spot is in virgin forest of Pine, Oak, etc and there are no signs of clearing or of former
cultivation, by which their introduction may be traced to hand of man. . . . Strange that the
Alpine form of a tree which grows 1000 mi north, should be found here, flourishing on these
warm sandhills!
Sharing Botanical Information
George Engelmann
The American Juniper of the Section Sabina.
St. Louis, MO: R. P. Studeley, 1877. Original wrappers, inscribed to
Ravenel from the author.
Offprint from Transactions of the Academy of Science of St. Louis, 3:4
(December 1877).
Botanical Illustration in South Carolina, II
John James Audubon, and Maria Martin, 1796-1863,
"Bachman&'s Warbler. Gordonia pubescens,
plate 185, from his Birds of America, no. 38, 1833.
Current name: Franklinia alatamaha.
Audubon's double elephant folio engravings Birds of America, published in
parts between 1828 and 1838, and purchased for South Carolina College by
vote of the legislature in 1831, are also important for their botanical backgrounds. The bird
depicted here has been named for Audubon’s Charleston friend, the Rev. John
Bachman. By the late Victorian period, the plant (which was painted by Bachman’s sisterin-law Maria Martin) was no longer found growing in South Carolina; interestingly, in 1882,
Ravenel himself published a paper about this plant in American Naturalist.
SOME NOTEWORTHY PLANTS
A specimen of the formerly cultivated indigo
Indigofera Anil?
S.C
August/Sept.
found in a field at Northampton which had been cleared and planted 80 to
100
years ago then thrown out of cultivation until 5 or 6 years ago.
1840. HWR
This is probably the indigo plant cultivated in this section of country
previous to the introduction of cotton. It is a West Indian species.
Current name: Indigofera suffruticosa P. Miller; “Indigo.” Identification provided by David H.
Rembert, Jr.
This species is native to the New World, having been taken to Portugal before its ultimate
return to America, as one of the two sources of cultivated indigo (the other species is I.
tinctoria). The occurrence of this plant in an old agricultural field in 1840 at Ravenel’s
plantation “Northampton” suggests substantial longevity of the seeds while in the
ground. Ravenel refers to the persistence of this species following cultivation in a short
publication in 1876 (Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club 6(18): 93-94), 36 years after the
collection at hand. Ravenel suggests in this note that indigo was perhaps commonly seen
“on old settled places along the seabound [sic].” (It is not seen any longer.)
A sedge specimen collected from Texas
Rhynchospora [in pencil, "caduca M."] 159
near R. patula Gray
May 30/69 Prairie near Indianola
HWR Texas
Current name: Rhynchospora caduca Michaux.
Ravenel's experience in Texas, during the spring of 1869, resulted in
considerable collection of grasses and sedges. This species is rather widespread in the
Southeast, from Texas to Virginia.
His collection numbered 160, from a "wet prairie near Indianola" (a specimen that is
represented in the Converse/USC collection) was used as the type specimen for
"Rhynchospora indianolensis", named by John K. Small (1869-1938), premier botanist of
the Southeast, who published his Flora of the Southeastern United States in 1903. The
holotype is at the New York Botanical Garden. Indianola is a coastal town, located on
Madagordo Bay, southwest of Houston. Rhynchospora indianolensis is a Texas endemic,
not occurring outside the state.
A specimen of "hooded pitcher plant" from the low country
J[oseph]. H[inson].M[Mellichamp]. S.C.
20 June [18]'74
Honey Trail from cleft to ground
Current name: Sarracenia minor Walter, "Hooded pitcher plant."
Collected by J. H. Mellichamp, perhaps from savanna habitat somewhere
in Beaufort or Jasper County. Mellichamp's curious note refers to the
pattern of "light spots", or "fenestrations" on the outer surface of the
pitcher. This species belongs to a fascinating group of carnivorous plants,
whose leaves are modified into hollow tubes, which, when appropriately filled with water
and enzymes, are able to attract, drown and digest insects. Although not endangered, this
and other species of Sarracenia are threatened by habitat loss in South Carolina, and all of
the species are probably declining in numbers.
A specimen of "Bigleaf magnolia"
Magnolia macrophylla Mx
Stone Mt - Talula Falls [illeg.] Ga.
legit HWR
Current name: Magnolia macrophylla Michaux; "Bigleaf magnolia."
This eastern species was originally described by André Michaux (17461802) from plants growing in North Carolina. Ravenel collected it at least once in the
vicinity of Stone Mountain, Georgia, and this plant is scattered in the western piedmont of
Georgia today. It is not known from existing populations, however, at Tallulah Falls, or from
herbarium specimens at the University of Georgia. The plants are rather widely known in
cultivation presently, and are a regular attraction in the early summer at Columbia's Robert
Mills House on Blanding Street.
Botanical Illustration in South Carolina, III
Unknown artist, c. 1765.
“The Magnolia or Laurel Tree of South-Carolina.”
Current name: Magnolia grandiflora.
From the collection presented by Mrs. William Carroll Brown, Belton, S.C.
A NEW SPECIES OF A FRESH-WATER ALGA
Two specimens of a fresh-water alga from Santee Canal
1. Chara [later struck through] June 18 1851 submersed in Santee canal
S.C.
about 100 yds south of White bridge HWR
[annotated:]
Nitella praelonga A Braun
Nitella spiculifera A. Braun [struck through]
new species, founded on these specimens 1856
2. Nitella praelonga A. Braun
n. sp.
1851 growing submerged in Santee Canal
HWRavenel S.C.
Current name: Nitella cernua A. Braun var. praelonga (A. Braun) Wood.
Ravenel made collections of this alga from the Santee Canal in 1851. He
sent some of his specimens to George Engelmann in St. Louis, who
forwarded them to Alexander Braun (1805-1877), a German botanist
studying algae. Braun treated Ravenel's plants as a new species in 1856.
Ravenel lamented in 1876 that "the locality [of the algal collection] is now lost, as the old
Santee Canal (cut nearly 100 years ago to connect the Santee and Cooper Rivers) has
been abandoned since the opening of the North-Eastern Railroad. It may possibly be found
in still water in the vicinity. My specimens were collected in June, when in bloom."
WEEDY PLANTS FROM SOUTH CAROLINA
An early specimen of “Popcorn tree”
Styllingia sebifera L.
introduced - Near Charleston S.C.
Script beneath label: "S.C. June near Charleston"
Current name: Triadica sebifera (L.) Small; "Popcorn tree," "Tallow tree."
This is a weedy, Asiatic species that has become popular for its decorative,
dried branches, when in fruit. Ravenel refers to this plant as "thoroughly
naturalized around Charleston and for 40-50 miles distant" in 1876. The trees remain very
common along our coast, and are frequently planted as far inland as Columbia. However,
this has proven to be a troublesome exotic, and has seriously invaded a number of coastal
ecosystems. It sprouts vigorously in response to disturbances, especially hurricanes.
A very interesting weed from the low-country
S.C.
August
near old buildings
(Hanover House)
rare
Solanum sodomeum
Current name: not definite.
Probably introduced species, perhaps cultivated, but more likely a pest. Hanover House
refers to the ancestral home of Ravenel's great-grandfather, originally located in Berkeley
County, then transported to Clemson University (prior to the inundation of Lake Moultrie),
now on the grounds at the South Carolina Botanical Garden. Solanum is a large genus in
the tomato family (Solanaceae), perhaps best known locally known as the native S.
caroliniense, which is a fairly benign (although somewhat toxic) weed. Solanum
sodomeumwas named in 1753 by Linnaeus, and remains a valid species. However, this
specimen is likely a different taxon. Other species of Solanum, especially (and recently) S.
viarum, or “tropical soda-apple”, have been implicated as serious agricultural weeds in the
Southeast.
SPECIMENS FROM SOME OF RAVENEL’S SOUTHERN COLLEAGUES
The Cumulation of Botanical Knowledge, II
John Torrey, 1796-1873, and Asa Gray, 1810-1888,
A flora of North America: containing abridged descriptions of all the
known indigenous and naturalized plants growing north of Mexico;
arranged according to the natural system.
2 vols. New York, London: Wiley & Putnam, 1838-1843. Phelps Memorial
Collection.
Through correspondence and the exchange of specimens, Ravenel was
involved with a wide network of active botanical researchers, including Prof. Asa Gray of
Harvard, the co-author of this volume and an early supporter of Darwin, and the researcher
most frequently cited on the pages shown here, Moses A. Curtis (1808-1872), of Hillsboro,
North Carolina.
A specimen of wire-grass
Aristida stricta, Mx -vera
Soc. Hill
Current name: Aristida stricta Michaux; "Carolina wiregrass."
Once a common component of well-developed longleaf pine ecosystems,
this species, and its very near relative A. beyrichiana (to the south) are
seriously declining, due to fire deprivation and habitat alteration. Society
Hill, in northern Darlington County, was the home of Moses Ashley Curtis (1808-1872).
Curtis was highly respected by Ravenel, who referred to the senior botanist as “my good
valued and long tried friend and correspondent.”
Moses Ashley Curtis (1808-1872)
From the original photograph in Ravenel’s album.
Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library.
Moses Curtis, an Episcopal minister, was one of Ravenel’s closest friends
among contemporary botanists. Though he is most often associated with
Hillsboro, N.C., where he first moved in 1841 and returned again in his later
years, he spent some important and very active years from 1847-1856, at
Society Hill, in South Carolina. His best-known works were two volumes on North Carolina
botany, published in 1860 and 1867, and, like Ravenel, Curtis played an important role in
collecting for the 8-volume series North American Fungi.
A new (and rare) species from Florida
Baptisia calycosa , n. sp.
Dry Pine barrens,
Hab. Sty. Augustine, Florida
Coll. Miss Mary C. Reynolds
June 1877
Current name Baptisia calycosa Chapman.
This is a rare member of the bean family, known only from two counties in Florida, and not
seen in the wild since 1940. The name was published in 1878 by W. M. Canby in Botanical
Gazette, based upon specimens collected by Mary C. Reynolds, near St. Augustine,
Florida. Canby probably sent this specimen to Ravenel, along with a copy of the original
publication. The specimen itself is fragmentary, enclosed within a folded bibliography.
A specimen of "red pitcher plant" from the low country
S[arracenia] rubra Walt
Walterboro
coll M. Tuomey
Current name: Sarracenia rubra Walter; "Red pitcher plant."
This insectivorous plant is reasonably widespread over much of the central
sandhills and also the outer coastal plain of South Carolina, with something of a
distributional gap for it within the inner coastal plain. Its population numbers are probably
declining due to habitat loss. The specimen was apparently collected by Michael Tuomey
(1805-1857), the State Geologist and author of A Report on the Geology of South
Carolina (1848).
A specimen of a commonly-seen conifer from North Carolina
Abies Fraser
Black Mountain N.C.
L[ewis]. R[eeves]. G[ibbes].
Current name: Tsuga canadensis Carrière; "Canada hemlock."
This specimen was collected by Gibbes (1810-1894), born in Charleston
and an alumnus of South Carolina College (1829), graduating the year Ravenel entered as
an undergraduate. In 1835 Gibbes published a "Catalogue" of the plants of Columbia and
its vicinity, representing the first botanical work centered in present-day Richland
County. Gibbes served as an instructor at South Carolina College, and then became a
member of faculty at the College of Charleston, where he was a professor of mathematics,
astronomy, and physics.
In this specimen, the foliage has completely fallen away from the branches; this is not
peculiar to any collecting techniques by Gibbes or to any subsequent damage to the
specimen. Modern collections of this species invariable drop their foliage upon drying.
Francis Peyre Porcher (1825-1895)
From the original photograph in Ravenel’s album.
Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library.
Frank Porcher , a younger cousin of Ravenel, graduated from South
Carolina College in 1844, and from the Medical College in Charleston in
1847, publishing A Sketch of the Medical Botany of South Carolina (1849),
andResources of the Southern Fields and Forests (1863).
SPECIMENS FROM SOME OF RAVENEL’S NORTHERN COLLEAGUES
A specimen of "American basswood" from Rhode Island
Herb. S[tephen]. T[hayer]. Olney
Tilia americana Linn
Rhode Island
legit E. Flint
Current name: Tilia americana L.; "American basswood."
The specimen was collected by E. Flint and ended up in Olney's
possession, before transfer to Ravenel. Olney (1812-1878) and Ravenel exchanged
extensively, this relationship probably originating from the encouragement of Asa Gray at
Harvard. Olney distinguished himself as an excellent New England botanist.
A “hedge-nettle” specimen collected from Illinois
Sept 1846
Stachys intermedia?
sylvatica?
Augusta Illinois
S[amuel]. B[arnum]. Mead
Current name: Stachys tenuifolia Willdenow; "thin-leaved hedge-nettle."
A member of the mint family (Lamiaceae), the nearly cosmopolitan genusStachys contains
about 250 species. Stachys tenuifolia is one of the more widely distributed taxa in eastern
North America, and is extremely variable.
Although this species occurs as a native plant in South Carolina, there are no South
Carolina specimens of it in the Ravenel herbarium. The label inscription for this specimen is
written on the back side of a printed letter. Mead (1799-1880) was a pioneer physician and
botanist in Illinois, his voluminous botanical collections made between 1830 and 1880. He
collaborated with most of the botanists of his period, actively trading specimens. Mead's
collections are itemized in his 1846 publication "Catalog of plants growing spontaneously in
the State of Illinois, the principal part near Augusta, Hancock County," in Prairie Farmer 6:
35-36, 60, 93, 119-122.
A western grass specimen, collected in Montana
No. 51
Munroa squarrosa, Torr.
Gravels.-Indian Montana.
coll. F[rank]. Lamson Scribner July 1883
Current name: Munroa squarrosa (Nuttall) Torrey; "False buffalograss."
This specimen was collected by Scribner, who was an important figure in the development
of scientific study of plant diseases, within the US Department of Agriculture. Scribner
served as botanist on the Northern Transcontinental Survey in 1883, inventorying grasses
and forage plants in the Montana Territory. The specimen is annotated by Agnes Chase
(1869-1963), an important figure in the taxonomy of American grasses.
A specimen of “Japanese clover,” later to become a common ground
cover
Lespedeza striata Hook. & Arn.
from Hong Kong sent by Prof. Gray
Current name: Kummerowia striata (Thunberg ex Murray) Schindler; "Japanese clover."
Ravenel was very interested in members of the bean family and seemed to have a
fondness for the genus Lespedeza. To that end, he published a report (1868, The Land We
Love, Charlotte NC; vol. v, pp 405-409) on this plant as “the new forage plant of the
South.” Kummerowia striata, from eastern Asia, is widely naturalized throughout the
Southeast, so much so that it is difficult to think of this now as an alien species. It was no
doubt introduced into the Southeast on more than one occasion and date. This specimen is
referred to in Ravenel's journal, in the entry for November 8 (Friday), 1867:
Received a letter this morning from Prof. Gray, acknowledging receipt of the roots of
Eryngium Ravenelii - also sending me a bit of Lespedeza striata from Hong Kong.
Asa Gray (1810-1888)
From the original photograph in Ravenel’s album.
Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library.
Asa Gray, for many years professor of natural history at Harvard and an
early American supporter of Charles Darwin, also exchanged
correspondence and botanical specimens with Ravenel.
Louis Agassiz (1807-1873)
From the original photograph in Ravenel’s album.
Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library.
Louis Agassiz was already established as scientist of international stature
when he moved from Europe to the United States in 1846, embarking on a
massive new project Contributions to the Natural History of the United
States and founding the Museum of Natural History at Harvard. In 1851-53, Agassiz
lectured on comparative anatomy for the Medical College in Charleston, S.C.
Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817-1911)
From the original photograph in Ravenel’s album.
Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library.
The British botanist Joseph Hooker, a younger contemporary and supporter
of Charles Darwin, made his name through his collections and publications
of Asian and Australasian plants. As assistant and successor to his father
as Ditrector of the Botanic Gardens at Kew, he was involved in a worldwide correspondence
and plant exchanges. In 1868, Hooker commissioned Ravenel to send him 5 pounds worth
of seeds and specimens from South Carolina.
PLANTS NAMED AFTER RAVENEL
A plant named after Ravenel by A. W. Chapman
Eriocaulon Ravenelii Chapman
Flora of Southern States. p. 503
Current name: Eriocaulon ravenelii Chapman; "Ravenel's hatpins."
Ravenel may have made two different collections of this plant from
Berkeley County, probably in 1850. Like so many other excellent botanists,
Alvan Wentworth Chapman (1809-1899) was trained as a physician,
moving to the South from Massachusetts in 1831, and retaining considerable botanical
contact with New England botanists, especially John Torrey and Asa Gray. Ravenel and
Chapman communicated extensively as botanists, sharing considerable numbers of
collections with each other. Chapman published his monumentalFlora of the Southern
States in 1865, and it is in this work that the description of this new species appears.
Chapman recognized the plant as a new species, and described it in Ravenel's honor, in
1860. In a note published on this small plant in 1876, Ravenel explained that "The only
specimens are those sent to Prof. Gray and Dr. Chapman, besides those in my own
herbarium." This specimen is one of the latter. It is extremely rare in South Carolina, still
known only from the Ravenel collection, not having been located since, but it has since
been discovered in a number of populations through Georgia and well into southern
Florida. (The lower portion of this sheet bears a plant that Chapman had collected in "S.
Florida".)
Chapman’s Published Description
Chapman, A. W. (Alvan Wentworth), 1809-1899.
Flora of the southern United States: containing abridged descriptions
of the flowering plants and ferns of Tennessee, North and South
Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Florida, arranged
according to the natural system.
Second edition. New York: Ivison, Blakeman, Taylor, 1872. Original green
cloth.
Opened to show Chapman’s description of Eriocaulon ravenelii (p. 503).
A grass named in honor of Ravenel by Scribner and Merrill
Panicum villosum Ell.!
(Elliott's specimen confirmed May 29 (67)
Santee Canal S.C.
HWRavenel
First Annotation: This cannot be the same as the other, and does not agree
with Elliotts description.
I do not know it- We have nothing
like it. The flowers are almost as large
as those of P. latifolium.
Pencil addition: Vasey
Second annotation: Panicum ravenelii Scribn. & Merr
Determined by Agnes Chase
Current name: Dichanthelium ravenelii (Scribner & Merrill) Gould; "Ravenel's witchgrass".
This specimen was collected from Santee Canal (Berkeley County), prior to the date on the
label (May 29, 1867), at a time when Ravenel was at Hampton Hill. On May 28, he had
spent time collecting specimens from "Wilkinsons old millpond", taking, in
particular, Panicum. Ravenel, in his diary, expressed difficulty in identifying these "very
perplexing species." Furthermore, he suggested that previous work by Elliott was not
proving very useful in his efforts.
Ravenel’s original label has been added to by two later annotators, George Vasey and
Agnes Chase. "Vasey" is George Vasey (1822-1893), staff botanist at the Smithsonian
Institution. His annotation suggests that this is a new species, and it was indeed named by
Frank Lamson-Scribner (1851-1938) and Elmer Drew Merrill (1876-1956) in 1901 in honor
of Ravenel, as Panicum ravenelii. Ravenel’s collections do not constitute type material; the
holotype (at the Smithsonian institution) is based upon a specimen from the Elliott
Herbarium. The annotation by Agnes Chase (1869-1963) indicates the modern name of the
plant.
Henry William Ravenel in later life
From the original photograph in Ravenel’s album.
Courtesy of South Caroliniana Library.
REFERENCES
Childs, Arney Robinson. The Private Journal of Henry William Ravenel, 18591887. Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1947.
Gee, Wilson. South Carolina Botanists: Biography and Bibliography (Bulletin of the
University of South Carolina, no. 72). Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina, 1918.
Haygood, Tamara Miner. Henry William Ravenel, 1814-1887, South Carolina Scientist in
the Civil War Era. Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 1987.
Herr, John M., Jr., and John B. Nelson, comp. The Henry W. Ravenel Collection of
Converse College. Inventory: Alphabetical Listing of Specimens in the A. C. Moore
Herbarium (USCH).
Columbia, SC: A.C. Moore Herbarium, Department of Biological Sciences, 2004.
Sanders, Albert E., and William D. Anderson, Jr. Natural History Investigations in South
Carolina from Colonial Times to the Present. Columbia, S.C.: University of South Carolina
Press, 1999.
Shealy, Harry. “Ravenel, Henry William (1814-1887).” In Walter Edgar, ed., South Carolina
Encyclopaedia. Columbia, SC: South Carolina Humanities Council/University of South
Carolina Press, forthcoming.
Taylor, David. South Carolina Naturalists, An Anthology, 1700-1860. Columbia, SC:
University of South Carolina Press, 1998.
University of South Carolina. A. C. Moore Herbarium, Department of Biological
Scienceshttp://cricket.biol.sc.edu/acmoore/index2.html.
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