Archived Online Exhibit
Weedy Plants from South Carolina
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- Specimens from Some of Ravenel’s Southern Colleagues
- Specimens from some of Ravenel’s Northern Colleagues
- Plants named after Ravenel
- References
Weedy Plants from South CarolinaAn 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 ColleaguesThe 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.
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 ColleaguesA 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.
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, 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 RavenelA 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.
Childs, Arney Robinson. The Private Journal of Henry William Ravenel, 1859-1887. 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. Directory: spcoll -> current current -> Archived Online Exhibit current -> Archived Online Exhibit current -> Archived Online Exhibit spcoll -> British railways southern region bullied pacifics spcoll -> Bradstones, Charlton Road, Holcombe, Somerset. Ba3 5ER. Uk stations, alphabetical letters O, P, Q, r & s photographed by W. A. Camwell spcoll -> The stephenson locomotive society the stephenson photograph collection spcoll -> Wickenheiser milton collection Download 129.62 Kb. Share with your friends:
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