Imperial Yellow. Japanese Jasmine, Jasminum mesnyi, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
William Mesny (1842-1919), born on the channel island of Jersey, was an adventurous lad. Not much given to scholastic studies, he went to the Seas already at twelve. In 1860 he'd made his home in China as a mercenary, and soon, by 1873, he'd advanced to be major general of the Imperial Chinese Army. Whether he was ever given the high honor of the Imperial Yellow Jacket - like more famous Gordon of Khartoum - I don't know. Perhaps he spread his talents too thinly.
Besides a soldier he was also an adventurer, traveler and naturalist; he collected many plants and dutifully sent them off to England. Among them this Bright Yellow Jasmine, named after him in 1882. He discovered it on April 11, 1880 in the mountains of Guizhou (a Chinese province due north of North Vietnam) at about 1800 m and noted that it is winter-flowering. So I suppose it doesn't really need to be in the sheltered Palm House of the Hortus...
Imperial Yellow. Japanese Jasmine, Jasminum mesnyi, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
William Mesny (1842-1919), born on the channel island of Jersey, was an adventurous lad. Not much given to scholastic studies, he went to the Seas already at twelve. In 1860 he'd made his home in China as a mercenary, and soon, by 1873, he'd advanced to be major general of the Imperial Chinese Army. Whether he was ever given the high honor of the Imperial Yellow Jacket - like more famous Gordon of Khartoum - I don't know. Perhaps he spread his talents too thinly.
Besides a soldier he was also an adventurer, traveler and naturalist; he collected many plants and dutifully sent them off to England. Among them this Bright Yellow Jasmine, named after him in 1882. He discovered it on April 11, 1880 in the mountains of Guizhou (a Chinese province due north of North Vietnam) at about 1800 m and noted that it is winter-flowering. So I suppose it doesn't really need to be in the sheltered Palm House of the Hortus...