Pure Friendship. Romneya coulteri, California Tree Poppy, and an Eristalis (sp.) Hoverfly, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In 1845 William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), when he was making an inventory of the botanical collection by Thomas Coulter (1793-1843), writes of his naming of this striking Tree Poppy: 'thus linking the names of Coulter and [Thomas] Romney Robinson [1792-1882] as closely in the annals of science as their friendship was strong and indissoluble'.
Coulter was an Irish physician and world-wide explorer whose greatest work was in botany. In 1825 he was employed as a doctor by the English silver mine company in Mexio, Real del Monte (north of Mexico City). He collected plants widely in the west of the Americas and elsewhere. In 1832 he found our plant, collected it and left it to Harvey to describe after his death in 1843.
Here in the Hortus a flower is being visited by a Hoverfly: an Eristalis, perhaps 'obscura'.
Pure Friendship. Romneya coulteri, California Tree Poppy, and an Eristalis (sp.) Hoverfly, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In 1845 William Henry Harvey (1811-1866), when he was making an inventory of the botanical collection by Thomas Coulter (1793-1843), writes of his naming of this striking Tree Poppy: 'thus linking the names of Coulter and [Thomas] Romney Robinson [1792-1882] as closely in the annals of science as their friendship was strong and indissoluble'.
Coulter was an Irish physician and world-wide explorer whose greatest work was in botany. In 1825 he was employed as a doctor by the English silver mine company in Mexio, Real del Monte (north of Mexico City). He collected plants widely in the west of the Americas and elsewhere. In 1832 he found our plant, collected it and left it to Harvey to describe after his death in 1843.
Here in the Hortus a flower is being visited by a Hoverfly: an Eristalis, perhaps 'obscura'.