Abstract
In 1796, Thomas Hardwicke travelled through northern India between what is now Fatehgarh in Uttar Pradesh and Srinagar in Uttarakhand. Hardwicke collected and described plants encountered and had many of the plants illustrated from life. He published an account of the journey in 1799 including a list of plant species. I review the names validated in the original paper, and also those published subsequently by Sir James Edward Smith and William Roxburgh based partly or wholly on the material or drawings acquired by Hardwicke on the journey to Srinagar. The large collection of Hardwicke plant drawings now held in the British Library, and a smaller set in the Botany Library of the Natural History Museum, are considered in relation to the application and typification of plant names related to Hardwicke’s botanical exploration in India. The names of seven plant species were validly published in the 1799 paper (Androsace rotundifolia Hardw., Ficus laminosa Hardw., Justicia thyrsiformis Roxb. ex Hardw., Linum trigynum Roxb. ex Hardw., Lonicera quinquelocularis Hardw., Salvia integrifolia Roxb. ex Hardw. and Volkameria bicolor Hardw.), plus one new combination (Echites antidysentericus (L.) Roxb. ex Hardw.). As concluded by Britten more than a century ago, Ficus laminosa is the correct name for the fig variously referred to F. saemocarpa Miq. or F. squamosa Roxb. Smith based Rhododendron arboreum Sm. and Bignonia undulata Sm. on Hardwicke plants. At least a dozen Roxburgh names, including Crataegus integrifolia Roxb., Gardenia tetrasperma Roxb. and Morus serrata Roxb., are based, at least partly, on Hardwicke’s collections. In total, 23 names are lectotypified here and one neotype is designated.
Highlights
Thomas Hardwicke (1756–1835) was an Englishman who rose through the ranks in the military service of the East India Company, eventually being promoted to Major-General (Dawson 1946)
Prepare illustrations of animals and plants. When he returned to England on his retirement, Hardwicke possessed a large collection, of illustrations, which was enlarged with drawings obtained from other naturalists such as John Reeves, who had worked in China
The subsequent separation of various departments of the British Museum means that The Hardwicke Bequest is divided across at least two institutions – the animal specimens and the bulk of the zoological drawings are in the Natural History Museum collections, the remaining drawings and manuscripts are in the British Library
Summary
Thomas Hardwicke (1756–1835) was an Englishman (from the fens of Cambridgeshire) who rose through the ranks in the military service of the East India Company, eventually being promoted to Major-General (Dawson 1946). When he returned to England on his retirement, Hardwicke possessed a large collection, of illustrations, which was enlarged with drawings obtained from other naturalists such as John Reeves, who had worked in China. Hardwicke’s only foray into botanical publication is in what amounts to an appendix to a report of his travels through north-western India in 1796, describing the plants encountered This was published in the Asiatick Researches (Hardwicke 1799). Hardwicke wanted to draw attention to his botanical research on the Srinagar expedition He drew up a set of descriptions with accompanying illustrations for 22 species. I review the names relating to Hardwicke’s journey to Srinagar published in Asiatick Researches (in the order in which they appear in the original publication), followed by those in the works of Smith and Roxburgh
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