Voyages of David Fairchild to Guatemala and Panama: An overview and the 1941 expedition

Abstract

Between 1938 and 1954, Dr. David Fairchild (1869–1954) was Director Emeritus of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden (FTBG). During this period, he undertook four expeditions in the Old and New World. The second of these took place between June and October 1941 and targeted Panama, Colombia, and Guatemala. Results pertinent to the Central American endeavors are presented. Plant material from 46 species was collected and 108 photos were taken. Due to unknown reasons these collections did not reach FTBG and only 15 of the accessions were sent to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant germplasm repositories. Upon his return to USA, Fairchild published only one article with highlights of this expedition, it was on cherimoyas of Colombia and Guatemala. Unlike for his other expeditions, Fairchild did not write a journal for the trip; therefore, details of this voyage have been mostly inferred from his plant collection books, scattered correspondence, and photographs. Fairchild’s wife, Marian Fairchild (1880–1962), also joined the trip and during the visit to Panama, his son Graham Bell Fairchild (1906–1994) participated in the expedition. Botanists Wilson Popenoe (1892–1975, from United Fruit Company), Paul Allen (1911–1963, from Summit Gardens, Panama), and Walter R. Lindsay (also from Summit Gardens) as well as the family of coffee plantation owner Robert Hempstead (1912–1942) assisted during the trip. An overview of the other expeditions that Fairchild made to Panama (years 1899, 1921, 1924, and 1933) and Guatemala (year 1944) is also provided.