Pehr Kalm Research Articles

Not all temperate deciduous trees are leafless in winter: The curious case of marcescence

AbstractTemperate deciduous forests by definition include a large proportion of woody species that shed their leaves each autumn and are completely leafless during winter months. Leaf senescence in deciduous trees is an active, complex process typically involving the physiological formation of an abscission layer causing the petiole to mechanically detach from the branch. However, several deciduous species retain all or some senesced leaves on branches through much of winter, a phenomenon called leaf marcescence. Marcescence has long fascinated botanists, including Pehr Kalm as early as 1749. Yet, surprisingly little research has been done to date. Here, we review and explore patterns and mechanisms of leaf marcescence in temperate forests, bringing together six nonmutually exclusive but separately proposed hypotheses: (1) Marcescence has no adaptive function but rather an evolutionary byproduct; (2) Marcescent leaves deter winter browsing herbivores; (3) Leaf retention through winter improves nutrient resorption during autumn senescence; (4) Prolonged leaf shedding into spring minimizes nutrient leaching and promotes decomposition; (5) Marcescent leaves protect overwintering buds from frost or desiccation; and (6) Marcescent canopies provide winter cover for animals (including insects, birds, bats), thereby affecting plant nutrient availability via excrement. No hypothesis has complete support and few tests of multiple hypotheses have been done. It is likely that any adaptive value of marcescence is species and context dependent. Despite increased interest in plant phenology and prevalence of this trait, much remains to be understood on the physiology, evolution, function, and ecological implications of leaf marcescence.

The Original Scientific Description of the Lone Star Tick (Amblyomma americanum, Acari: Ixodidae) and Implications for the Species' Past and Future Geographic Distributions.

Amblyomma americanum L. is an important vector in North America originally described by Linnaeus based on Pehr Kalm's 1754 report. While Kalm's 'Travels into North America' is well known, his 1754 report remains obscure. Some authors were skeptical that Kalm referred to A. americanum because he encountered them at sites farther north outside of the species' range. However, the details in 1754 report leave no doubt that Kalm described lone star ticks. In this historical review, we provide support for Kalm's identification using a modern translation of his 1754 report and other sources. We also delineate distributional changes of lone star ticks from the pre-colonization era to the present and interpret them in the context of large-scale anthropogenic changes in the landscape. In this framework, the lone star tick's current northward expansion is a recolonization of their former range. Extensive deforestation and extirpation of their principal host species, white-tailed deer, led to A. americanum's disappearance from the northern parts of its range by the 20th century. Subsequent recolonization by second-growth forest and increases in white-tailed deer populations by the mid-20th century is now allowing A. americanum to reclaim its former range. These changes in the land appear to be the driving force behind A. americanum's present expansion. Understanding this species' history and the factors contributing to its current expansion will enable better predictions about its future distribution and potential to transmit human pathogens.

Botany is the root and the future of invasion biology.

Botany is the root and the future of invasion biology.

New Scholarship

New Scholarship

Different ways of seeing ‘savagery’: Two Nordic travellers in 18th-century North America

Andreas Hesselius and Pehr Kalm both spent time in eastern North America during the first half of the 18th century. Both came with an ardent desire to observe and learn about the natural environment and inhabitants of the region. Both produced writings, in the form of journals that have proved immensely useful to subsequent scholars. Yet their writings also display differences that illuminate the epistemological and sociological underpinnings of their observations, and which had consequences for their encounters with foreign environments. Hesselius, who served as pastor to the Swedish congregation in Philadelphia from 1712 to 1724, described his experiences and observations with what we might call a historical awareness, while Kalm, known as the first of Linnaeus’s students to travel to the New World, primarily offered dehistoricized and denarrativized taxonomic ethnographic descriptions. At first glance, Hesselius and Kalm appear to illustrate perfectly Michel Foucault’s description of the difference between Renaissance and classical epistemologies. Kalm’s disembodied and decontextualized representations fit well with Foucault’s description of natural history in the classical age as consisting ‘of undertaking a meticulous examination of things themselves…and then of transcribing what it has gathered in smooth, neutralized, and faithful words’. This article, however, points out that while Hesselius and Kalm arrive at similar descriptions of plants and other-than-human beings by employing different methodologies, when it comes to describing indigenous peoples their respective methodologies lead to radically different approaches, with Hesselius writing them into history, while Kalm relegates them to ethnology in the sense of savage ‘peoples without histories’.

MEAD, W. R. Pehr Kalm – his London diary: a Finnish visitor in England in 1748 while on his way to North America

MEAD, W. R. <i>Pehr Kalm – his London diary: a Finnish visitor in England in 1748 while on his way to North America</i>

William Richard Mead

William Richard Mead

Climate Change and the Retreat of the Atlantic: The Cameralist Context of Pehr Kalm's Voyage to North America, 1748–51

Pehr Kalm’s voyage to America in 1748–51 produced a treasure trove of observations about climate, soil, and other matters of natural history. A close reading of Kalm’s travel journal, published writings, and correspondence reveals a deep ambivalence about the operation of the natural order in the New World. Kalm’s fieldwork and interviews with settlers charted processes of species extirpation, degeneration, soil exhaustion, and climate change. This interest in the environmental impact of settlement reflected in great part Kalm’s commitment to cameralist science. Kalm’s American voyage was a direct extension of his earlier biosprospecting tours in the Old World. He and his Swedish contemporaries hoped to transform the natural order of the nation through schemes of acclimatization and internal colonization. Such ambitions were in turn framed within a universal history of climate change. Kalm’s experience in the New World confirmed the global scope of these processes, while stressing the risk and uncertainty associated with projects of climate improvement. In this sense, Kalm’s voyage offers an important yet neglected entry point into the history of climate science.

He came, He saw and He observed – An Analysis of Reis door Noord Amerika by Pehr Kalm

According to Carl Thompson, who teaches on English literature and Travel Culture, travel accounts are a quite popular genre these days. Just think about the television series by Michael Palin and Paul Theroux. Not only contemporary writings (or programmes) are in the centre of attention, but also the ones from the past. It creates curiosity and an illusion that there are still places in the world that are not yet discovered. Also the academic world pays growing attention to travel writings. The main aims for that research is to better understand the colonial and postcolonial times. The accounts show the activities of the travellers and the kind of ideas that were incentives for their journeys. Already at the beginning of a travel the traveller encounters “otherness” and difference from his own environment. In most writings a distinction between “us &amp; them” can be found. This happens often in the form of stereotypes. As a result the genre of travel accounts has been seen as a morally dubious form of literature (Thompson, 2011, p. 1-9). The quotation above stems from a travel account, Reis door Noord Amerika, written by the Swedish scientist Pehr Kalm. In his journey to North America he steps into a new world and there encounters a totally new world. When he arrives back in Sweden he writes down his travel into three volumes. This paper will discuss his journey, and his depiction of the others and of the New World. The main question of this paper will be: “To what extent does the background of Pieter/Pehr Kalm influence his depiction of the Native Americans and the European Americans in his book Reis door Noord Amerika?” This paper will firstly introduce the author Pehr Kalm before it continues with the travel itself. Secondly the translation history of the book is briefly touched upon. After this the paper will look at his depiction of “the others,” both Native Americans and Europeans. The travel account that is being discussed is Reis door Noord Amerika, which is an Dutch translation of the original Swedish text ‘En Resa til Norra America’ written by Pehr Kalm, sometimes known as Pieter Kalm.

Pehr Kalm: A Swedish Naturalist's Geological Observations in North America, 1748-1751

Pehr Kalm served as Carolus Linnaeus' eyes and ears in the New World (the American Colonies and French Canada) for three years in the mid 18th Century. Kalm was one of the first of many disciples to serve his mentor in his quest to classify everything animal, vegetable, and mineral for his all-encompassing inventory catalog, Systema Naturae. Kalm reported everything he encountered on his journey (resa) to North America in diary form similar to Linnaeus' accounting for his journeys, and he was every bit as keen an observer. His understanding of natural science (i.e. geology) was limited, but his observations on the subject, among the first in North America, were interesting, concise, and relatively detailed for the time.

No Man is an Island: The Life and Times of André Michaux

Abstract Botanical explorers roamed temperate North American colonies long before Andre Michaux came to the United States. The efforts of these men and women accounted for thousands of new species of plants described in the scientific literature from the early 1500s until 1785 when Michaux arrived to begin his studies that would ultimately result, in 1803, in an abbreviated summary of the region's known flora. Most of the early collecting efforts concentrated on trees and shrubs of potential ornamental significance or plants of medicinal importance. Introduction of temperate North American plants was well underway by 1600, with a steady flow of natural objects going to Western Europe throughout the seventeenth century. Although broad, general interest in North American plants declined after 1700, the efforts of a few—notably Mark Catesby, John Clayton, John Mitchell, John Bartram, Pehr Kalm, Alexander Garden, Caldwaller Colden and William Bartram—greatly shaped Carl Linnaeus' understanding of our flora fr...

Carolus Linnaeus: The Swedish Naturalist and Venerable Traveler

Carolus Linnaeus (Carl von Linné) (1707-1778) lived during and helped establish the Swedish golden years of science in the early and mid Eighteenth Century (other notables of the time included Emanuel Swedenborg, Anders Celsius, Pehr Kalm, Axel Cronstedt, Daniel Tilas, Johan Wallerius, and Torbern Bergman). Although known best for his contributions to botany, he was a natural scientist of the first class and made contributions to many fields, including geology. His contributions to geology, however, are not well known. Obtaining his medical degree in Harderwijk (Holland) in 1735, he had opportunity to visit the savants of the day on the continent and in England making contacts that lasted a lifetime. But Linnaeus was a believer in having scientists see their own country first and admonished his fellow workers to learn about Sweden "… [and not to] cross the stream for water, and waste … money endeavoring to learn in a foreign country what … might have [been] acquired at home"—good advice even today. He practiced what he preached and during his lifetime made five notable resor (=journeys) in Sweden: Lappland (1732), Dalarna (1734), Öland and Gotland (1741), Västergötland (1746), and Skåne (1749). These field excursions were recorded, not in the scientific language of the day, Latin, but in Swedish and thus were not widely read outside the country. As was his custom, he recorded everything noted on the journeys. Later, through his earlier contacts via the post and his apostles (students), he kept abreast of happenings all over the globe.

A Swedish notice from the middle of the 18th century on the Jews of New York

Per Kalm was born in 1716 in Sweden, the son of a family of Lutheran clergymen from the province of Ostrobothnia. He began his studies in natural sciences at Åbo Akademi in 1735, moved to Uppsala University in 1740, and soon became one of Carl Gustaf Linné’s foremost disciples. Pehr Kalm was considered as one of the purest exponents of 18th century Enlightenment and rationalism in Sweden/Finland. In October 1747 he commenced his journey to America, and returned to Stockholm in June 1751. His primary objective was to collect seeds of plants and trees considered to be economically useful for Sweden. During the journey Kalm kept a detailed diary in which he wrote observations on the weather, on plans and agricultural matters, on sundry customs among ethnic groups he met, reported discussions with different people, and made extracts from sources he deemed interesting.

Botanical Exploration by the Academy of Turku (Finland) in the 17th Century (to the Beginning of the 18th Century)

Summary The Academy of Turku was founded in 1640 in Turku. Among the first eleven professors there was a Professor of Physics and Botany. The foundation of the Academy meant that botanical exploration became established in Finland. Elias Tillandz was the second Professor of Medicine at the Academy. He has been regarded as the first representative of the empirical natural sciences in Finland. In 1673 he published a small Latin book called Catalogus plantanun. This was the first flora of Finland. Tillandz's catalogue tells also about the garden plants and useful plants of Finland and the Turku district cultivated in the 17th century. After Tillandz, there was a pause of many decades in the history of Finnish botany. In the 18th century, a new chair in the Academy of Turku, an economics professorship, was founded. Its first occupant was Pehr Kalm. His best-known field trip is his journey to North America (1747–1751). His book of the journey, ‘Journey to North America’, is a descriptive document of the Americ...

‘Put down to a clear bright fire’: The English Tradition of Open-Fire Roasting

A valuable insight into the diet of the English in the mid-eighteenth century is provided by Pehr Kalm's account of his visit to England in 1748. A Swedish naturalist with a capacity for acute observation, Kalm noted a heavier reliance on butchers' meat than in other countries. He found that it was prepared in several ways, although boiling and roasting were most common; roast meat, he stated was the nation's ‘principal dish’.Englishmen understand almost better than any other people the art of properly roasting a joint which also is not to be wondered at; because the art of cooking as practised by most Englishmen does not extend much beyond roast beef and plum pudding.

LECTOTYPIFICATION OF LINUM USITATISSIMUM L. (LINACEAE): A RECTIFICATION

TAXONVolume 38, Issue 2 p. 277-279 Nomenclature LECTOTYPIFICATION OF LINUM USITATISSIMUM L. (LINACEAE): A RECTIFICATION C. J. P. Seegeler, C. J. P. Seegeler Agricultural University, Department of Plant Taxonomy, Postbus 8010, 6700 ED Wageningen, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this author C. J. P. Seegeler, C. J. P. Seegeler Agricultural University, Department of Plant Taxonomy, Postbus 8010, 6700 ED Wageningen, The NetherlandsSearch for more papers by this author First published: 01 May 1989 https://doi.org/10.2307/1220857AboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume38, Issue2May 1989Pages 277-279 RelatedInformation

The botanical significance of Pehr Kalm's unpublished diaries for the flora of Quebec in the mid-eighteenth century

ABSTRACT Pehr Kalm's diaries of his travels in North America are now being edited for publication in their entirety for the first time. They contain a great deal of botanical data which were not included in the account En Resa til Norra America published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in three volumes, 1753–1761, and later transalted into English as Travels in North America by J. A. Forster, Warrington, 1770–1771. This paper analysed Kalm's botanical observations during his trip to Canada in the summer of 1749 and considered such matters as the number of species observed and described — many of which did not find their way into Linnaeus' Species Plantarum despite the close connection between the two men. Changes in the distribution of some species since 1749, the introduction of weeds and other aliens were also discussed.

The botanical significance of Pehr Kalm's unpublished diaries for the flora of Quebec in the mid-eighteenth century

Pehr Kalm's diaries of his travels in North America are now being edited for publication in their entirety for the first time. They contain a great deal of botanical data which were not included in the account En Resa til Norra America published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in three volumes, 1753–1761, and later transalted into English as Travels in North America by J. A. Forster, Warrington, 1770–1771. This paper analysed Kalm's botanical observations during his trip to Canada in the summer of 1749 and considered such matters as the number of species observed and described — many of which did not find their way into Linnaeus' Species Plantarum despite the close connection between the two men. Changes in the distribution of some species since 1749, the introduction of weeds and other aliens were also discussed.

HI‐IAPT Portraits of Botanists, no. 22.

TAXONVolume 21, Issue 4 p. 484-484 ObituaryFree Access HI-IAPT Portraits of Botanists, no. 22. Pehr Kalm, Pehr KalmSearch for more papers by this author Pehr Kalm, Pehr KalmSearch for more papers by this author First published: August 1972 https://doi.org/10.1002/j.1996-8175.1972.tb03294.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume21, Issue4August 1972Pages 484-484 RelatedInformation

Pehr Kalm's Account of the North American Rattlesnake and the Medicines Used in the Treatment of its Sting

Pehr Kalm, the first trained scientist to visit North America, arrived in Philadelphia in September, 1748, for a two and one half year visit. A student of Linnaeus, his mission was to search for plants of sufficient economic significance to merit their introduction into Sweden and Finland, and to supply scientific information to Linnaeus and to fellow members of the Kongl. Svenska Vetenskaps Academien. Kalm, with his scientific training, wide interests and natural curiosity, left for posterity records not only of the natural phenomena which he observed, but also a detailed account of the cultural history of the period. His journal En Resa till Norra America (A Journey to North America) published in three volumes in Stockholm, 1753-1761, is invaluable to the student of colonial history, because it includes details which the chronicler of the familiar scene tends to ignore.