Names of persons commemorated in Haworthia – and just what do those names mean? What motivated them? If you scratch my back I’ll scratch yours?

Browniana, dodsoniana, poellnitziana, resendeana, revendetii, batesiana, gordoniana, schuldteana, uitwaaliana, ryderiana, hammeri, bayeri, comptoniana, rycroftiana, rossouwii, geraldii, breueri, wimii, devriesii, davidii, cummingii, mortonii, bobii, groenewaldii, jakubii, marxii, joubertii, morrisiae, kingiana, longii, emelyae, zantneriana, fergusoniae, vlokii, bruynsii, tauteae, armstrongii, woolleyi, lateganae, eliseae, esterhuysenii, otzenii, koelmaniorum, marumiana, vincentii, dekenahii, beukmanii, fouchei, venteri, herrei, mcclarenii, meiringii, hurlingii, paynei, triebneriana, maraisii, scottii, joleneae, blackburniae, leightoniae, batteniae, stayneri, andriesii.

I am sure many more. How many of the collectors among them had permits or any sort of credentials modern times may demand, for the plants they collected and distributed (sometimes widely). In G.G.Smith’s time there were a hoard of collectors sending material from all over the country and even the world.

More personal names…walmsleyi, helmiae, engleri, hilliana, oertendalii, whitesloaneana, taylori, luisieri, tisleyi, stephaniana, palhiniae, starkiana, schoemanii, smitii, skinneri, bijliana, schmidtiana, rodinii, archibalbii, dielsiana, pearsonii, peacockii, nortieri, maughanii, lockwoodii, marlothiana, kraussi, krausiana, jonesiae, jacobseniana, haageana, greenii, carrissoi, chalwinii, beanii, baylissii, britteniae, o’donoghueana, archeri.

There are somewhere near 100 names, presumably these were all names for plants of some degree of interest. So we ask now the awkward question of conservation ex situ. Just how many of those names are still with us today and attached to a propagule of the originals. Oh come now! I worked for 18 years in a botanic garden dedicated to conservation, preservation and maintaining some sort of reference collection. Just to maintain the genetic diversity of say a group of 3 plants ex field is a monumental task. Within single figure years, the diversity is down to that of one clone no matter how hard or conscientiously the matter is pursued. ♦