''Arnoldia'' is a quarterly magazine published by the
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is a botanical research institution and free public park, located in the Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts, Jamaica Plain and Roslindale, Massachusetts, Roslindale neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. Esta ...
. It is an interdisciplinary publication with articles covering a broad range of topics including plant exploration, plant taxonomy and biogeography, landscape design, and more. While the authors are primarily researchers and other plant professionals, all are encouraged to write with a narrative and explanatory style that is accessible to a wide range of readers.
History
''Arnoldia'' was established as the ''Bulletin of Popular Information'' in 1911. The Arnold Arboretum's first director,
Charles Sprague Sargent
Charles Sprague Sargent (April 24, 1841 – March 22, 1927) was an American botanist. He was appointed in 1872 as the first director of Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum in Boston, Massachusetts, and held the post until his death. He pub ...
, viewed the publication as a means of alerting visitors to the "flowering of important plants" in the Arnold Arboretum's collections. Initially, the ''Bulletins'' were issued only during the growing season, and with a ''Bulletin'' in hand, there was no reason a visitor should miss the flowering or fruiting of any plant on the grounds.
After Sargent's death in March 1927,
Ernest Henry Wilson
Ernest Henry "Chinese" Wilson (15 February 1876 – 15 October 1930), better known as E. H. Wilson, was a notable British plant collector and explorer who introduced a large range of about 2000 Asian plant species to the Western culture, West; ...
assumed responsibility of the publication. Other than the addition of illustrations, however, the publication continued to be a seasonal guide filled with information on the phenology, history, and culture of the Arboretum's plants. It was not until Wilson's untimely death in 1930 that the content began to expand.
Edgar Anderson
Edgar Shannon Anderson (November 9, 1897 – June 18, 1969) was an American botanist. He introduced the term ''introgressive hybridization'' and his 1949 book of that title was an original and important contribution to botanical genetics. HIs wo ...
, best known for his later work at the Missouri Botanical Garden, edited the publication for the next four years, and while "plants of current interest" remained a regular feature, staff members began to contribute longer articles, with new interdisciplinary topics including ethnobotanical uses of plants, botanical art, and landscape history.
This thematic expansion was encouraged by
Oakes Ames
Oakes Ames (January 10, 1804 – May 8, 1873) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He was a member of the United States House of Representatives from Massachusetts. As a congressman, he is credited by many historians as being ...
, a Harvard professor of botany who had been appointed the managing supervisor of the Arnold Arboretum in 1927. In 1931, Ames wrote the first ''Bulletin'' article about botanical art.
Donald Wyman Donald Wyman (1904 — 6 December 1993) was an American horticulturist, the head of horticulture at Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum from 1935 to 1970.
He took a bachelor's degree in horticulture from Pennsylvania State College (1926) and a m ...
took over the editorship in 1936, and in 1941 Arnold Arboretum director
Elmer Drew Merrill
Elmer Drew Merrill (October 15, 1876 – February 25, 1956) was an American botanist and taxonomist. He spent more than twenty years in the Philippines where he became a recognized authority on the flora of the Asia-Pacific region. Through t ...
, who was partial to one-word titles, changed the ''Bulletin of Popular Information'' into ''Arnoldia'', honoring benefactor James Arnold. Wyman wrote the lion's share of its articles for over thirty years. A remembrance in 1993 recognized his contributions: "More, perhaps, than any other single person, certainly of his era, he advanced the knowledge of hardy woody plants through his articles published in ''Arnoldia'' and elsewhere . . . His work may now seem familiar, but only because it's been so often imitated."
After Wyman's retirement, other editors expanded the content. In 1970, ''Arnoldia'' was reformatted as magazine with multiple contributors per issue, and the inaugural issue contained articles about botanical libraries, a botanical trip to Hong Kong, and the natural history of a common weed. The scope of the publication has continued to expand over the subsequent decades, attracting an even wider variety of scholarship.
Aims and scope
''Arnoldia'' calls its interdisciplinary approach “plant studies,” as opposed to “plant science,” which implies that authors should use a humanities-based approach, even when the subject matter comes from a scientific research background.
References
{{Reflist
External links
*
Arnoldia' on
JSTOR
JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...
''Arnoldia'' on
Biodiversity Heritage Library
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...
*
Bulletin of Popular Information' on
JSTOR
JSTOR (; short for ''Journal Storage'') is a digital library founded in 1995 in New York City. Originally containing digitized back issues of academic journals, it now encompasses books and other primary sources as well as current issues of j ...
*
Bulletin of Popular Information' on
Biodiversity Heritage Library
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as worldwide consortiumof natural history, botanical, research, and national libraries working toge ...
Botany journals