The St Vincent and the Grenadines Botanic Gardens is located in
Kingstown
Kingstown is the capital, chief port, and main commercial centre of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. With a population of 12,909 (2012), Kingstown is the most populous settlement in the country. It is the island's agricultural industry centre ...
,
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...
. Established in 1765, it is the oldest botanic garden in the
Western Hemisphere
The Western Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth that lies west of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and east of the antimeridian. The other half is called the Eastern Hemisphere. Politically, the term We ...
.
The magnificent Botanic Gardens are currently one of the most visited sites in
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Sea wh ...
.
A historic landmark of major national, regional and global significance, it currently occupies approximately .
Establishment
If it existed, the Garden's royal charter has neither survived nor yet been discovered. However, letters exchanged between
General Robert Melville and the island surgeon botanist Dr
George Young show that island commissioners were on the 15th of December 1765 directed to lay aside six acres of land as part of a 'steady plan' to facilitate botanical discoveries and encourage the cultivating of nutritional, medicinal and commercial 'improvements' for Saint Vincent's population. Accounts compiled later by Young's successor Dr
Alexander Anderson Alexander Anderson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Alexander Anderson (illustrator) (1775–1870), American illustrator
* Alexander Anderson (poet) (1845–1909), Scottish poet
* Alexander Anderson (cartoonist) (1920–2010), American car ...
are more detailed, affirming that the Garden was created to facilitate the ‘
ntroduction of suchplants as might be of advantage’ to the British West Indies and the ‘nation at large’; namely in the provision of new ‘foods, medicines or batches of commerce’ that could not be cultivated in Britain’s North American colonies.
[LSLA, MS/605, p.4.] The function of the Garden therefore appears to have been congruous with the establishment of other eighteenth-century Caribbean Gardens at Bath and Liguanea in Jamaica, where superintendents were asked to 'explore indigenous plants, ascertain their values and uses', 'do the same with exotic plants', and import seeds that would 'prove beneficial to Britain'. In following the broader colonial programme of 'plant interchange', the St. Vincent Botanic Garden was designed to cultivate new West Indian export markets by way of introducing foreign plant species from the East. Though a 'Premium' had been offered by the Royal Society in 1760 for the cultivation of useful plant species, there is no evidence that Melville ever claimed a reward for the Botanic Garden.
Unlike other colonial projects, the Garden did not attract government funding from Britain. Instead, documents indicate it was privately financed by
Melville during his tenure in the
Windward Isles, and Anderson's 'Account' shows he directed the commanding officer at the Kingstown Garrison to requisition a plot of barrack land for the Garden. He then established a correspondence with Governors on the
Spanish Main
During the Spanish colonization of America, the Spanish Main was the collective term for the parts of the Spanish Empire that were on the mainland of the Americas and had coastlines on the Caribbean Sea or Gulf of Mexico. The term was used to di ...
'to bring more valuable plants of that country' to Saint Vincent, and left Dr. Young '
ith his
The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany.
Geography
Location
The Ith is immediatel ...
library relating to botanical history', 'other handbooks of science', and 'all his mathematical instruments'.
According to a letter dated 20 July 1766, Melville also arranged for cinnamon seeds to be sent to Doctor Young from the French Island of Guadeloupe'','' and by 1773 the Garden contained 52 plant species.
Expansion and Development
Surviving plant catalogues - of which there are five - provide a quantitative account of the Garden's expansion from 1765. These documents show a twenty-five fold increase in the number of plants when classified by genus until the early nineteenth century; 52 in 1773, 769 in 1792, 796 in 1793, and 1,311 by 1806. Classed according to the
floristic kingdom
A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both re ...
s from which they originated, the Garden's botanists acquired plants from three of the world's six photochoria; approximately twelve per cent from Holocratic North America and Europe; forty-one per cent from Neotropical Central and South America, and forty-seven per cent from the Palaeotropical regions of South-East Asia, the Indian Subcontinent and Africa. Given the paucity of government funding and logistical support provided for the Garden, many of these plant species were sent by French botanists working from
Saint Domingue
Saint-Domingue () was a French colonization of the Americas, French colony in the western portion of the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, in the area of modern-day Haiti, from 1659 to 1804. The name derives from the Spanish main city in the islan ...
,
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in th ...
,
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
and
Cayenne
Cayenne (; ; gcr, Kayenn) is the capital city of French Guiana, an overseas region and Overseas department, department of France located in South America. The city stands on a former island at the mouth of the Cayenne River on the Atlantic Oc ...
. Notable participants in this network of plant exchange included the
marquis de Bouillé François Claude Amour du Chariol, Governor General of the French Antilles from 1777–83, and Jean-Baptiste
Victor Hugues, Governor of Guadeloupe from 1794–95 and French Guiana from 1802 - 1809.
Following the
Peace of Paris in (1763) the newly-appointed governor of the southern British Caribbean islands,
Robert Melville, and the military surgeon in St. Vincent,
George Young, decided to create a botanic garden, primarily to provide medicinal plants for the military and improve the life and economy of the colony. 18th century botanists placed great emphasis on introducing valuable and commercial plants from the
East Indies
The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around t ...
to
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
in England to be sent later to the American tropics. The
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
fostered the introduction, establishment, and dissemination of highly-prized species.
Melville, anticipating modern
ethnobotany
Ethnobotany is the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people. An ethnobotanist thus strives to document the local customs involving the practical uses of local flora for m ...
, urged that "physical practitioners of the country, natives of experience, and even old Caribs and slaves who have dealt in cures might be worth taking notice of, and if at any time you should think that a secret may be got at or even an improvement for small expense, I shall readily pay for it." The
War Department (UK) and the
Honourable East India Company sent seeds and plants from
tropical
The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the Equator. They are defined in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in
the Southern Hemisphere at S. The tropics are also referred to ...
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
and from
British North Borneo,
Sabah
Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah borders the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and the North Kalimantan province of Indone ...
, and
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...
in the East Indies. Other
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
came from French and Caribbean sources, such as
cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several tree species from the genus ''Cinnamomum''. Cinnamon is used mainly as an aromatic condiment and flavouring additive in a wide variety of cuisines, sweet and savoury dishes, breakfa ...
from
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe (; ; gcf, label=Antillean Creole, Gwadloup, ) is an archipelago and overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galante, La Désirade, and the ...
and
Grenada
Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pe ...
. From Kew Gardens came seeds from
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
.
![Alexander Anderson botanist](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/36/Alexander_Anderson_botanist.jpg)
Under George Young (1765-1785), and the capable and enthusiastic guidance of the second superintendent curator,
Alexander Anderson Alexander Anderson may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Alexander Anderson (illustrator) (1775–1870), American illustrator
* Alexander Anderson (poet) (1845–1909), Scottish poet
* Alexander Anderson (cartoonist) (1920–2010), American car ...
who served from 1785-1811, the Botanical Gardens quickly attained an enviable reputation and received wide acclaim.
The garden attracted talented successor curators, including
William Lochead, George Caley, Henry Powell, and William Sands.
![WilliamBligh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/WilliamBligh.jpeg)
A third-generation clone of a
breadfruit
Breadfruit (''Artocarpus altilis'') is a species of flowering tree in the mulberry and jackfruit family (Moraceae) believed to be a domesticated descendant of ''Artocarpus camansi'' originating in New Guinea, the Maluku Islands, and the Philippi ...
tree in the twenty-first century collection of the gardens came from an original plant brought in 1793 by
Captain William Bligh
Vice-Admiral William Bligh (9 September 1754 – 7 December 1817) was an officer of the Royal Navy and a colonial administrator. The mutiny on the HMS ''Bounty'' occurred in 1789 when the ship was under his command; after being set adrift i ...
(of Bounty fame).
In 1787-88 Captain Bligh made his ill-fated voyage on the ''
HMS Bounty
HMS ''Bounty'', also known as HM Armed Vessel ''Bounty'', was a small merchant vessel that the Royal Navy purchased in 1787 for a botanical mission. The ship was sent to the South Pacific Ocean under the command of William Bligh to acquire ...
'' to
Tahiti
Tahiti (; Tahitian ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Austr ...
to collect breadfruit and other useful plants for the West Indies. Undaunted by the notorious
mutiny
Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among member ...
of his first crew, Bligh again set sail for Tahiti aboard . He completed his mission in Kingstown, St. Vincent on January 23, 1793 with plants from the South Seas.
The Botanic Garden's Curator Alexander Anderson took great care of these plants, and the success of all those efforts is evident from the widespread distribution of breadfruit, the most useful food plant throughout the West Indies.
The first half of the 19th Century was a lean time for colonial botanic gardens. By 1850, due to a lack of interest and maintenance, the St. Vincent gardens had fallen into disrepair. Local efforts in St. Vincent initiated in 1884 began to revive the gardens; by 1890 the work was reactivated as part of a larger agricultural and botanical scheme.
The Botanical Gardens soon regained their former glory and beauty, and the plant collections were recovered. Considerable attention was given to experimental work in the gardens on
economic crops until 1944 (
cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
,
arrowroot,
cacao
Cacao is the seed from which cocoa and chocolate are made, from Spanish cacao, an adaptation of Nahuatl cacaua, the root form of cacahuatl ("bean of the cocoa-tree"). It may also refer to:
Plants
*''Theobroma cacao'', a tropical evergreen tree
** ...
and
sugarcane
Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...
). The layout of the re-established Gardens was improved by the construction of a small Doric Temple, by road building and by the continuous introduction of plants to maintain and add to the collection.
Conservation Programs
The Nicholas Wildlife Aviary Complex, located within the Gardens, maintains a captive breeding program to conserve the vulnerable
St Vincent parrot , “Amazona guildingii”, the National Bird. These endemic parrots can be found in the wild and also in the Aviary. And Fia was born in 2004 23 April.
Several members of the British Royal Family have planted a tree in the Garden, where pink poui (Tabebuia rosea) was planted by Earl of Wessex — Prince Edward on 27 February 2012 and a Baobab (Adansonia digitata=) tree was planted by The Duke of Sussex — Prince Harry on 28 November 2016.
References
External links
Botanical Gardens websiteNational Parks, Rivers and Beaches Authority
See also
*
Herbalism
Herbal medicine (also herbalism) is the study of pharmacognosy and the use of medicinal plants, which are a basis of traditional medicine. With worldwide research into pharmacology, some herbal medicines have been translated into modern reme ...
*
Botánica
A botánica (often written botanica and less commonly known as a hierbería or botica) is a religious goods store. The name ''botánica'' is Spanish and translates as "botany" or "plant store," referring to these establishments' function as dispen ...
*
Botanical gardens
*
Plant collecting
Plant collecting is the acquisition of plant specimens for the purposes of research, cultivation, or as a hobby. Plant specimens may be kept alive, but are more commonly dried and pressed to preserve the quality of the specimen. Plant collecting i ...
*
List of botanical gardens
*
Andromeda Gardens
Andromeda Botanic Gardens is an botanical garden and a historic cultural attraction in the village of Bathsheba, Saint Joseph in Barbados. It is an authentic garden created by multiple award-winning horticulturalist Iris Bannochie, a female, Ba ...
{{coord, 13, 9.95, N, 61, 13.625, W, , display=title
St. Vincent
Saint Vincent may refer to:
People Saints
* Vincent of Saragossa (died 304), a.k.a. Vincent the Deacon, deacon and martyr
* Saint Vincenca, 3rd century Roman martyress, whose relics are in Blato, Croatia
* Vincent, Orontius, and Victor (died 305) ...
Natural history of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
Kingstown