Elizabeth Andrew Warren (28 April 1786 – 5 May 1864) was a Cornish botanist and marine
algologist who spent most of her career collecting along the southern coast of
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...
. Her goal was to create a
herbarium
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...
of indigenous plants of Cornwall, and to this end she organized a network of plant collectors for the Royal Horticultural Society of Cornwall and provided numerous specimens to
William Hooker at Kew Gardens for his study of British flora.
Biography
Warren was born on 28 April 1786 in
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
. She lived for most of her adult life in the village of
Flushing
Flushing may refer to:
Places
* Flushing, Cornwall, a village in the United Kingdom
* Flushing, Queens, New York City
** Flushing Bay, a bay off the north shore of Queens
** Flushing Chinatown (法拉盛華埠), a community in Queens
** Flushing ...
, near the port of
Falmouth.
[
An amateur botanist at a time when British women had no access to higher education, Warren spent her time collecting and preparing plant specimens, corresponding with other botanists, and working with various scientific societies.][ She focused her efforts along the southern shores of Cornwall, mainly around the ]River Fal
The River Fal ( kw, Dowr Fala) flows through Cornwall, England, rising at Pentevale on Goss Moor (between St. Columb and Roche) and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and ...
basin, with particular attention to marine algae (seaweeds) and cryptogams
A cryptogam (scientific name Cryptogamae) is a plant (in the wide sense of the word) or a plant-like organism that reproduces by spores, without flowers or seeds. The name ''Cryptogamae'' () means "hidden reproduction", referring to the fact ...
.
Warren was a founding member of the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society
The Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society (commonly known as The Poly) is an educational, cultural and scientific charity, as well as a local arts and cinema venue, based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The Society exists to promot ...
(RCPS), and she worked closely with the Royal Horticultural Society of Cornwall (RCHS).[ In 1833, the RCHS inaugurated annual competitions for best and rarest plant specimens, and Warren dominated these competitions from the outset. She was quickly put in charge of organizing local efforts to collect and prepare specimens for an RCHS-sponsored '']hortus siccus
A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, specimens and associated data used for scientific study.
The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sh ...
'' of indigenous Cornish plants, and she herself was responsible for by far the largest share of contributions—73% of some 470 specimens.[ In 1937, the RCHS awarded her a silver medal for her services to the society and for her efforts in promoting "indigenous botany," and in 1844 she was made an honorary member of the society.][
Among the new species Warren discovered in Cornwall was '' Kallymenia dubyi'', which was not then known in Britain.][ In the ''RCPS Annual Report'' for 1842, she published her discoveries of Cornish cryptogamic plants, and in 1849, she published her discoveries of marine algae along the shore near Falmouth.][
In 1834 she wrote to William Hooker, inaugurating a correspondence that lasted a quarter of a century.][ She referred to herself once as his "pupil, unluckily placed," suggesting that she would have liked the opportunity to study with him more closely.][ Over the years, she provided him with specimens collected in Cornwall as well as those from abroad that came into Britain through Falmouth.][ She is credited (as "Miss Warren") as one of 19 plant specimen collectors to whom Hooker is particularly indebted in the preface to his 1841 ''Manual of the British Algae''.][ In his history of British seaweeds, ''Phycologia Britannica'', Hooker lists an algae named after her by the botanist ]Robert Caspary
Johann Xaver Robert Caspary (29 January 1818 – 18 September 1887) was a German botanist.
Caspary was born in Königsberg. He studied theology and philosophy at the University of Königsberg and was educated in sciences at the University of ...
, ''Schizosiphon Warreniae'' (now '' Rivularia biasolettiana'').[
In 1843 Warren published a large botanical chart for use in schools to educate children about botany.][ Entitled ''A Botanical Chart for the Use of Schools'', it was dedicated to Hooker.][ Although well reviewed, it was not particularly successful or widely used.][
Warren also corresponded with other botanists such as ]John Ralfs
John Ralfs (13 September 1807 – 14 July 1890) was an English botanist. Born in Millbrook, near Southampton, he was the second son of Samuel Ralfs, a yeoman of an old family in Hampshire. He has been commemorated in the names of many plant gro ...
, with whom she shared an interest in cryptogams.[ Her work is cited by ]Frederick Hamilton Davey
Frederick Hamilton Davey (1868–1915) was a British amateur botanist who devoted most of his leisure time to the study of the flora of Cornwall, England. Born at Ponsanooth in the Kennall Vale, Cornwall to a large family of limited means, he le ...
in his 1909 book ''Flora of Cornwall'', the standard reference on the subject.[
Warren continued her plant-collecting expeditions into her sixties. She died at her sister's house in ]Kea
The kea (; ; ''Nestor notabilis'') is a species of large parrot in the family Nestoridae found in the forested and alpine regions of the South Island of New Zealand. About long, it is mostly olive-green with a brilliant orange under its wings ...
on 5 May 1864. Memorials to her were published in the RCPS's annual report for 1864 (authored by fellow botanist Isabella Gifford
Isabella Gifford (1825–1891) was a Welsh-born botanist. In 1848, she published ''The Marine Botanist,'' a book which focuses on Phycology, algology. Some of her specimens are in the Ulster Museum.
Biography
Isabella Gifford was born at Defy ...
)[ and in an 1865 issue of the ''Journal for the Royal Institution of Cornwall'' (authored by botanical illustrator ]Emily Stackhouse
Emily Stackhouse (15 July 1811 – 1 April 1870) was a 19th-century British botanical artist and plant collector. She collected and painted flowers and mosses throughout the British isles, and her work was widely reproduced in a series of popular ...
).[
Her collections are held at the Royal Institution of Cornwall.][
]
Notes and references
{{DEFAULTSORT:Warren, Elizabeth Andrew
British phycologists
Scientists from Cornwall
1786 births
1864 deaths
Women botanists
Women phycologists
People from Truro
19th-century British botanists
19th-century British women scientists