David Douglas (botanist)

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This article is about the botanist. For other people named David Douglas, see David Douglas (disambiguation).

David Douglas
Hawai'i
Resting placeHonolulu, Hawaii
Alma materUniversity of Glasgow
Known forDouglas fir
Scientific career
FieldsBotany
InstitutionsGlasgow Botanic Gardens, Royal Horticultural Society
Author abbrev. (botany)Douglas
Coast Douglas-fir
cone, from a tree grown from seed collected by David Douglas in 1826

David Douglas (25 June 1799 – 12 July 1834) was a Scottish

botanist, best known as the namesake of the Douglas fir. He worked as a gardener, and explored the Scottish Highlands, North America, and Hawaii, where he died.[1] The standard author abbreviation Douglas is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[2]

Early life

Douglas was born in

Highlands before recommending him to the Royal Horticultural Society of London.[4]

Explorations

Douglas made three separate trips from Britain to North America. His first trip, to eastern North America, began on 3 June 1823, with a return in the late autumn of 1823. The second was to the Pacific Northwest, from July 1824 returning October 1827.[a] His third and final trip started in England in October 1829. On that last journey he went first to the Columbia River, then to San Francisco, then in August 1832, to Hawaii. In October 1832 he returned to the Columbia River region. A year later, in October 1833, he returned to Hawaii, arriving on 2 January 1834.[5] The second expedition starting in 1824 was his most successful. The Royal Horticultural Society[6] sent him back on a plant-hunting expedition in the Pacific Northwest that ranks among the great botanical explorations.

In the spring of 1826, David Douglas was compelled to climb a peak (

California poppy
. His success was well beyond expectations; in one of his letters to Hooker, he wrote "you will begin to think I manufacture pines at my pleasure". Altogether he introduced about 240 species of plants to Britain.

He first briefly visited Hawaii in 1830 on his way to the Pacific Northwest. He returned again in December 1833 intending to spend three months of winter there. He was only the second European to reach the summit of the Mauna Loa volcano.[8]

Death

Douglas died under mysterious circumstances while climbing Mauna Kea in Hawaii at the age of 35 in 1834.[9] He apparently fell into a pit trap where he was mauled to death by a bull. He was last seen alive at the hut of Englishman Edward "Ned" Gurney, a bullock hunter and escaped convict. Gurney was suspected in Douglas's death, as Douglas was said to have been carrying more money than Gurney subsequently delivered with the body; others suggested he might have been robbed and murdered by two native Hawaiians. However, no evidence was found to contradict Gurney's story.[10] In 1856, a marker to Douglas was erected on an outside wall at

Island of Hawaiʻi (19°53′17″N 155°20′17″W / 19.88806°N 155.33806°W / 19.88806; -155.33806 (Kaluakauka)).[11] A small stand of Douglas fir trees has been planted there.[12]

Legacy

Although the common name "Douglas fir" refers to him, the tree's scientific name,

Phrynosoma douglasii, is named in honor of David Douglas.[13] Over eighty species of plants and animals have douglasii in their scientific names, in his honour. He introduced several hundred plants to Great Britain and hence to Europe.[14] There is a memorial to David Douglas in his birthplace of Scone. David Douglas High School and the David Douglas School District in Portland, Oregon are named after him. Remnants of a greenhouse built by David Douglas can be seen in Wood Street Village, Surrey
.

In

Kaiser Shipyard workers living in little silver trailers, giving the area the brief nickname during the era of "Trailer Terrace Park."[15]

The David Douglas Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution was founded in Redmond, Washington in 1981.

The actor

syndicated television anthology series, Death Valley Days, hosted by Stanley Andrews. Keenan Wynn co-starred as Douglas's friend, Josh Tavers. Iron Eyes Cody played an Indian chief who threatens to kill Douglas and Tavers.[16]

Writings

Family

David Douglas had a son who was named David Finlay. David Finlay, who was recorded as being an interpreter, died in April 1850 at the hands of Black-feet raiders. He lived in Montana, an area where Douglas had spent long periods of time over 20 years previously, which would tie in with the age of his son, who died when he was around 22 years old. It is not known if David Douglas was aware that he had fathered a child.[17]

Notes

  1. ^ He sailed aboard William and Ann, which the Hudson's Bay Company had purchased to explore the Pacific Northwest.

Citations

  1. ^ In collaboration with M. L. Tyrwhitt-Drake (1987). "Douglas, David". In Halpenny, Francess G (ed.). Dictionary of Canadian Biography. Vol. VI (1821–1835) (online ed.). University of Toronto Press.
  2. ^ International Plant Names Index.  Douglas.
  3. ^ "Walk of the week: Valleyfield Wood, Fife". www.scotsman.com.
  4. ^ Nisbet 2009, pp. 4–6.
  5. ^ Douglas, David; Royal Horticultural Society (Great Britain) (1914). Journal kept by David Douglas during his travels in North America 1823–1827, together with a particular description of thirty-three species of American oaks and eighteen species of Pinus, with appendices containing a list of the plants introduced by Douglas and an account of his death in 1834. Published under the direction of the Royal Horticultural Society. University of California Libraries. London : W. Wesley & Son. p. 296.
  6. ^ Nisbet 2009, p. 7.
  7. ^ "who was david douglas?" (PDF). DavidDouglasSociety. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  8. hdl:10524/599
    .
  9. ^ Lyman, Sarah Joiner. Sarah Joiner Lyman of Hawaii: Her Own Story.Ed. Margaret Greer Martin. Hilo: Lyman Museum, 2009. 67–69.
  10. ^ Nisbet 2009, pp. 294–5.
  11. ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Kaluakauka
  12. ^
    hdl:10524/246
    .
  13. ISBN 978-1-4214-0135-5
    . ("Douglas, D.", p. 75).
  14. ^ Nisbet 2009, p. 252.
  15. ^ Jolotta, Pat. Naming Clark County. Vancouver: Fort Vancouver Historical Society, 1993. Print. p.15.
  16. ^ "The Grass Man in Death Valley Days". Internet Movie Data Base. 13 November 1962. Retrieved 17 July 2019.
  17. ^ Nisbet 2009, pp. 105–106.

References

External links
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