Wallich and his contribution to the Indian natural history.

Ranee Om Prakash

Published on : 01-Jan-2022

DOI : https://dx.doi.org/10.22244/rheedea.2016.26.01.02

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Abstract

Various activities of Nathaniel Wallich, especially those that connect with Indian natural history are briefly reviewed. Wallich rose to a naturalist of international standard from a prisoner of war in discovering the riches of the then British India and reporting to the learned world. He established a close network of leading experts in the field of natural history and exchanged plant materials for the benefit of both the donor and receiving countries. During his superintendence of the then Royal Botanic Garden, Calcutta, which prevailed nearly three decades, Wallich introduced useful plants from across the world and elevated the status of the Garden as one of the finest in the world, published over 8,000 new species, about 142 genera of plants and established a world class herbarium. An initiative funded by the World Collections Programme has tried to give due recognition to Wallich towards his contribution to natural history by hosting a website (www.kew.org/wallich). This is a joint collaborative project between Kew Gardens, The Natural History Museum, London and The British Library with additional inputs from the Acharya Jagdish Chandra Bose Indian Botanic Garden, Howrah and The National Archives of India, New Delhi.