Date of Award

5-1942

Degree Type

Bachelors Essay

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science (BS)

Department

Biological Sciences

First Advisor

Eugene S. McDonough

Second Advisor

William J. Keegan

Abstract

Gardeners have always been interested in herbaceous plants, chiefly because of their beauty and usefulness. As a result of the great popularity, a large number of attractive varieties have been produced through centuries of' cultivation, selection and breeding. Very early agricultural and medical demands stimulated an interest in the plants, and as early as 372-287 B.C. Theophrastus, a pupil of Aristotle, described about 460 cultivated plants and classified them as herbs, undershrubs, shrubs and trees. Much of the work accomplished by the ancient Greeks was lost and it was not until the sixteenth century that renewed enthusiasm for the study of plants was revived. Jesuit missionaries from France in 1750 were responsible for many plant introductions. In the nineteenth century the Royal Horticultural Society sent a number of plant collectors to China. Most famous plants introduced were forsythia, deutzia, and bleeding heart. Since then this society has sent out to all parts of the world many plant· explorers, one of the greatest being E. H. Wilson. He discovered some 400 new species and introduced into cultivation 800 more which had been described before by others who were not able to send back seeds or plants. He is best known for his discovery of the Regal lily.

Comments

A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of the College of Liberal Arts of Marquette University in Partial Fulfillment or the Requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Science Milwaukee, Wisconsin

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