A gift of the Himalayas

The Constant Gardener

Magnolia campbellii is not a plant for the impatient gardener, but worth the wait.

Relevant offers

If you're driving along Powderham Street this week, take a quick look to your right just past the radio station and you'll see some huge pink magnolia blossoms.

Magnolia campbellii is not a plant for the impatient gardener, as it can take 20 years to flower, but when it does, it all seems worth the wait.

The plant was first discovered (for Westerners, anyway) and named by Joseph Hooker (1817-1911), who found the tree high up in the Himalayas.

Let me tell you a little about the man who found this wonderful plant. As a young man, Hooker had a wanderlust and desire to see the world.

His father suggested he become a medic, as this would allow him to travel. Having qualified, he became an assistant surgeon on the Ross voyages to Antarctica, sailing on the HMS Erebus alongside HMS Terror.

James Clark Ross made two expeditions down into Antarctic waters, discovering and naming Mt Erebus when the men visited McMurdo Sound during their first tour.

They spent the winter months in Australia and Tasmania before visiting Russell in Northland.

There Hooker met up with William Colenso, a Cornish botanist who had helped translate the Treaty of Waitangi the year before.

Colenso was a cantankerous fellow, a missionary with strong views on everything, but he and Hooker hit it off and remained lifelong correspondents. Subsequently, Colenso sent many New Zealand plant specimens to Hooker and both were very influential in our New Zealand flora.

The expedition sailed back to the ice for the summer of 1841/2.

This was risky stuff in wooden sailing ships. Imagine using rowboats to tow the ships away from the icebergs when there was no wind in the sails? In one close manoeuvre, the rigging of the two ships became tangled together.

Men were quickly dispatched to the riggings to cut them free before the icebergs crushed the entwined ships.

They survived this and other dangers and got back safely to England, where Hooker's father had recently been promoted to director of Kew Gardens. But young Hooker had no intention of settling down and with the help of a family friend, Lord Auckland (after whom our northern city is named), managed to get a posting in India. George Eden, 1st Earl of Auckland, had been Governor of India and at the time was First Lord of the Admiralty, so he was Hooker's ultimate boss. Naval surgeons such as Hooker were usually paid a retainer until they were needed again for another voyage. Hooker wanted to quit the navy and study plants, and with the help of Lord Auckland and his father at Kew, he managed to get his dream job.

Hooker had the luxury of being paid to collect fossils for the Geological Society and plants for Kew. He teamed up with Archibald Campbell, the British Political Agent in Darjeeling. Two men looking for adventure, they travelled to Sikkim to meet the Rajah. The trouble was, they were taken hostage and the ransom note was sent to Campbell's office in Darjeeling, where it sat in his intray waiting for his return. Needless to say, it couldn't be actioned because Campbell was the one held hostage. After some weeks in captivity, the British finally got wind of their incarceration and threatened to invade Sikkim, whereupon they were quickly released.

Their adventure wasn't in vain. Besides the magnolia, Hooker managed to collect seeds and plants of literally dozens of rhododendrons while he was high up in the Himalayas. These new plants sparked a craze that continues to this day. It's a safe bet to say Pukeiti wouldn't exist but for Joseph Hooker. Being a generous man, Hooker named his discoveries after his friends and so we have Rhododendron thomsonii and Rh. hodgsonii as well as Magnolia campbellii.

Campbell stayed on in Darjeeling, serving as a medic and diplomat. He's credited with bringing seeds of the tea plant to the area, so next time you drink a cup of Darjeeling tea, raise your cup to Dr Campbell.

Hooker returned to England and continued to study botany. Charles Darwin was a lifelong friend and the two men frequently worked together. They were both interested in how plants adapt to their environment and both worked on the theory of evolution. A true friend, Hooker was the first scientist to publicly back Darwin when he published On the Origin of Species. The press had a field day attacking both men.

Hooker was a backroom boffin and always happier when working outdoors or doing some private study; he wasn't happy in company or being centre stage.

One time, he wrote to Darwin saying he dreaded the thought of following his father as director of Kew, but that's exactly what he did. He also became president of the Royal Society - so much for keeping out of the limelight! In later years, he was knighted for services to botany, but he sent it back because it wasn't for services to India. He was then knighted for services to India. Not everyone would have got a second chance. As for the plant named after his friend, Magnolia campbellii is one of the most magnificent plants in the world. It's worth being held hostage for a week or two to have such a fantastic plant named after you. We're lucky to have a climate that suits this tree, as much of the gardening world is too dry or too cold for it to thrive. The tree has also had an impact locally, as we have some of the world leaders in magnolia breeding here in our province. Felix Jury imported a special Magnolia campbellii cultivar from England and that's what inspired him to breed magnolias, but more about that later.

- © Fairfax NZ News