George Samuel Jenman (1845-1902) was a British gardener and botanist. He specialized in growing and studying plants. He was superintendent of Castleton Botanical Garden, Jamaica from 1873 to 1879, and Government Botanist and superintendent of the Botanical Gardens in British Guiana (now Guyana) from 1879 to 1902. Jenman was also a member of the Linnean Society.[1][2][3][4][5]
Life edit
George Samuel Jenman was born in Plymouth in 1845. He trained in gardening and botany at Kew Gardens.[1]
In 1873, Jenman moved to Jamaica where he was appointed as superintendent of Castleton Botanical Gardens. During this time he began his work on ferns of the Caribbean, which was his major contribution to the field of botany.[1][2]
In 1879 Jenman moved to British Guiana where he was appointed as Government Botanist and Superintendent of the Botanical Gardens. Castellani House, now the home of Guyana's National Art Gallery, was originally designed and built to be his official residence by the Maltese colonial architect Cesar Castellani. Much of his work in British Guiana was focused on the Sugarcane industry. In 1881 he published the Handlist of Jamaican Ferns and in 1881 he began a series entitled The Ferns and Fern Allies of the British West Indies and Guiana (1898-1909) which was published by the Bulletin of the Royal Botanic Gardens in Trinidad. Jenman died before he was able to complete the series, but his work was continued - and the series completed - by his successor, Henry C. Hart.[1][3][4]
The Curator's clock, and a dedicatory plaque, were installed at the Curator's Lodge in the Botanical Gardens of Guyana in memory of Jenman.[6]
In 1897, botanist Wilhelm Wächter published Jenmania, which is a genus of fungi within the family Lichinaceae and named in George's honour.[7]
Publications edit
- A Handlist of Jamaican Ferns and their Allies. Baldwin and Company: Demerara, 1881
- The Ferns and Fern Allies of the British West Indies and Guiana. U. S. Government Printing Office, 1909.
References edit
- ^ a b c d Lewis, C. "Jenman, George Samuel". Botanical Collectors: Latin America. The Natural History Museum. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ a b Anon. "Jenman, George Samuel (1845-1902)". Plant Science. JSTOR. JSTOR 000004078.
- ^ a b Kandasammy, Lloyd F. (24 April 2008). "Around the Museums of Guyana". Stabroek News. pp. 20–22. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ a b Frodin, David (2001). "Superregion 24-29:The West Indies". Guide to Standard Floras of the World: An Annotated, Geographically Arranged Systematic Bibliography of the Principal Floras, Enumerations, Checklists and Chorological Atlases of Different Areas (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 284. ISBN 9780521790772.
- ^ Munro, Arlene (30 August 2001). "The Old Colonial Houses of Georgetown". Stabroek News. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ Anon. "Monuments". Guyana Botanical Gardens Official Website. Archived from the original on 1 June 2012. Retrieved 20 August 2012.
- ^ Lumbsch TH, Huhndorf SM (December 2007). "Outline of Ascomycota – 2007". Myconet. 13. Chicago, USA: The Field Museum, Department of Botany: 1–58. Archived from the original on 2009-03-18.