Research Catalog

The European discovery of the Indian flora

Title: The European discovery of the Indian flora / Ray Desmond.
Author: Desmond, Ray.
Publication: Oxford ; New York : Clarendon Press ; [Kew, England] : Royal Botanic Gardens, 1992.

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Status	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request for On-site Use Request Scan How do I pick up this item and when will it be ready?	Text	Use in library	QK358 .D44 1992	Off-site

Details

Description

xii, 355 pages : illustrations (some color); 25 cm

Summary

The flora of the Indian subcontinent has stirred European curiosity and investigation for over two millennia. From pepper, a coveted commodity of the lucrative spice trade, to rhododendrons, orchids, and alpine flowers, cherished in innumerable British gardens and conservatories, Indian plants have long been highly prized in the West. This book surveys European perceptions of the diversity of the Indian flora, and examines its impact on European commerce and culture including botany, horticulture, and floral art. It chronicles the growing European awareness of the Indian flora from the first glimmerings of knowledge in the fifth century BC to the demise in the mid-nineteenth century of the British East India Company and of its successor, the India Office. An epilogue briefly surveys the development of botanical studies since the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947. The evolution of European-style gardens in India is examined, and the impact of the Indian flora on British gardens is assessed --

Subject

Genre/Form

History.

Bibliography (note)

Includes bibliographical references (p. [331]-340) and index.

Contents

List of plates; The ancient world; The first European settlements; Arrival of the British; Botanical research begins; Sir William Jones; The Roxburgh era; Francis Buchanan; Calcutta Botanic Garden after Roxburgh; Other botanical gardens; William Griffith and Robert Wight; The Himalayas; Ceylon; Pursuit of the picturesque; A century of change; The search for useful plants; Green medicine; Tea and opium; Rubber, coffee, and forestry; Gardening in India; Indian flowers in European gardens; Transportation of plants; Epilogue; Bibliography; Index.

ISBN

019854684X
9780198546849

LCCN

91044110

OCLC

ocm25008083
25008083
SCSB-1994337

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library