In the Footsteps of Joseph Dalton Hooker

Friday, January 25, 2019

11 a.m. – 12 p.m.

Dzongri Campsite, Sikkim, India

In November 1847, Joseph Dalton Hooker (1817–1911), one of the most notable directors of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, set out on a three-year expedition to the eastern Himalayas. There he amassed a staggering collection of geological, zoological, and botanical specimens, many of which proved new to science. His travels were not without controversy, including a hostage crisis and illegal border crossing. Re-tracing Hooker’s historic route 160 years later, Seamus O’Brien, from the National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh, recounts the tale of his four remarkable expeditions to Darjeeling, Sikkim, and West Bengal. The lecture is followed by a book signing and viewing of historical works from the Mertz Library collection.

Please enter the Garden through the Mosholu Entrance, 2950 Southern Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10458, and check in at the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, 6th Floor.

About the Speaker

Seamus O’Brien is Ireland’s best-known plantsman and has travelled extensively across the world to study plants in their native habitats. He received his horticultural training at the National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, in Dublin, and also holds an International Diploma in Botanic Gardens Management from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

He has grown plants since childhood and has wide-ranging interests, though plants from warm-temperate and temperate areas of the world are his primary focus. He manages the National Botanic Gardens, Kilmacurragh, in County Wicklow, an 18th-century estate long famed for its historic collection of rare and exotic plants. He is the author of In the Footsteps of Augustine Henry (Antique Collectors Club, 2011) and was awarded the Royal Horticultural Society of Ireland’s Gold Medal of Honour in 2018.

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