John Hutchinson (botanist)

John Hutchinson
Born	(1884-04-07)7 April 1884 Wark on Tyne, Northumberland
Died	London
Fields	Botany
Known for	Hutchinson system
Notable awards	Fellow of the Royal Society (1947) Darwin-Wallace Medal (Silver, 1958) Linnean Medal (1965)
Author abbrev. (botany)	Hutch.

John Hutchinson, OBE, FRS (7 April 1884 Blindburn, Northumberland - 2 September 1972 London) was a renowned English botanist, taxonomist and author.

Life and career

Born in Blindburn, Wark on Tyne, Northumberland, England, he received his horticultural training in Northumberland and Durham and was appointed a student gardener at Kew in 1904. His taxonomic and drawing skills were soon noticed and resulted in his being appointed to the Herbarium in 1905. He moved from assistant in the Indian section to assistant for Tropical Africa, returning to Indian botany from 1915-1919, and from then on was in charge of the African section until 1936 when he was appointed Keeper of the Museums of Botany at Kew. He retired in 1948 but continued working on the phylogeny of flowering plants and publishing two parts of The Genera of Flowering Plants.

His profound knowledge of the floral structure of the Phanerogams was probably greater than that of any other living botanist.

John Hutchinson proposed a radical revision of the angiosperm classification system devised by Hooker and by Engler and Prantl that had become widely accepted during the 20th century. At its simplest, his system suggested two main divisions of angiosperms, herbaceous and woody.

Hutchinson made two extended collecting trips to South Africa, which were recounted in great detail in A Botanist in Southern Africa. His first visit was from August 1928 to April 1929, and the second from June 1930 to September 1930 on which occasion the expedition travelled north as far as Lake Tanganyika.

Awards

• He was awarded an honorary degree of LL.D. by University of St Andrews in 1934, the Victoria Medal (horticulture) in 1944 for outstanding contributions to horticulture, elected a member of the Royal Society in 1947, Linnaean Gold Medal in 1968 and the O.B.E. shortly before his death. Commemorated in the genus Hutchinsonia Robyns.
• He was awarded the Linnean Society of London's prestigious Darwin-Wallace Medal in 1958.
• He was elected Honorary Fellow of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) in 1965
• He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1947

Personal life

Hutchinson was married and had 2 sons and 3 daughters, one of whom lived in South Africa. He spent his leisure time roaming the English countryside with his wife in a caravan, describing and drawing wild flowers.

At his funeral at Mortlake Crematorium, a wreath largely made of South African flowers, was sent by his colleagues at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew.

First Southern Africa trip August 1928 - April 1929

Hutchinson arrived in Table Bay and spent the first few weeks collecting in and around Cape Town and Table Mountain, with short trips further afield. His first lengthy trip was to Namaqualand and Bushmanland with fellow botanist and succulent specialist, NS Pillans. Back in Cape Town he purchased a small Citroën car and set off on 30 October in the company of Rudolf Marloth, who left them at Barrydale, and Jan Gillett, the son of prof. Arthur Gillett of Oxford (one of the founders of Oxfam). On this occasion their route followed the southern Cape coast as far as Port Elizabeth. Here Gillett's place was taken by RA Dyer and the route veered inland to Grahamstown and Katberg, then back to the coast, visiting Butterworth, Port St Johns, Kokstad, Pietermaritzburg and Durban. From here Hutchinson travelled on his own and in Pretoria joined up with General Smuts, who was a keen and knowledgeable botanist, to the far northern Transvaal to explore Lake Fundusi, sacred to the Venda tribe.

16–22 August 1928 Cape Peninsula 25 August Worcester 31 August Matjesfontein 4 September Malmesbury to Darling 5 September Hopefield to Vredenburg 6 September coast north of Saldanha Bay 10 September Hottentots Holland mountains 16 September above Tulbagh Waterfall 21 September Sir Lowry's Pass 30 September gorge west of Ceres 5 October lighthouse at Sea Point 9 October Sutherland to Middlepost 10 October near Elandsfontein 11 October near Nieuwoudtville 13 October near Bitterfontein 13 October Garies to Kamieskroon 15 October O'okiep to Steinkopf 16 October poort between Concordia and Pella 16 October Pella to Pofadder 18 October Kenhardt 27 October Bain's Kloof 29 October Paarl 30 October Robertson 31 October Montagu to Barrydale 1 November Waterkloof, Ladismith 1 November Seweweekspoort 2 November Calitzdorp to Cango 3 November southern side of Zwartberg Pass 4 November Oudtshoorn to Montagu Pass 5 November Pacaltsdorp 5 November Touws River near George 5 November Phantom Pass near Knysna 7 November Belvedere near Knysna 8 November Plettenberg Bay 8 November Bitou River 9 November Keurbooms River 9 November Grootrivier Pass 10 November Witelsbos 12 November Kareedouw Pass

12 November Kareedouw to Humansdorp 13 November Jeffreys Bay 14 November Gamtoos River Pass 16 November Port Elizabeth to Uitenhage 16 November near Addo 17 November Howieson's Poort near Grahamstown 18 November Bathurst 19 November Fish River Valley 19 November Pluto's Vale 20 November Botha's Hill 26 November Grahamstown to Fort Beaufort 26 November hills above Balfour 27 November top of Katberg 28 November Seymour to Alice 28 November King William's Town to East London 29 November Mooiplaats to Komgha 1 December Libode 1 December mountain forest near Port St Johns 3 December Port St Johns to Lusikisiki 3 December Flagstaff 4 December Flagstaff to Kokstad 5 December Mt Currie 6 December Pietermaritzburg Botanical Garden 6 December Umgeni 10 December Howick, Mooi River 11 December Ladysmith, Natal 14 December Warmbaths 15 December near Potgietersrust 16 December Louis Trichardt to Wylliespoort 18 December Limpopo River near Messina 19 December Dongola 21 December Thomson's Store to Lake Fundusi 23 December Witvlag 23 December Woodbush near Tzaneen 24 December Moorddrift 28 December koppie at Fountains Valley near Pretoria 31 December Hartebeespoort in the Magaliesberg 2 January 1929 Doornkloof near Irene

5 January Louw's Creek to Maid of the Mist Mountain 7 January Barberton to Louw's Creek 7 January Barberton to Lomati Falls 8 January Impala Siding near Barberton 9 January Komatipoort 9 January western slopes of Lebombo Mountains, Portuguese East Africa 15 January Horn's Nek, Magaliesberg 22 January between Potgietersrust and Swerwerskraal 23 January Magalakwin River Bridge 24 January north of Blaauwberg 29 January Premier Mine near Pretoria 30 January between Arnot and Belfast 2 February Machadodorp 3 February Maskew's farm Suikerboskop near Belfast 6 February Magatosnek near Rustenburg 7 February Rustenburg to Zeerust 8 February Hills north of Zeerust 9 February 15 miles west of Mafeking 10 February Vryburg to Schweizer-Reneke 11 February Wolmaransstad and Klerksdorp 15 February near Parys, Orange Free State 18 February Christiana to Warrenton 19 February koppies near Kimberley 20 February Kimberley to Riverton 21 February Baviaanskrantz near Kaap Plateau 22 February hills between Papkuil and Postmasburg 23 February hills east of Asbestos Mountains 24 February near Campbell 28 February Kaffir River to Edenburg, Orange Free State 1 March Fauresmith Reserve 3 March near Colesberg 4 March Kikvorsch Mountains near Noupoort 6 March near Tafelberg, Middelburg, Cape Province 8 March Roode Hoogte Pass 8 March Naude's Pass 9 March Groote River to Aberdeen 10 March Meiringspoort 13 March George 15 March Mossel Bay 24 March Robinson Pass 25 March Riviersonderend 26 March Caledon to Hermanus 5 April Table Mountain 9 April Zeekoevlei

Second African trip June 1930 - September 1930

Having met Hutchinson on his previous visit to South Africa, General Smuts invited him to join a party consisting of Margaret Clark Gillett with two of her sons Jan and Tona Gillett (Anthony), on a trip to Lake Tanganyika. They set off from Irene on 28 June 1930 in a convoy of seven vehicles and were joined at Beit Bridge by Dr. IB Pole Evans. They collected all the way to Lake Tanganyika and then retraced their route to Broken Hill, where Hutchinson boarded a goods train to Elizabethville. On his return to Pretoria, and with time in hand, he set off on a trip to the Soutpansberg with Jan Gillett. Then followed a week in the Drakensberg, climbing to the top of Mont-aux-Sources with two fellow botanists, Miss Verdoorn and Miss Forbes. A final flurry of collecting at Botha's Hill near Durban, and Port Elizabeth, saw the end of a very fruitful visit.

29 June 1930 Louis Trichardt 30 June Lundi River, Southern Rhodesia 1 July Zimbabwe Ruins 3 July Umvuma, Southern Rhodesia 3 July Gwelo, Southern Rhodesia 3 July Shangani River, Southern Rhodesia 3 July Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia 4 July Bulawayo to Victoria Falls 4 July Dett 7 July Victoria Falls 10 July Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia 10 July Choma 12 July Monze 12 July Mazabuka 12 July Kafue River 12 July Lusaka 13 July Broken Hill, Zambia 14 July Bwana Mkuba 14 July Kapiri Mposhi 14 July Chiwefwe 15 July Serenje Corner 16 July Lukulu River

16 July Kaloswe 16 July Mpika 17 July Zambesi River 17 July Kasama 18 July Abercorn, Northern Rhodesia 20 July Tom's Village, Lake Tanganyika 20 July Mpulungu 21 July near Lunzua River 22 July 11 miles S of Lake Tanganyika 23 July 6 miles N of Kasama 24 July Koloswe 25 July Chiwefwe 30 July Sakania, Belgian Congo 2 August Elizabethville 8 August Matopos 18 August Louis Trichardt 18 August Goede Hoop 19 August Klein Australie, Soutpansberg 20 August Entabeni; Palmary; Pepiti Falls 23 August Crewe Farm, West Soutpansberg 24 August on granite koppie near Matoks 3 September Botha's Hill, Natal

See also

Hutchinson system

Publications

• Common Wild Flowers (1945)
• More Common Wild Flowers (1948)
• Uncommon Wild Flowers (1950)
• British Wild Flowers (1955)
• The Story of Plants with R. Melville
• A Botanist in Southern Africa (London, 1946)
• Flora of West Tropical Africa with Dr John McEwen Dalziel
• Volume 1: Monocotyledonae 1926, Volume 2:Dicotyledonae 1934.
• The Genera of Flowering Plants (Oxford, Vol.1 (1964), Vol.2 (1967), Vol. 3 (posthumously))
• Evolution and Phylogeny of Flowering Plants (1969)