page_title: Richard Pearce (botanist)
section_title: James Veitch & Sons
hierarchical_section_title: Richard Pearce (botanist) / Plant collecting / James Veitch & Sons
caption_attribution_description: English: Please report references to spam@lagrada.de. Deutsch: Quellenangabe und Beleg an spam@lagrada.de erbeten. Español: Por favor mandar informaciones sobre el uso a spam@lagrada.de. Location: In de:Jardín Botánico José Celestino Mutis] (Colombia) de:Sanchezia nobilis
context_page_description: Richard Pearce was a British plant collector, who introduced the tuberous begonia to England, which led to the development of the hybrid begonias grown today.
context_section_description: In February 1859, Pearce was sent by Veitch to South America for three years as a "collector of plants, seeds, land-shells and other objects of Natural History". Pearce travelled initially to Valparaíso, with instructions to collect  in Chile and Patagonia. In particular, he was directed to collect seeds of Libocedrus tetragona, at that time supposed to be the tree which produced the famous Alerce timber. His agreement also required him to locate and collect the Chilean Bellflower, Lapageria rosea and its white variety L. alba, the Chile Pine (then known as Araucaria imbricata) and other hardy trees and shrubs as well as to collect orchids and stove (hothouse) and greenhouse flowering plants.
  Pearce successfully carried out his instructions, and as well as the plants he was contracted to collect, he also obtained and introduced Prumnopitys elegans, Podocarpus nubigenus, Eucryphia glutinosa, several Bomareas, Cavendishia bracteata, Ourisia coccinea, Ourisia pearcei and quantities of ferns, the Victorian fern craze then being at its height. His researches on this trip showed that the tree that produced Alerce timber was the Patagonian Cypress, Fitzroya cupressoides and not Libocedrus tetragona as had been previously thought.
  During 1860 Pearce made many journeys to the mountains and the interior of Chile. He wrote of the scenery of that part of the Chilean Cordilleras which he explored:
  "It is of the most charming description: gently undulating meadows covered with a carpet of short grass, placid lakes reflecting from their smooth surface the mountains around, foaming cataracts and gentle rivulets, deep gorges and frightful precipices, over which tumble numerous dark, picturesque waterfalls reaching the bottom in a cloud of spray. High rocky pinnacles and lofty peaks, surround one on every side. 
  
  "Nor is the vegetation less beautiful and interesting. At an elevation of 4,000 ft. the vegetation exhibits a totally different character from that of the coast. Here one finds Antarctic Beeches (Fagus antarctica and F. betuloides), which constitute with Fitzroya patagonica the large forest trees. The Embothrium coccineum, Desfontainia spinosa, Philesia buxifolia, three species of Berberis, Pernettya and Gaultheria are the most abundant of the flowering shrubs, whilst the numerous pretty little rock-plants meet one at every step with their various forms and colours."
  Early in 1862 Pearce left Chile and travelled north to Peru and Bolivia, before moving on to Ecuador in search of stove and greenhouse plants. From Cuenca he sent seeds of many plants, including Befaria ledifolia, Lisianthus magnificus, Calceolaria ericoides]], and several kinds of Tacsonia, before returning from Guayaquil to Britain with six large Wardian cases of plants, amongst which was a handsome plant of the Marantaceae, which was named Calathea veitchiana in honour of his employers.
  In January 1863, James Veitch again sent him to South America on another three-year expedition "to collect plants, seeds and other objects of Natural History". He travelled initially to Lima, Peru, from where he was to travel to "such parts of South America as by written instructions to him should be determined. Particular attention was to be directed to the Tucumán Province, [Argentina] should there be facilities for reaching that country." His travels took him through Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, before eventually reaching Tucumán. Amongst the plants that he discovered on this expedition and introduced to European hot-houses were Aphelandra nitens and Sanchezia nobilis. From Argentina, he collected Nierembergia rivularis and N. veitchii, Palava flexuosa, Mutisia decurrens and several varieties of Peperomia. On his return to La Paz, in November 1865 he also sent back to England a number of Hippeastrums, including H. pardinum and H. leopoldii and some samples of Eccremocarpus which were subsequently lost.
  Pearce continued to explore the Andes; one of his final discoveries before returning to Britain was Masdevallia veitchiana, which he discovered in Peru and successfully introduced t
caption: Sanchezia nobilis
exif: {"Image Make": "CASIO COMPUTER CO.,LTD.", "Image Model": "EX-Z850", "Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "72", "Image YResolution": "72", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "1.00", "Image DateTime": "2008:02:07 11:08:33", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image ExifOffset": "282", "Image PrintIM": "[80, 114, 105, 110, 116, 73, 77, 0, 48, 51, 48, 48, 0, 0, 0, 5, 0, 1, 0, 22, 0, 22, 0, 2, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 5, 0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0, 1, 16, 131, 0, 0, 0]", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "32706", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "8524", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/80", "EXIF FNumber": "4", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Program Normal", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0221", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2008:02:07 11:08:33", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2008:02:07 11:08:33", "EXIF ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF CompressedBitsPerPixel": "12800/2601", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Unknown", "EXIF Flash": "Flash fired, compulsory flash mode", "EXIF FocalLength": "79/10", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "sRGB", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "1704", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "3003", "Interoperability InteroperabilityIndex": "R98", "Interoperability InteroperabilityVersion": "[48, 49, 48, 48]", "EXIF InteroperabilityOffset": "32582", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Auto", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "0/0", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "38", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal"}