Botany in early twentieth-century BC

John Davidson incorrectly viewed British Columbia as a botanical “empty land” and thought that he would be the first person to document the province’s plant life. Shortly after his arrival, he even wrote back to a fellow member of the Aberdeen Workingmen’s Natural History and Scientific Society, telling him:

...I should say that the Botanical possibilities are great, because I landed practically in virgin soil, there having been no systematic botanists here previous to my appointment; so that if I am spared with health and strength for a few more years’ botanical work I may consider myself one of the botanical pioneers of this Province.

Despite what he wrote, Davidson did know of others studying the botany of British Columbia: Professor John Macoun, a father-and-son team of Charles Frederick and William A. Newcombe, and James Robert Anderson (all in Victoria); Albert J. Hill (New Westminster); Joseph Kaye Henry (Vancouver); and Eli Wilson (Armstrong).

Listen to the audio clip: “Eli Wilson of Armstrong, BC” (streaming, 1.09 MB)

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Even after learning of an active botanical community in British Columbia, Davidson considered himself a more informed expert than those already in the province. He hoped that:

the collection, which I have had the honour of bringing together, will be the nucleus of what will ultimately become the most complete herbarium of the Provincial Flora.