Collections & Collectors, a history in Thailand

 

Before 1932

 

J.G. Koenig, a Danish botanist, collected between 1778-1779 in Bangkok, Ayutthaya, Chanthaburi, and Phu Ket. There is no record of the number since the collection was lost at sea, but he undoubtedly collected quite a number of herbarium specimens.

 

Arthur Keith, a British medical officer to the Gold Fields of Siam Limited, came to Thailand in 1889 and was stationed in Bang Saphan, Prachuap Khiri Khan. During the period 1889-1891 he collected about 500 plants in Bang Saphan and its neighborhood. The collection is at the Singapore Herbarium (SING).

 

E.J. Schmidt, a Danish botanist later turned marine biologist, collected during 1899-1900 in Chanthaburi, Trat and particularly in Koh Chang, a group of islands offshore on the Thai-Cambodia border. His collection of about 1300 numbers is being kept in Copenhagen (C).

 

D.T. Gwynne-Vaughan, a British botanist joining the Skeat Expedition in 1899, collected in peninsular Thailand. His collection of about 450 numbers is deposited at Kew (K) and Cambridge (CGE).

 

C.C. Hosseus, a German botanist, collected mostly in North Thailand between 1904-1905. His collection of about 830 numbers is deposited at Munich (M), with duplicates in K and Edinburgh (E).

 

A.F.G. Kerr, originally a medical doctor in the service of the Royal Thai Government who later became the Government botanist, collected extensively (over 20,000 numbers) in Thailand between 1902-1932. The complete set is deposited at K and the British Museum (BM), duplicates are distributed to main herbaria of the world.

 

H.B.G. Garrett, a British who served as a forest officer under the Royal Thai Government, collected in North Thailand between 1899-1959. His collection consisted of 1,500 numbers, mainly kept in BM, K, and BKF, with a few duplicates in European herbaria.

 

Mrs. D.J. Collins, a British naturalist, collected chiefly at Chon Buri (Si Racha) and Chanthaburi 1902-1938. Her numbers ran to 2501 and were deposited in BM.

 

J.F. Rock, an American, made three collecting trips in North Thailand in 1919, 1920 and 1921. His collection of 1912 numbers was deposited at US.

 

H.S.H. Prince Lakshnakara Kasemsant, a Thai agricultural botanist, collected in central, Northeast, and peninsular Thailand during 1925-1932. His collection of about 1526 numbers was deposited at Bangkok Herbarium (BK), with duplicates in BM and K.

 

A. Marcan, a British chemist serving under the Royal Thai Government as Chief Assayer to the Royal Mint and later as Director of Government Laboratory, collected during 1919-1931, running to 2814 numbers. The collection was distributed to BM, Singapore (SING) and California (UC) (Grasses), with some duplicates in BK.

 

Put Phraisurind, a Thai assistant of Kerr, collected all over Thailand during 1920-1932. His collecting number ran to 4548 which were deposited at BK and K. He also collected for BKF between 1933-1936, with a total number of about 500.

 

Mrs. Eryl Smith, a British medical doctor, collected mainly ferns in peninsular Thailand during 1922. Her collections, numbering 1948, were deposited in BM, with some duplicates in BKF and SING.

 

Phraya Vanprueck Phicharn (Vanpruk), a Thai forest officer, collected about 1200 numbers mainly in northern and peninsular Thailand during 1912-1920. The collection is deposited in BKF, with duplicates in K. B.

 

Hayata, a Japanese botanist collected in northern Thailand, with about 1000 numbers credited to his collection, which is kept at Tokyo (TI).

 

1932 onwards

 

Gunnar Seidenfaden, a Danish botanical student, collected about 550 specimens in Chanthaburi and Surat Thani over a period of two months during 1934-1935. Later he became a diplomat and was posted the Danish Minister Plenipotentiary, and eventually became the Danish Ambassador residing in Bangkok. During his diplomatic career in Thailand he devoted his spare time to the study of the orchids of Thailand, with the collaboration of Tem Smitinand. A series of collecting trips were made during 1955-1973 in various parts of Thailand. The spirit collection and collection of living orchids, totaling over 9000 numbers, are being kept in C.

 

Khid Suvarnasuddhi, a Thai forest officer, collected about 1000 numbers in North Thailand during 1936-1942. His collection is kept at BKF with some duplicates in K and Paris (P).

 

In 1946 the Kwae Noi Basin Expidition took place. The expidition was led by S. Bloembergen, with G. Den Hoed, and A. J. G. H. Kostermans, Dutch scientists, accompanied by Kasin Suvatabhandu, a Thai botanist. The collection of some 1200 numbers was made in Kanchanaburi and was deposited at Leiden (L) and BK.

 

Tem Smitinand (1920-1995), a Thai forest botanist, collected extensively from 1947 onwards with collections numbering more than 12,000. His collection is in BKF, with duplicates in main European and American herbaria. During 1947-1977 he also organized a group of Thai collectors to botanically explore various parts of Thailand, namely:

 

Llewelyn Williams, an American botanist, came to investigate the latex-bearing trees of Thailand in 1950. He made a three-month trip in northern, southeastern and peninsular Thailand, accompanied by Tem Smitinand. The collection of 500 numbers was deposited at BKF.

 

Ernest C. and Lucy Abbe, in their course of study on the Fagaceae of Southeast Asia, came to Thailand in 1956, and made extensive excursions in Thailand, accompanied by Tem Smitinand. The collections ran to 1000 numbers and was deposited in BKF and the herbarium of the Missouri Botanical Gardens (MO).

 

Ingrid Alsterlund, a Swedish botanist, came to collect orchids for the University of Guteborg in 1967. She collected about 400 living orchids in Doi Inthanon and Doi Chiang Dao, Chiang Mai, northern Thailand. The collection is in Guteborg, Sweden (GB).

 

The Thai-Danish Botanical studies commenced in 1957, and two eminent Danish botanists, Professor Kai Gram and Dr. C. Syrach Larsen, came to investigate the possibility of conducting scientific research in Thailand and to prepare for the forthcoming expeditions. During the period of January-March, accompanied by Tem Smitinand, Gunnar Seidenfaden and Kasin Suvatabhandu, they traveled to northern and peninsular Thailand, collecting about 400 herbarium specimens, deposited in C.

 

The actual Thai-Danish botanical expeditions started from 1958 and ended in 1968. Danish botanists engaged in these expeditions were Thorvald Soerensen, Kai Larsen, Bertel Hansen, and E. Warncke. During the ten-year period they carried out eight expeditions in collaboration with Thai botanists from the Forest Herbarium. They made extensive excursions in Thailand with the total collecting number amounting to some 30,000.

 

In 1963 the UNESCO training expedition, led by T. Smitinand and H. Sleumer, collected about 500 numbers in Chiang Mai, Loei, Saraburi and Surat Thani, mostly in limestone hills. The duplicates are deposited at BKF, L, and SING.

 

The Thai-Dutch botanical expeditions started in 1965 and ended in 1975. A. Touw and H. Hennipman from L accompanied by Chamlong Phengkhlai of the BKF collected in northern and northeastern Thailand. The collection, mostly mosses and ferns, amounted to 5000 numbers and were deposited in BKF and L.

 

After Touw and Hennipman the expeditions were carried on by H. P. Nooteboom (1968), F. van Beusekom (1968-1969) and R. Geesink (1971-1975). The collections of these successive expeditions amounted to 8700 numbers.

 

The Thai-Japanese botanical activity commenced in 1958 after the 9th Pacific Science Congress. T. Tuyama collected about 700 numbers in northern Thailand. A. Kira of the Osaka University led an ecological study team and with the collaboration of the Kasetsart University collected in northern, central and peninsular Thailand. The team collected some 3000 numbers of mostly sterile material. These collections are deposited in Tokyo (TI) and Osaka (OSA) respectively.

 

From 1965 onwards botanical activity was aimed at contributing to the Flora of Thailand project. The first expedition was led by M. Tagawa and K. Iwatsuki, of the University of Kyoto, in collaboration with the Forest Herbarium, Bangkok. The activity is still currently being carried on with fruitful results and the participation of other botanists, namely G. Murata, H. Koyama, T. Shimizu and N. Fukuoka. The collections currently amounted to about 12,000 numbers, mainly deposited in Kyoto (KYO) and BKF.

 

It is worthwhile to the mention that a number of Thai botanists attached to the Department of Agriculture, Bangkok also made some collections, namely Jarey Sadakorn (700), Chirayuphin Chandraprasong (2300), Prayat Sangkhachand (2000), Sakon Sutheesorn (4500), Umphai Youngboonkird (500) and J. F. Maxwell (c. 4000). The collections are kept in BK.

 

At present (2006), a number of Thai botanists have been contributing the specimens to the Forest Herbarium, namely Chamlong Phengkhlai (c. 15,000 numbers), Thawatchai Santisuk (c. 10,000; 20,000 with other collectors), Chawalit Niyomdham (c. 7,500), Kongkanda Chayamarit (c. 3,000), Thawatchai Wongprasert (c. 5,000), Rachun Pooma (c. 6,500), Somran Suddee (c. 3,000) Phachok Puudja (c. 2,000), Thanongsak Jonganurak (2,000) and Leena Phuphatanapong (c. 500).

 

So far about 12,500 species are stored in the Forest Herbarium represented by around mounted 200,000 mounted specimens; 120,000 have been included to the database. However, with a new database system using BRAHMS, ca 9000 records (2006) have been edited and made available on to the internet through BKF website via BRAHMS on line.

 

References: Smitinand, T. 1989. Thailand. In D.G. Campbel and H.D. Hammond (eds) Floristic Inventory of Tropical Countries. The New York Botanical Garden: 63-82.

 

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