Darwin, Charles herbarium collections

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Charles Darwin's Keeling Island collections
(from the Cambridge University Herbarium)

From Chaper XX of the Voyage of the Beagle, by Charles Darwin referring to what he calls 'Keeling Islands':

"I will now give a sketch of the natural history of these islands, which, from its very paucity, possesses a peculiar interest. The cocoa-nut tree, at the first glance, seems to compose the whole wood; there are, however, five or six other trees. One of these grows to a very large size, but, from the extreme softness of its wood, is useless; another sort affords excellent timber for ship-building. Besides the trees, the number of plants is exceedingly limited, and consists of insignificant weeds. In my collection, which includes, I believe, nearly the perfect Flora, there are twenty species, without reckoning a moss, lichen, and fungus. To this number two trees must be added; one of which was not in flower, and the other I only heard of. The latter is solitay tree of its kind, and grows near he beach, where, without doubt, the one seed was thrown up by the waves. A Guilandina grows on only one of the islets. I do not include in the above list the sugar-cane, banana, some other vegetables, fruit-trees, and imported grasses. As the islands consist entirely of coral, and at one time must have existed as mere water-washed reefs, all their terrestrial productions must have been transported here by the waves of the sea. In accordance with this, the Florula has quite the character of a refuge for the destitute: Professor Henslow informs me that of the twenty species nineteen belong to different genera, and these again to no less than sixteen families."

Charles Darwin

Darwin's plants from the Beagle voyage were sent to Cambridge University, UK, by Darwin as a gift for his friend and mentor Professor John S. Henslow. Around 2,400 plants are mounted on 954 sheets. This includes 30 sheets from Keeling Islands (now the Australian Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. There appear to be no specimens from the Australian mainland or Tasmania from the Beagle collection.

In the list below an extra column is added to show the current name accepted in the Australian Plant Census (APC)

Family	Genus	Species	Current name in APC	Specimen	Darwin's Location	Modern Location
Acanthaceae	Dicliptera	burmanni	Dicliptera ciliata	CGE02924	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Acanthaceae	Dicliptera	burmanni	Dicliptera ciliata	CGE02925	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Amaranthaceae	Achyranthes	aspera	Achyranthes aspera	CGE02929	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Apocynaceae	Neisiosperma	oppositifolia	Neisosperma oppositifolium	CGE02947	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Apocynaceae	Neisiosperma	oppositifolia	Neisosperma oppositifolium	CGE02948	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Boraginaceae	Cordia	subcordata	Cordia subcordata	CGE03052	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Boraginaceae	Cordia	subcordata	Cordia subcordata	CGE03053	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Boraginaceae	Messerschmidia	argentea	Heliotropium foertherianum	CGE03056	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Caesalpiniaceae	Caesalpinia	bonduc	Caesalpinia bonduc	CGE03083	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Fabaceae	Acacia	farnesiana	Vachellia farnesiana	CGE03251	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Goodeniaceae	Scaevola	sericea	Scaevola taccada	CGE03207	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Lythraceae	Pemphis	acidula	Pemphis acidula	CGE03235	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Malvaceae	Hibiscus	tiliaceus	Hibiscus tiliaceus	CGE03238	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia	diffusa	Boerhavia diffusa	CGE03264	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia	diffusa	Boerhavia diffusa	CGE03265	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia	diffusa	Boerhavia diffusa	CGE03267	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia	repens	Boerhavia repens	CGE03268	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Nyctaginaceae	Boerhavia	repens	Boerhavia repens	CGE03269	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Poaceae	Digitaria	setigera	Digitaria setigera	CGE02859	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Poaceae	Lepturus	repens	Lepturus repens	CGE02869	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Poaceae	Lepturus	repens	Lepturus repens	CGE02870	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Poaceae	Stenotaphrum	micranthum	Stenotaphrum micranthum	CGE02906	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Poaceae	Eleusine	indica	Eleusine indica	CGE03437	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Poaceae	Eragrostis	amabilis	Eragrostis amabilis	CGE03439	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Poaceae	Setaria	barbata	Setaria barbata	CGE03440	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Portulacaceae	Portulaca	oleracea	Portulaca oleracea	CGE03308	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Rubiaceae	Guettarda	speciosa	Guettarda speciosa	CGE03345	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Rubiaceae	Guettarda	speciosa	Guettarda speciosa	CGE03346	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Tiliaceae	Triumfetta	procumbens	Triumfetta procumbens	CGE03397	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands
Urticaceae	Laportea	aestuans	Laportea aestuans	CGE03449	Keeling Islands	Cocos (Keeling) Islands

Source: Extracted from: Cambridge University Plant Science Dept website: http://cambridgeherbarium.org/collections/darwin-specimens/darwins-plants-at-cambridge/

Australian National Herbarium - updated 24 February, 2015 by webmaster (cpbr-info@anbg.gov.au)

Charles Darwin's Keeling Island collections (from the Cambridge University Herbarium)

Charles Darwin's Keeling Island collections
(from the Cambridge University Herbarium)