An Almanac of Botanical Trivia

About this book

From the preface:

"During a career of teaching I have assembled a miscellany of notes that have been used in lectures as trivia. Birth dates and places have been as interesting as data on how botanists died, where, or after what longevity. Who died on his birthday‘? Who died in the bed in which he was born‘? Even postage stamps and their illustrations offer trivia for discussion of an unusual plant family, a morphological feature, or an economic use. Certainly the New Zealand stamp of Corynocarpus laevigatus, when issued without a name or indication of the plant’s toxicity, challenged the taxonomist. The plant is now a dangerous weed tree in Hawaii and its introduction there no longer qualifies as trivial. The daily posting of a “trivial” can precede or supplement a lecture and the explanation of many trivia can be challenging to teacher and / or student.

The following data have been salvaged from these files and arranged chronologically according to calendar dates. At the end of each month “trivial facts” that can’t be dated accurately within a given month are cited with a single ? At the end of the year facts are cited which cannot be attributed to a month or a day.

Over the years all facts have been checked or found repeated in at least a second reference. The list of “facts” or oddities that can’t be verified to the present is equally long – and sometimes more scandalous. Trivia related to extant botanists which might be libelous, even though not gossip, have been avoided."

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