Charles Maries

Charles Maries
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Name	Charles Maries
Birth date	1851
Death date	1902
Birth place	Burton upon Trent
Occupations	Botanist, Plant collector, Horticulturist
Nationality	British

Charles Maries was a British botanist and plant collector active in the late 19th century who specialized in East Asian flora and introduced numerous species to European horticulture. Employed by the botanical firm of Veitch, he undertook extensive expeditions in Japan, Taiwan (Formosa), and China, contributing to collections at institutions such as Kew Gardens and influencing nurseries like Veitch Nurseries and James Veitch & Sons. His work connected networks including the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Linnean Society, and horticultural publications such as The Garden and The Gardener's Chronicle.

Early life and education

Maries was born in Burton upon Trent and trained in horticulture and botany through apprenticeships and practical work at nurseries including Veitch Nurseries, James Veitch & Sons, and Lowther Gardens, interacting with figures like Harry Veitch, James Veitch, and John Veitch. He visited botanical centres such as the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and consulted references from the Linnean Society and the Royal Horticultural Society while corresponding with botanists including Joseph Hooker, William Jackson Hooker, and George Bentham. His formative contacts extended to horticulturalists and nurserymen like William Robinson, Reginald Farrer, and Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker through specimen exchanges and seed lists.

Botanical expeditions and plant collection

Between 1876 and 1878 Maries undertook plant-collecting expeditions to Japan, Taiwan (Formosa), and southern China under the patronage of James Veitch & Sons, coordinating with collectors such as Ernest Henry Wilson, Augustine Henry, and Robert Fortune. He explored regions including Hokkaido, Honshu, Kyushu, and the Ryukyu Islands, making field observations near Mount Fuji, Lake Biwa, and the Yangtze basin while encountering locales tied to contemporaries like Philipp Franz von Siebold and Thomas Thomson. During these journeys he collected seeds, herbarium specimens, and living plants destined for Kew Gardens, the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard, the Cambridge Botanic Garden, and private estates such as Kiftsgate Court and Rosneath. His methods paralleled those used by Georg Joseph Kamel, Padre José Celestino Mutis, and Alexander von Humboldt in specimen documentation, and his correspondence connected with institutions including the British Museum (Natural History), the Royal Society, and the Chelsea Physic Garden.

Major discoveries and introductions

Maries introduced numerous taxa to European horticulture, contributing species that later bore epithets honoring botanists and patrons such as Veitch, Hooker, and Hemsley. Notable introductions attributed to his collections include rhododendrons and azaleas that complemented genera cultivated at Kew Gardens, the Arnold Arboretum, and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and conifers that enriched collections at the Royal Horticultural Society trials at Chiswick and Wisley. His specimens informed taxonomic work by botanists like William Botting Hemsley, Henry H. Hance, and Frederick Victor Dickins, and were cited in floras and monographs by Elmer Drew Merrill, Charles Baron Clarke, and George King. Several cultivated varieties and species entered nursery catalogues of Veitch Nurseries, James Veitch & Sons, Späth, and Hillier Nurseries, influencing plantings at estates including Syon House, Kew Palace grounds, and Hampton Court Palace gardens.

Later career and horticultural work

After returning to Britain Maries continued horticultural work at institutions and nurseries such as Veitch Nurseries, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and private estates including Osterley Park and Chatsworth House, collaborating with gardeners and botanists like William Turner Thiselton-Dyer, Joseph Dalton Hooker, and Arthur Hill. He contributed to horticultural periodicals including The Garden, The Gardener's Chronicle, and the Journal of Botany, and shared material with collectors and institutions such as the Arnold Arboretum, the Royal Horticultural Society, and Glasnevin Botanic Gardens. Maries' later activities intersected with the work of plant explorers like Frank Kingdon-Ward, Reginald Farrer, and Ernest Wilson through specimen exchange, influencing collections at botanical gardens such as Kew, Edinburgh, and Glasnevin.

Personal life and legacy

Maries' legacy is preserved in living collections, herbarium sheets at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the British Museum (Natural History), and in taxa and cultivars propagated across Europe by nurseries including James Veitch & Sons, Späth, and Hillier Nurseries. His name and collections are referenced in works by botanists and horticulturists such as William Hemsley, Joseph Dalton Hooker, Henry John Elwes, Augustine Henry, and Reginald Farrer, and his introductions impacted gardens and arboreta worldwide including the Arnold Arboretum, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and the Royal Horticultural Society trials. Contemporary plant historians and institutions like the Linnean Society, the Royal Geographical Society, and Kew Gardens recognize his contributions to Victorian plant exploration alongside figures such as Robert Fortune, Ernest Henry Wilson, and Joseph Hooker.

Category:British botanists Category:Plant collectors Category:19th-century botanists