Jameson s.n., Kumaon (1849)
More actions
| Jameson herbarium specimens, Kumaon (1849) | |
|---|---|
| Jameson s.n., Kumaon (1849) | |
| |
| Jameson s.n., Kumaon: the fruiting sheet, catalogue E00248826 at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (CC BY-SA 2.5) | |
| At a Glance | |
| Classification | Unknown |
| Location | |
| Country | India |
| Province/State | Uttarakhand |
| Locality | Kumaon |
| Collection | |
| Method | Herbarium specimen |
| Sourcing Type | Historical |
| Date | August 1849 |
| Collector | W. Jameson |
| Specimen | |
| Repository | Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh |
| Catalogue Number | E00248599; E00248826 |
| Collector Number | Jameson, W. s.n. |
| Scientific Name | Cannabis sativa L. |
| Occurrence Record | View occurrence record |
Jameson s.n., Kumaon is a herbarium accession of two Cannabis sativa sheets from Kumaon, dated August 1849 and labelled as coming from William Jameson at Saharanpur. The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh holds them as catalogue E00248599 and catalogue E00248826.[1][2] GBIF publishes them as occurrence 574918325 and occurrence 574685702.[3][4]
Collection and locality
E00248599 is labelled Kemaon, Himalayas, August, 1849 and From Mr. W. Jameson. Supt. Saharunpore.[5] E00248826 is labelled Kemaon province, Lower Himalayas. Aug. 1849 and From Mr. W. Jameson. Saharunpore.[6] Neither label gives an altitude, a habitat, a day or a collection number.[5][6]
The catalogue records both sheets as collected by W. Jameson in August 1849.[1][2]
Jameson's letter of August 1849
In a letter to Dr Christison dated 17 August 1849, Jameson gave what Alexander Christison called an interesting account of hemp in that part of India. Christison, who styles him Director of the Botanic Gardens at Saharunpore, printed the letter in his 1851 paper on Indian hemp.[7]: 31 Jameson wrote that in Kumaon and Garhwal the plant was grown in large quantities, partly for its resin and partly for its bark, from which a strong coarse cloth called bungila was made for the poorer inhabitants, particularly in Garhwal. It was sown in July and gathered in October, and churrus came from the female plants only: when the seeds began to form, towards the beginning or middle of October, the upper part of the plant was pressed between the palms and the resin scraped from the hands with a blunt knife.[7]: 31 Crossing the Himalaya in October from Almora to Mussoorie, he had passed through dozens of villages at 6,000 to 8,000 feet where men, women and children were all making churrus. With the letter he sent a small packet of hemp seed from a Garhwal village where it was grown in vast quantity.[7]: 32
Christison wrote that the plants grown in the Edinburgh Botanic Garden showed exactly the difference between male and female that Jameson described.[7]: 32 The same paper says that the Edinburgh plants were raised from seed picked from dried tops bought in the bazaars of Bombay, sown on 17 March 1849.[7]: 27
Specimen and identification
E00248599 is labelled Cannabis sativa. mas (mas, male). E00248826 is labelled Cannabis sativa, var. Indica and carries fruiting stems.[5][6] Both sheets are stamped Herb. James McNab Demonstration Coll.[5][6]
The catalogue publishes E00248599 as Cannabis sativa L. and E00248826 as Cannabis sativa var. indica.[1][2]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Cannabis sativa L., specimen E00248599". Herbarium catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Cannabis sativa var. indica, specimen E00248826". Herbarium catalogue. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ "Occurrence 574918325: Cannabis sativa L." GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ "Occurrence 574685702: Cannabis sativa var. indica (Lam.) Wehmer". GBIF. Global Biodiversity Information Facility. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Digitised sheet E00248599: Cannabis sativa L." RBGE IIIF image service. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Digitised sheet E00248826: Cannabis sativa var. indica". RBGE IIIF image service. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. Retrieved 17 September 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Christison, Alexander (July 1851). "On the natural history, action, and uses of Indian hemp". Monthly Journal of Medical Science. 13 (19): 26–45. PMC 5891256.