Joseph Warscewicz, Ritter von Ravicz (1812 -1866)
The above spelling of the man’s name is the correct version and it is pronounced ‘Warsse-witch’. There are a number of plants bearing this name as the specific epithet and some of the erroneous spelling had been accepted, but not any more. Now they want us all to be perfect! (Good luck!)
If the name and its spelling are confusing, how about his citizenship? He was born in Lithuania of Polish extraction but owing to his participation in an unsuccessful Polish revolution, he spent most of his life in Germany and in South America.
The young fugitive from Poland had found employment as a gardener at the Botanical Garden in Berlin, where he also attended university and obtained a degree in botany. He then worked for the Belgian nursery of Mr.VanHoutte and with his employer travelled for the first time to Guatemala. There he soon established himself as an independent collector of seeds, herbarium specimens, bulbs, tubers and assorted plants, which included a vast number of orchids. Remember, the 19th century was the heyday of botany and Europe was forever hungry for new plant material. Most of the Ritter’s collected treasures were sent to Germany and Switzerland. In a way, this was unusual, because during that time, most collectors were employed by British firms and sent all their booty to England. Warscewicz was an exception; he had been thoroughly trained in all fields of botany and was therefore of immense importance to his patrons on the European continent. He was offered several good positions with various establishments yet he did not accept anything that would tie him down or oblige him. He preferred to travel freely wherever he wanted to go. By the way – on the only picture I could find, he looks a lot like Sean Connery.
In 1850 Warscewicz contracted Yellow Fever and on his return home, he again assisted his friend Prof. Reichenbach in describing over 300 different orchid species. But the adventurous life in South America beckoned and within a year he was there again, collecting orchids under extreme hardships. He had been robbed of all his money and equipment but continued to travel, first to Bolivia, then to Peru, always shipping plants off to Europe. Some shipments were lost but any that arrived, having been collected by Warscewicz brought extra high prices. In England, a single plant would fetch twenty-five pound sterling. In 1853 he again caught Yellow Fever and this time, upon returning home, did accept a position as supervisor of the Botanical Gardens in Krakow. That post had been offered to him by his friend, Prof. Czerwiakowski (there is another one of these names – say it ‘cherv-yakov-ski’). After another short illness, he died there in 1866.
He had discovered many new plants, including Gesneriads and his Canna warscwicziana became a coveted parent of the hybrid Cannas.
The most important aspect about this adventuresome botanist is the fact that he furnished not the English but rather the botanical gardens of continental Europe with new plants, including orchids. Justly, his main fame stays with the orchids, many of them proudly carrying his name as the species epithet, including Brassia, Catasetum, Cycnoches, Miltonia, Phragmipedium, Sobralia, Stanhopea and even a whole genus – the little Warscewiczella, just to name a few. My favourite one surely must be the Cattleya warscewiczii, which he had found first. Later this species was given different names like C. gigas, C. gloriosa, C. imperialis, C. sanderiana and C. labiata var. warscewiczii; after all the dust around this fantastic flower has settled, I am glad to say that the Ritter’s own name has been kept with the plant.
Ingrid Schmidt-Ostrander - Canadian Orchid Congress