Garden Tool Set

Five Fact Friday: Plant Hunters - The Lobb Brothers

Phalaenopsis lobbii Named for Thomas Lobb, who in 1845 found the first of the genus growing in the Himalayas.

1. William Lobb was born in 1809 and was followed two years later by his brother Thomas. They grew up in Egloshayle in the North of Cornwall.
2. Thomas joined the Veitch nursery around 1830, but it was William who was the nursery's first plant hunter - recommended by Thomas - and travelled to South America on 7 November 1840. Thomas was inspired by his brother's journeys and was send by Veitch to the East Indies in 1843.
3. By 1843, Veitch & Sons were selling seedlings of the Monkey Puzzle tree at 100 for £10, after William had sent back a package of 3000 seeds. Thomas and William finally saw each other again between Thomas arriving home in 1847 to arrange his collections and setting off again on Christmas Day 1848.
4. After many years of successful plant hunting, William eventually remained in California. He died in 1864 and was buried in San Francisco. Thomas retired back in Cornwall and his last contact with Veitch was in 1869. He died peacefully in 1894.
5. Both brothers discovered many wonderful plants new to Britain. William found plants such as: Ceanothus x veitchianus and Sequoiadendron giganteum. Thomas found plants such as Phalaenopsis amabilis, Nepenthes sanguinea, and Vanda caerulea.


Resources:
Musgrave, T. (1998) The Plant Hunters, London, The Orion Publishing Group