Career

Collecting localities

Collections

Literature

Biographical data

 

Burke, David

 

(Source: Flora Malesiana ser. 1, 1: Cyclopaedia of collectors)

 

Born: 1854, Kent, England. Died: Apr. 1, 1897, Ambon, Moluccas.

 

career:

Plant collector in the employ of Messrs Veitsch & Sons.1 Outside the Malaysian territory, he travelled in Guiana (1881), Burma (1891) and Columbia (1894-96).

Selaginella burkei Hier. was named after him.

 

Collecting localities:

1880. NW. Borneo. With Ch. Curtis (see there) in Sarawak, on a trial trip-18… He evidently made 2 voyages to the Philippine Islands, visiting Mindanao etc.; the concerning dates unknown.-1888-91. SE. New Guinea, Papua. With J.B. Cameron (see there) via Yule Isl. to St Joseph River (1888). Some trips with Fr. Hellwig (see there) in German NE. New Guinea (1888-89). Dutch W. New Guinea: ascent of the Arfak Mts (1891), starting from Andai, reaching the village of Hatam.2-1896. In this year he left England for Celebes and the Moluccas; it is not known to the present author whether this destination was duly reached, he might have gone straight to New Guinea instead.-1897. SE. New Guinea: between the south coast and Owen Stanley Range.

 

collections:

In Herb. H.J. Veitch = Herb. Kew [K].

In the list of Kew collections (1901), Francis and Joseph Burke are mentioned, under Veitch a Burke without initials; whether one of them collected in the Malaysian territory cannot be derived from the available data.

In Herb. Berl. [B]: 67 vasc. cryptogams from Br. New Guinea (1888-91). Here and there some of his plants are referred to in literature.3

 

literature:

(1) Wichmann, Entd. Gesch. N.G., in Nova Guinea, mentions a plant collector G.L. Burke; this name was rectified in the same work into that of David Burke; Wichmann made inquiries after B.’s travels with the firm of Veitch, who also knew no further particulars.

(2) cf. Peterm. Mitt. 44, 1898, p. 233.

(3) In Kew Bull. 1895, p. 282; Curtis’ Bot. Mag. 56, 1900, t. 7764; Lauterbach Beitr. Fl. Papuas. 10 (= Engl. Bot. Jahrb. 58, 1923), p. 263.

 

biographical data:

Hortus Veitchii 1906, p. 87-88; Backer, Verkl. Woordenb., 1936; Journ. Roy. Hort. Soc. 73, 1948, p. 289.