Ian Hedge’s Photographic Collection. Afghanistan – 1962-69. RBGE Archive

Botanical names have a tendency to be utilitarian, geographical or commemorative, but very rarely are they whimsical.

In 1964 however, Per Wendelbo described a new species of Scrophularia, from Afghanistan and called it S. landroveri. He and Ian Hedge from RBGE had collected the specimen from the Shibar Pass  northwest of Kabul during their 1962 collection trip.

The name Scrophularia landroveri was used to honour their rusty Landrover Series II that had suffered in the pursuit botany during their Afghan collection trip. Four-wheeled drive vehicles such as the Landrover had made collecting in the vast and often more or less roadless areas of the Iranian highlands much easier, helped promote knowledge of the flora of the region and therefore became worthy of commemoration.

http://data.rbge.org.uk/herb/E00327336

Ian Hedge’s Photographic Collection. Afghanistan – 1962-69. RBGE Archive

The species was describes as inconspicuous  due to the greyish green
colour of all its parts a colour it shared with the Landrover.

In the absence of an attractive field picture of the plant in-situ how about some more Landover pictures….braw.

Ian Hedge’s Photographic Collection. Afghanistan – 1962-69. RBGE Archive

Ian Hedge’s Photographic Collection. Afghanistan – 1962-69. RBGE Archive

Ian Hedge’s Photographic Collection. Afghanistan – 1962-69. RBGE Archive