Picture Details
Neem, watercolour and pencil on paper.
Partner:
Kew GardensImage reference:
ILLUS43.01/7.01WOrigin:
Indian SubcontinentArtist / Date:
Thomas Duncanson, 1825Size:
297 x 215 mmDescription:
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Alexander Moon ( - 1825), was a Scottish botanist who worked at Kew as a gardener in 1815. Two years later Moon was chosen by Sir Joseph Banks to replace William Kerr to manage the Government Gardens situated on Slave Island in Colombo, Ceylon. Moon was well qualified as a botanist, and initiated moving the gardens firstly to Kalutar, then further inland to the mountains of Peredeniya. In this isolated situation, he was left to study the flora, and worked on his 'Catalogue of the indigenous and exotic plants growing in Ceylon', which he published in both English and Singhalese, for the benefit of the local inhabitants. Moon died of fever in 1825, a year after its publication. Thomas Duncanson, who was also a member of Kew staff, had a talent for painting plants. This watercolour was made from a plant raised at Kew, grown from seeds collected by Moon in Ceylon.
