Species Burkea africana

For Joseph Burke (1812–1873), British ‘undergardener’ (botanist) and collector for the earl of Derby, Edward Smith Stanley (1775–1851), who was sent to South Africa arriving March, 1840. For the next two-and-a-half years, he explored the country together with the South African botanist Carl P Zeyher (1799–1858). By mid-June 1842, they had an ‘immense collection of living and dead animals and dried plants, seeds, bulbs etc.’ These were taken to England, the plant specimens finding their way to Kew Gardens. Shortly after his return, in December 1842, Burke married and settled in the United States where he went on a joint expedition with collectors from Kew to Hudson Bay and California.