Species Hebenstretia oatesii

Pictures from Observations

Range:

Location unknown

Locations of Identifications

Etymology of Hebenstretia:

For Johann Christian Hebenstreit (1720–1791), German physician and botanist. He studied medicine at the University of Leipzig from 1740–1748 and practised in Naumburg before becoming professor of botany and natural history at the Russian Academy of Sciences at St Petersburg. In 1751 he became a personal physician to Count Kyrylo Rosumowskyj, the president of the academy, for two years and was stationed in the Ukraine before returning to Leipzig. In 1755 he accepted the position of professor of botany and natural history in St Petersburg, but deteriorating health forced him to return to Leipzig in 1961. Little is known of his life thereafter.

Etymology of oatesii:

Named after Francis (Frank) Oates (1840–1875), a British naturalist, explorer, and uncle of Antarctic explorer Lawrence Oates. He was one of the first Europeans to see the Victoria Falls.

Scientific name:

Hebenstretia oatesii Rolfe

Localities:

Southern Africa

Synonym of:

Unknown

Long etymology:

The Baobab tree is one of the curiosities described by Oates in his journals: "The tree was perfectly gigantic in girth, thickening as it got higher, though of no great height. It was swolen and bloated in a most extraordinary manner ... Though still flourishing, it was a mere shell, and, looking in at a hole in the side, I saw that it was open to the sky at the top. Inside is a good-sized chamber, strewed with minute bones of rats or some small mammalia. No doubt generations of owls have long had their abode here; one flew out at our approach."

The final leg of Oates' journey took him to through western Matabeleland to Victoria Falls. Delayed by poor weather and the hostility of local tribes, he finally reached the falls on 31 December 1874. Oates was one of the first few Europeans to see the falls in full flood. He died of a fever on 5 February, while returning to Tati.

Camp in the Veldt: An engraving based upon a watercolour by Frank Oates.

Oates' legacy, a voluminous set of journals and letters home, was collected and edited by his brother, Charles George Oates and published in 1881.^[2] This work contains detailed descriptions of flora and fauna plus drawings and detailed maps based on Oates' observation. There is a permanent exhibit dedicated to Frank Oates at The Oates Museum at Selborne in Hampshire.

Authors:

Rolfe

Protologue:

Oates, Matabele Land, ed. 2 406 (1889)

Synonym status:

Accepted

Year published:

1889