Jeuriaen Rumpf, Latinized as Rumphius, was born in Hanau probably in 1627 and passed away on Ambon Island, Indonesia, on 15 June 1702.

  On finishing the Gymnasium in Hanau Rumphius "... entered the services of the Republic of Venice."

   Well, this wording probably was meant to cover a dark spot on his CV, the truth by all probability was much less elevating. In fact the naive youngster was tricked by the Dutch East Indies Company and by the time he realized what is happening, he was sailing towards Brazil to fight the Portuguese there.

   However, his ship (De Swarte Raef = Black Raven) was captured already on European waters by the Portuguese and Rumphius was forced to become a mercenary in the Portoguese Army. In 1648 or 1649 he escaped and returned to Hanau. He could be only 21-22 years old, yet we must consider him a mature man who experienced quite a lot in his life.

   Rumphius spent the next three years at home, in Hanau. His interest in plants, which developed during his stay in Portugal probably played some role in his life during these years.

   In 1652 Rumphius entered the services of the Dutch East Indies Company - this time indeed as a volunteer, arriving at his decision on serious considerations. As he wrote years later "Becoming familiar with the plants of Amboina is the first among all the reasons ..." motivating his decision.

   He departed from Texel on 26th December 1652 as "midshipman Rumpf" of the ship "Muyden". The ship arrived in Batavia (today Jakarta) in 1653 and in Ambon Island in 1654.

   In 1657 Rumphius became "Second Merchant" posted to Larike village, located at the southwesten part of Ambon Island.

   According to official documents dated 1660 Rumphius has been promoted to "opperhooft", that is, Regional Director of the Hitu Peninsula, in the northern part of the island. In 1662 Ruimphius became "First Merchant".

In 1663 Rumphius applies for permission to import books from Holland:

"I need various good and reliable authors who could serve as a compass for me in these Indian wildernesses and could support the Memory."

   His application was accepted and Rumphius received the books he asked for.

   In 1666 for a short period Rumphius is serving the Company as "Secunde", that is, Deputy Governor of Ambon Island, the second highest ranked official on the island.

   However, this post was soon transferred to an officer with good connections and, as a sort of compensation, Rumphius got a small parcel of land in the vicinity of the Governmental Headquarters which

   "... would not bring more than one hudred rijksdaelers when sold."

   From the wasteland Rumphius creates a garden - more exactly botanical garden, the home of his botanical collections.

   In 1667 his contract expired. He applied for the pensionary status and asked for permission to stay on the island for 8 - 10 months as a private person in order to complete his "... interesting studies".

   His application had been rejected: according to contemporary rules and regulations Europeans were allowed to stay in the colony only in the service of the Company.

   In lieu of granting the pensionary status his contract was extended by one year with the caveat that he became relieved from official duties "... in order to promote said interesting studies".

   That one year flew away quickly but he stayed on: he deemed the ship sent for him and his family too dangerous and refused to sail away on it. Instead, he was speeding all over the island, developing his collections and wrote his book.

   Meanwhile his eyes became sick - by 1670 Rumphius is almost completely blind, yet he did continue his work.

   Governor Maetsuycker was greatly impressed by his incredible devotion and persistence - and honored it by issuing the official order that he may stay on the island as long as he wishes "... undisturbed in his dignity."

   In the earthquake of 17 February 1674 he lost his wife and his youngest daughter - and by that date Rumphius was completely blind. Governor Maetsuycker's report on the man mourning his beloved wife and daughter is deeply moving. His first, probably native wife, Susanna, is commemorated by the name of the orchid (Habenaria) Pecteilis susannae.

   On 11 January 1687 most of the city had been perished in a firestorm, including his herbarium, his drawings and most of his manuscripts. Drawings of Daniel Crul, who did work for him around 1680 were also lost to the fire.

   Fortunately, by this time his work had officially been supported: in 1688, that is, given the contemporary communications and travel condiions practically promptly the painter Philip van Eyck had been sent from Holland in order to re-create the lost drawings.

   It took twelve years (!) until P. van Eyck could finish the drawings, in spite of the fact that meanwhile he involved a talented soldier, Pieter de Ruyter by name, to help in that work. Between 1692 and 1692 two more artists, the excellent J. Hogeboom and Johan Philip Sipman joined them together with Christiaen Gieraerts, whose main duties were collecting plants and writing the manuscripts.

   The first six, completed books were delivered to the Governor's Office in 1690. The value of the work was obviously monumental: Governor-General Camphuys ordered that all the manuscripts and drawings be duplicated before sending the originals to Holland. Copying took two years but Governor-General Camphuys knew what he was doing and why when he issued that order.

   Because "Waterland", the ship transporing the copies had been sank by the French Navy, of course together with the invaluable manucripts, drawings - everything ...

   On the order of the bright Governor-General Camphuys copying had to be started all over again. Isaac de St.Martin and Cornelis Chasteleyn joined by Johan Philip Sipman at the headquartes in 1696 prepared the new copies of the by that time nine volumes.

   Those three aditional volumes were carried home personally by Philip van Eyck and Johan Philip Sipman, who in the same year - 1697 - arrived safely in Europe.

The last part was finished in 1701 "... being an Actuarium or Last Gift." His work had been done and on 15 June 1702 he passed away.

   Only one authentic portrait of him is bequeathed on us - the portrait made by his son, Paul August, himself a noteworthy botanical illustrator.

   In 1736 J. Burmann, Professor of Botany at the University of Amsterdam applied for permission to publish the manuscripts and drawings in print. The application was honored and the Herbarium Amboinense was published between 1750-1755.

   Bibliographic data of this immortal work are

Het Amboinsch Kruidboek, dat is beschryving van de meest bekende Boomen, Heesters, Kruiden, Land- en Water-Planten die men in Amboina, en de omleggende Eylanden vind ... nagezien en uitgegeven door J. Burmannus.
Amsterdam, M. Uytwerf, 1750-1755.

In Latin:

Herbarium Amboinense, plurimas complectens arbores, frutices, herbas, plantas terrestres, & aquaticas, quae in Amboina et adjacentibus reperiuntur insulis ... nunc primum in lucem edita ... J. Burmanni", etc.

   Prof J. Burmann is commemorated by Burmanniaceae, a small group of saprophytic plants, one of the closest relatives of orchids.

   Herbarium Amboinense consist of in 6 volumes bound in 4, the Actuarium is a colligate to Volume 6. In the large (43 x 27cm) folios containing altogether 1,600 pages and 698 engraved plates about 1,200 plants are described. In spite of its outdated, pre-Linnean nomenclature and the fact that although Linnaeus knew this work, he referred to it in the Species Plantarum less than twenty times or so, still over 350 binomials are based on the descriptions presented in the Herbarium Amboinense.

   In the Herbarium Amboinense there are twenty seven orchids which can be identified down to the species level and nine more whose identity could be identified only to their genera.

   It is noteworthy that as far as orchids are concerned there are only two errors: Rumphius misidentified Curculigo orchioides Gaertner and C. capitulata (Loureiro) O.K. (both belong in Musaceae, the banana family) as orchids. In these cases Rumphius remarked that their flowers and fruits are not really orchid-like. Small error indeed if this is an error at all - given the truly bewildering similarity reflected in the currently valid species name one of these plants even today.

   Rumphius was the first who realized and described that orchids can be either terrestrial or epiphytic.

   He also realized and clearly stated that epiphytic orchids are not parasites of their hosts.

   At the same time Rumphius's observations on the at times negative effects of epiphytes on their hosts are valuable data. In this respect his observations concerning the habitats as well as the biology, etc. of many plants he studied are the only data available for science up to today.

   Rumphius was the first who observed and described the pollinia and the seeds of orchids, rejecting clearly the generatio spontanea theories of Hieronymus Bock and Athanasius Kircher.

   His notices on local uses, beliefs, etc. related to orchids are a fascinating reading indeed.

   In spite of being the first flora of the Indomalesian region, for all practical purposes the Herbarium Amboinense was forgotten for about one and a half century - until yet another drama called attention to it.

   The next botanist collecting plants in Ambon Island was Dr. Ch. B. Robinson Jr. He started collecting plants on the island on 15 July 1913 and due to a misunderstanding he was killed less than six months later, on 5th December, same year.

   Processing Robinson's collections directed the focus on the Herbarium Amboinense - dug up and connected to our current botanical science by Elmer D. Merrill, recognized authority on the flora of the Philippine Islands. For Merill's work J. J. Smith, one of the giants of orchidology undertook the identification of orchids.

   So, while you enjoy your Phalaenopsis amabilis and its hybrids, perhaps it is not entirely improper to stop for a while and pay tribute to these outstanding botanists ...