Joseph Burke (botanist) - 1842

1842

Making good progress, they crossed the Vaal River on 1 January 1842 and the Orange River on 4 February. From here they deviated from their outward route and travelled west to Colesberg, where they arrived on 18 February. Striking further west, they reached Klein Tafelberg on 4 March and Beaufort West by 9 April. Along the Gamka River, Burke captured several eland and noted that some of his other animals had died. They crossed the Dwyka River on 3 May and the Hex River Pass on 22 May and were back at Vygekraal on 7 June, almost two and a half years after landing at Table Bay. Both collectors were commemorated in numerous specific names of plants, and Burke by the genus Burkea Hook., one of the most beautiful Transvaal trees.

Burke sailed for England in July 1842, taking back an "immense collection of living and dead animals and dried plants, seeds, bulbs etc"; the plant specimens finding their way to Kew. Burke married in England in December 1842 and later settled in the United States. He subsequently went on a joint expedition with collectors from Kew to Hudson Bay and California.