First day of Spring: Gymplatanthera Jacsksonii

The collections at Winchester College include a substantial body of natural history material, much of it gathered by members of the Natural History Society or presented by Old Wykehamists. With the arrival of spring today, it is fitting to draw attention to one part of these collections: the Spicer Herbarium, given to the College in 1874 by William Web Spicer (Commoners, 1835–37).

The herbarium brings together specimens collected by the Revd Spicer and other botanists, later supplemented by contributions from members of the Natural History Society. It remains an evolving record of botanical interest and enquiry, and is now housed in Science School.

Among its contents is a specimen with a more personal connection to the College: an orchid discovered by The Jacker (Horace Jackson (C, 1898-1903; CoRo 1908-47), one of Winchester’s more memorable dons. Collected on downland just outside the city in 1910, the plant was identified by him and his colleague Robert Quirk as a previously unrecorded hybrid between the frog orchid and the fragrant orchid. It was subsequently named Gymplatanthera jacksonii in his honour.

The recognition proved short-lived. Writing in The Wykehamist in 1926, Quirk noted that the plant “appears to have died out”, and it has not been recorded since.

Fortunately, both a specimen of this orchid and a contemporary watercolour by the local artist Miss Beatrice Corfe survive in the College’s collections, preserving a small but intriguing chapter in its botanical history.