Sydney Percy-Lancaster
Encyclopedia
Sydney Percy-Lancaster, F.L.S., F.R.H.S., M.R.A.S. was born on 19 July 1886 at Meerut, India
. His father, Percy Lancaster, was a banker and a talented amateur gardener, who went on to become the Secretary of the Agri Horticultural Society of India
in Calcutta, India
.
Collection, started by his father in 1892, they were the most popular garden plant in India
at that time. It was said that every Canna cultivar growing in India had been derived from the Agri-Horticultural Society, where the collection was domiciled.
In 1910, he became an Assistant Secretary and then the Secretary in 1914 until his retirement in October 1953, after a long service to the society and to Indian horticulture as a whole.
Unlike most of his countrymen who packed up and return to England in 1947, upon the independence of India from the British Empire
, Percy-Lancaster stayed on and made India his home.
In 1947, he was the last Englishman
to hold the post of Superintendent of Horticultural Operations, Government of India.
In November 1953, he joined the National Botanic Gardens
at Lucknow
as Senior Technical Assistant because of his early life's association with Sikandar Bagh
. He wished to spend the remainder of his life at Lucknow where the gardening traditions of his family began.
He served the National Botanic Gardens of India
until January 1959 when his son, Alick Percy-Lancaster pressed him to join the family at Salisbury
(Southern Rhodesia
), taking with him the family's Alipore Canna Collection for enjoyment in retirement.
In November 1961, after his wife's death in 1960 and Alick's death in 1961, he returned to the National Botanic Gardens, where he spent the last of his years.
Percy-Lancaster also laid out the Sunder Nursery in Delhi
, with Humayun's Tomb
as its backdrop. Apart from seeds and saplings, the nursery delivered flowers and fresh fruits and vegetables, on order. As soon as Lutyens and Baker designed plans for the city of New Delhi
with broad roads and avenues, he was commissioned to set up a nursery and select trees to be grown at their sides. He did this, by planting 15,000 trees and 150 miles of hedges.
He was responsible for laying out the garden around Mahatma Gandhi
's samadhi
in Rajghat
and for planting 5,500 trees in the new refugee colonies of Rajindra Nagar Lajpat Nagar and Patel Nagar. He provided the greenery at the National Stadium for the first Asian Games
and the cricket pitch for the first official MCC cricket match in India. In the National Botanic Gardens at Lucknow, he had an opportunity to utilize his knowledge in horticulture for public use. He helped to beautify many parts of the garden, in particular the conservatory
with which he has an association as a boy.
He made a number of crosses at varietal and specific level in genera such as, Amaryllis
, Barleria
, Bauhinia
, Begonia
, Bougainvillea
, Canna
, Cassia, Chrysanthemum
, Crinum
, Hedychium
, Hemerocallis, Hibiscus
, Ixora
, Lagerstroemia, Petunia
, Poinsettia
, Rosa
, and Tecoma.
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. His father, Percy Lancaster, was a banker and a talented amateur gardener, who went on to become the Secretary of the Agri Horticultural Society of India
Agri Horticultural Society of India
The Agri Horticultural Society of India was founded in 1820 by William Carey on the Alipore Road, Kolkata. It has a flower garden, greenhouses, a research laboratory and a library. It houses a massive collection of plants and flowers...
in Calcutta, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Career
In 1902 Sydney Percy-Lancaster was apprenticed to the Agri-Horticultural Society and on his father's death in 1904, he was appointed an Assistant. He continued collecting and hybridising the Alipore CannaCanna (plant)
Canna is a genus of nineteen species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the gingers, bananas, marantas, heliconias, strelitzias, etc.Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae...
Collection, started by his father in 1892, they were the most popular garden plant in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
at that time. It was said that every Canna cultivar growing in India had been derived from the Agri-Horticultural Society, where the collection was domiciled.
In 1910, he became an Assistant Secretary and then the Secretary in 1914 until his retirement in October 1953, after a long service to the society and to Indian horticulture as a whole.
Unlike most of his countrymen who packed up and return to England in 1947, upon the independence of India from the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
, Percy-Lancaster stayed on and made India his home.
In 1947, he was the last Englishman
Englishman
Englishman may refer to:*English people*Grey Partridge*Jason Englishman, Canadian rock music singer and guitarist*Jenny-Bea Englishman, real name of the Canadien singer Esthero*Erald Briscoe, reggae musician who records under the name Englishman...
to hold the post of Superintendent of Horticultural Operations, Government of India.
In November 1953, he joined the National Botanic Gardens
National Botanical Research Institute
National Botanical Research Institute is a research institute of CSIR in Lucknow. It is engaged in the field of taxonomy and modern biology.-History:...
at Lucknow
Lucknow
Lucknow is the capital city of Uttar Pradesh in India. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of Lucknow District and Lucknow Division....
as Senior Technical Assistant because of his early life's association with Sikandar Bagh
Sikandar Bagh
Sikandar Bagh , formerly known by the British as Sikunder/Sikandra/Secundra Bagh, is a villa and garden enclosed by a fortified wall, with loopholes, gateway and corner bastions, approx. 150 yards square, c. 4.5 acres, located in the city of Lucknow, Oudh, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was built by the...
. He wished to spend the remainder of his life at Lucknow where the gardening traditions of his family began.
He served the National Botanic Gardens of India
National Botanical Research Institute
National Botanical Research Institute is a research institute of CSIR in Lucknow. It is engaged in the field of taxonomy and modern biology.-History:...
until January 1959 when his son, Alick Percy-Lancaster pressed him to join the family at Salisbury
Harare
Harare before 1982 known as Salisbury) is the largest city and capital of Zimbabwe. It has an estimated population of 1,600,000, with 2,800,000 in its metropolitan area . Administratively, Harare is an independent city equivalent to a province. It is Zimbabwe's largest city and its...
(Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was the name of the British colony situated north of the Limpopo River and the Union of South Africa. From its independence in 1965 until its extinction in 1980, it was known as Rhodesia...
), taking with him the family's Alipore Canna Collection for enjoyment in retirement.
In November 1961, after his wife's death in 1960 and Alick's death in 1961, he returned to the National Botanic Gardens, where he spent the last of his years.
Horticultural achievements
During the work of about half a century in Calcutta, Mr. Percy-Lancaster introduced many new plants from abroad. He had a particular fascination for hybridization work and many plants found in Indian gardens owe their origin to him. A complete list of the hybrids is catalogued in the records of the Agri-Horticultural Society of India. He watched for worthwhile spontaneous mutations. He discovered many interesting mutants in: Acalypha, Canna, Codiaceum, Hibiscus, Malvaniscus, Panax and Sansevieria.Delhi
Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...
, with Humayun's Tomb
Humayun's Tomb
Humayun's tomb is the tomb of the Mughal Emperor Humayun. The tomb was commissioned by Humayun's wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 AD, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect...
as its backdrop. Apart from seeds and saplings, the nursery delivered flowers and fresh fruits and vegetables, on order. As soon as Lutyens and Baker designed plans for the city of New Delhi
New Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
with broad roads and avenues, he was commissioned to set up a nursery and select trees to be grown at their sides. He did this, by planting 15,000 trees and 150 miles of hedges.
He was responsible for laying out the garden around Mahatma Gandhi
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi , pronounced . 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the pre-eminent political and ideological leader of India during the Indian independence movement...
's samadhi
Samadhi
Samadhi in Hinduism, Buddhism,Jainism, Sikhism and yogic schools is a higher level of concentrated meditation, or dhyāna. In the yoga tradition, it is the eighth and final limb identified in the Yoga Sūtras of Patañjali....
in Rajghat
Raj Ghat and associated memorials
Raj Ghat is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi. Originally it was the name of a historic ghat of Old Delhi on the banks of Yamuna river. Close to it, and east of Daryaganj was “Raj Ghat Gate” of the walled city, opening at Raj Ghat on Yamuna River. Later the memorial area was also called Raj ghat...
and for planting 5,500 trees in the new refugee colonies of Rajindra Nagar Lajpat Nagar and Patel Nagar. He provided the greenery at the National Stadium for the first Asian Games
Asian Games
The Asian Games, officially known as Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games were regulated by the Asian Games Federation from the first Games in New Delhi, India, until the 1978 Games. Since the 1982 Games they have been organised by the...
and the cricket pitch for the first official MCC cricket match in India. In the National Botanic Gardens at Lucknow, he had an opportunity to utilize his knowledge in horticulture for public use. He helped to beautify many parts of the garden, in particular the conservatory
Conservatory (greenhouse)
A conservatory is a room having glass roof and walls, typically attached to a house on only one side, used as a greenhouse or a sunroom...
with which he has an association as a boy.
Hybridization
Percy-Lancaster had particular fascination for hybridization, and many plants found in Indian gardens originated from his work. His zoned Cosmos called 'Alipore Beauty' renamed 'RatHance' by the famous American seed's man, Bodgers, has been distributed all over the world. There are many Cosmos variations in cultivation, the choicest being the 'Bicolor White Crest'. He has also developed a beautiful pyramidal headed Hollyhock from a presumed cross between Alcea rosea and Malva sylvestris. Repeating his father's cross between Cooperia and Gephyranthes, he obtained a large number of colour variations in the ensuing hybrids named Cooperanthes. These hybrids are far superior in colour and performance to either parent. Cooperanthes has now been merged in Gephyranthes proper.He made a number of crosses at varietal and specific level in genera such as, Amaryllis
Amaryllis
Amaryllis is a small genus of flowering bulbs, with two species. The better known of the two, Amaryllis belladonna, is a native of South Africa, particularly the rocky southwest region near the Cape...
, Barleria
Barleria
Barleria is a genus of plants in the family Acanthaceae.Some species include:* Barleria cristata, the Crested Philippine violet* B. obtusa, the Bush violet* B. prionitis, Linn., the porcupine flower, a plant from India- External links :...
, Bauhinia
Bauhinia
Bauhinia is a genus of more than 200 species of flowering plants in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae of the large flowering plant family Fabaceae, with a pantropical distribution. The genus was named after the Bauhin brothers, Swiss-French botanists....
, Begonia
Begonia
Begonia is a genus in the flowering plant family Begoniaceae and is a perennial. The only other members of the family Begoniaceae are Hillebrandia, a genus with a single species in the Hawaiian Islands, and the genus Symbegonia which more recently was included in Begonia...
, Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea is a genus of flowering plants native to South America from Brazil west to Peru and south to southern Argentina . Different authors accept between four and 18 species in the genus...
, Canna
Canna (plant)
Canna is a genus of nineteen species of flowering plants. The closest living relations to cannas are the other plant families of the order Zingiberales, that is the gingers, bananas, marantas, heliconias, strelitzias, etc.Canna is the only genus in the family Cannaceae...
, Cassia, Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemum
Chrysanthemums, often called mums or chrysanths, are of the genus constituting approximately 30 species of perennial flowering plants in the family Asteraceae which is native to Asia and northeastern Europe.-Etymology:...
, Crinum
Crinum
Crinum is a genus of about 180 species of perennial plants that have large showy flowers on leafless stems, and develop from bulbs. They are found along the sides of streams and lakes in tropical and subtropical areas worldwide, including South Africa....
, Hedychium
Hedychium
Hedychium is a genus of perennial plants native to tropical Asia and the Himalayas, commonly growing to between 120 and 180 cm tall. Common names include garland flower, ginger lily, and kahili ginger...
, Hemerocallis, Hibiscus
Hibiscus
Hibiscus is a genus of flowering plants in the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is quite large, containing several hundred species that are native to warm-temperate, subtropical and tropical regions throughout the world...
, Ixora
Ixora
Ixora is a genus of flowering plants in the Rubiaceae family. It consists of tropical evergreen trees and shrubs and holds around 500 species. Though native to the tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world, its centre of diversity is in Tropical Asia. Ixora also grows commonly in...
, Lagerstroemia, Petunia
Petunia
Petunia is a widely cultivated genus of flowering plants of South American origin, closely related with tobacco, cape gooseberries, tomatoes, deadly nightshades, potatoes and chili peppers; in the family Solanaceae. The popular flower derived its name from French, which took the word petun, meaning...
, Poinsettia
Poinsettia
Euphorbia pulcherrima, commonly known as Zack Wood or noche buena, is a species of flowering plant indigenous to Mexico and Central America. The name "poinsettia" is after Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who introduced the plant into the US in 1825...
, Rosa
Rose
A rose is a woody perennial of the genus Rosa, within the family Rosaceae. There are over 100 species. They form a group of erect shrubs, and climbing or trailing plants, with stems that are often armed with sharp prickles. Flowers are large and showy, in colours ranging from white through yellows...
, and Tecoma.
Recognitions
In recognition of the service rendered by the Agri-Horticultural Society, King George V permitted to prefix the word 'Royal' to the society's name, but following India's Independence, the Society dropped the royal distinction to reflect that independence.- In recognition of his success with Cooperanthes, Prof. Hamilton P. Traub(Plant Life Society, USA) named in 1954 a horticultural genus ×Sydneya after him. This genus is based on the hybrids from the cross Gephyranthes × Habranthus.
- In horticulture several 'species' and 'varieties' arising from hybridisation or as mutations are named after Lancaster and his family. To quote a few of the important ones:
- AcalyphaAcalyphaAcalypha is a plant genus of the family Euphorbiaceae. It is the sole genus of the subtribe Acalyphinae. With 450 to 500 species of herbs and shrubs, the genus is only behind Euphorbia, Croton and Phyllanthus in term of Malpighiales diversity...
lancasteri - Antignon lancasteri
- Bougainvillea 'Alick Lancaster'
- B. 'Enid Lancaster'
- B. 'Mrs Lancaster'
- Cassia ×lancasteri
- Crinum lancasteri
- Hibiscus 'Percy-Lancaster'
- Panax lancasteri
- SansevieriaSansevieriaSansevieria is a genus of about 70 species of flowering plants, whose common names include mother-in-law's tongue, devil's tongue, jinn's tongue, bow string hemp, snake plant and snake tongue. It is often included in the genus Dracaena; in the APG III classification system, both genera are placed...
tri-elfasciata lancasteri - Gephyranthes lancasteri
- Acalypha
- In 1939 he was awarded the Herbert MedalThe Herbert MedalThe Herbert Medal is awarded by the International Bulb Society to those whose achievements in advancing knowledge of bulbous plants is considered to be outstanding.The medal is named for William Herbert, a noted 19th century botanist...
, which is the highest honour the International Bulb SocietyInternational Bulb SocietyThe International Bulb Society was founded in 1933 and is an international society dedicated to informing the public about the science, cultivation, conservation and botany of geophytic plants, commonly known as bulbs.-Awards:...
can bestow upon a person for meritorius achievement in advancing the knowledge of bulbous plants.
Published works
He authored and published several books,- 1929, In an Indian Garden
- Everyday Gardening in India
- For over 60 years he wrote several hundred articles on various aspects of gardening and garden plants as a Gardening Correspondent to several Indian newspapers, monthly magazines, and foreign journals.
- He edited the material of the Royal Agri-Horticultural Society from 1904 to 1920, when this publication ceased. Thereafter, Annual Reports of the Society carried items of interest and short articles by him.
- He was also the author from 1935 to 1953 of the monthly “Garden News Sheet” that was regularly published, except for about two years during World War II.
- He has written 55 bulletins published by the National Botanic Gardens. This collection ranges from detailed accounts on ornamental plants to plant breeding simplified, sacred plants of Hindus, garden lay out, etc.
- He gave several broadcasts, lectures, and popular talks to gardening clubs, schools and institutions.
- Most of his friends did not know that he composed a large collection of poems that were published.
- In 1949, Percy-Lancaster started a monthly bulletin addressed to householders struggling to create gardens around their new government bungalows, Every issue of the bulletin gave advice about garden work for that particular month. Although written for Delhi, the bulletin was in demand in places as far away as Bengal and Bombay