Digitising Philippine Flora: Hugh Cuming and the Cambridge University Herbarium

The Cambridge University Herbarium holds over 3,000 specimens collected by Hugh Cuming during his 1830s expedition to the Philippines. The virtual cases in this exhibition focus on these extraordinary specimens and their legacies. Each case introduces key questions about the collection to explore how these specimens were studied in their own time, and their legacies in both Europe and the Philippines.

There are over 3,500 specimens from Hugh Cuming's Philippine expedition in the Cambridge University Herbarium. To study these specimens and to decide the handful that will be on display in this exhibition, we have drawn on collaborations with botanists, historians and artists from around the world. These individuals have helped us to identify previously unidentified specimens, to understand the significance of type specimens and to appreciate the nuances of the different plants represented.

During the 19th century, naturalists, collectors and the general public became increasingly fascinated by carnivorous plants. These plants, which rely on trapping and digesting animals for their survival in nutrient poor areas, seemed to challenge the boundaries drawn between plants and animals. Cuming encountered several different types of carnivorous and parasitic plants during his expedition in the Philippines, ranging from striking pitcher plants, to delicate sundews and bladderworts.

By the time Cuming travelled to the Philippines, carnivorous pitcher plants (Nepenthes) had become popular among English collectors. The pitcher's odd phallic form that contained a digestive fluid which drowned small animals such as insects and birds was visually striking and scientifically curious. Cuming could easily recognise the genus and described an encounter with them in Samar in an 1838 letter. Two Nepenthes alata specimens from Samar are displayed here.

As in the case of carnivorous plants, during the nineteenth century, a growing obsession with collecting and studying orchids emerged. 'Orchidelirium' was pervasive, and live exotic orchids could be sold at auction for extortionate prices. Cuming was the first person to ship live orchids from Manila to England and worked closely with nurseries such as Loddiges of Hackney. Although several live specimens were used for illustrations, studies also relied on his herbarium specimens he gathered.

Grammatophyllum multiflorum is endemic to the Philippines and the species was first formally described in the 1838 edition of Edward's Botanical Register. John Lindley, the editor, noted that a live specimen had been sent by Cuming to the horticulturalist James Bateman in 1837. Sarah Drake's 1839 illustration of the orchid was based on Bateman's flowering specimen and in 1843, Lindley published further notes based on Cuming's herbarium specimens which have the same collector number as these.

When Cuming shipped a live specimen of Bromheadia palustris to the Welsh botanist John Dillwyn Llewelyn, he noted the specimen had been "dug out of a bog in Sumatra." John Lindley included this detail in his 1841 and 1844 descriptions in Edward's Botanical Register.  Having previously relied on  damaged herbarium specimens collected by the botanist George Finlayson, Lindley now relied extensively on Cuming's "perfect specimen in flower."

The famous sweet perfume of Dendrobium crumentum is no longer captured in Cuming's herbarium specimens. Yet, the fleeting nature of encounters with the orchid's sweet odours and briefly blooming flowers contributed to its fame among European travellers and collectors. In the Philippines, Dendrobium crumentum has also become well known for its medicinal properties, with the stems being used for ear afflictions. The polished stems are also often used for weaving baskets, hats and matts.

During the 19th century, the elegant leaves of ferns (Polypodiopsida) inspired Victorian decorative arts, leading to a craze that became known as "fern fever" or "Pteridomania." Cuming collected hundreds of ferns in the Philippines; The Cambridge University Herbarium not only has duplicates of specimens but also triplicates, and sometimes, quadruplicates. The significance of ferns in the Philippines extends beyond their decorative value as they also had medicinal and practical uses.

Many of the specimens collected by Cuming were not discussed by European botanists. They lay in herbaria untouched and ignored. In some cases, these plants held, and continue to hold, local significance. This final case displays just a few of the plants which have medicinal or decorative uses that are not captured within the dried leaves. Of the 3,500 specimens in Cambridge's Philippine Cuming collection, there remain thousands more plants to examine further.

Cuming's specimens of Tectona philippinensis do not display its most valuable feature, its timber. The wood is used locally for construction, while oil from the nuts is used to treat skin irritation and a decoction of the fresh dried leaves can be used for menstrual disorders and hemorrhages. George Bentham and Joseph Hooker in 1876 relied on Cuming's specimens from Batangas for their description, but did not discuss its uses or valuable properties.

Dracontomelon cumingianum, otherwise known as pacific walnut or Dao in Tagalog is widely distributed in South East Asia. Its numerous medicinal uses have made the tree important in local Philippine culture. For example, its bark is used as abortifacient, while its sour-sweetish fruits are used to soothe sore throat and inflammation of the skin.

To discover more about the project you can visit our website:  Digitising Philippine Flora (google.com)