OSBECK'S DAGBOK OFWER EN OSTINDSK RESA 
E. D. Merrill 
Pehr Osbeck, according to Pritzel, was born at Oset, Sweden, 
May 9, 1723, and died at Hasslof, Sweden, December 23, 1805. He 
had attended the University of Upsala, where he had received in- 
struction in natural history from Linnaeus. His rather important 
contribution to our knowledge of the Chinese flora has quite con- 
sistently been overlooked by most botanists. We find few references 
to species described by Osbeck, while a number of the forms he named 
and described are not listed in Index Kewensis. His name is per- 
petuated, however, by the genus Osbeckia, named in his honor by 
Linnaeus, while the Linnaean herbarium contains about 600 specimens 
of plants, from China, Java, and Spain, collected by him.^ A number 
of species included by Linnaeus in the first edition of his Species 
Plantarum are based on Osbeck's specimens, while others are included 
in later works of this author. Usually the names given by Linnaeus 
are the same as those used by Osbeck, although rarely is Osbeck cited 
as the author of a species, while a number of plants characterized and 
named by him were ignored by Linnaeus. 
In his "Dagbok" Osbeck mentions nearly 500 species of plants, of 
which about 80 are accompanied by descriptions in Latin. Twenty- 
six species and two genera are named and described for the first time, 
but few of them are included in any subsequent botanical work. 
About twenty nomina nuda also appear in the book. 
Osbeck left Sweden November 18, 1750, as chaplain of the "Prince 
Charles," one of the ships belonging to the Swedish East India Com- 
pa,ny, bound for Canton, China, and returned June 26, 1752. En 
route he gave much attention to the study of natural history, and 
described not only plants, but also birds, mammals, reptiles, fishes, 
and insects. His contributions to botany apply mainly to the floras 
of Spain, Java, and southern China, mostly to the latter; his stop in 
Java was brief. He remained with his ship in the vicinity of Whampoa 
and Canton, China, from August 23, 1751 to January 4, 1752. 
1 Jackson, B. D. Index to the Linnaean Herbarium 16, 1912. 
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