
doing exploratory work in Yunnan for The University of California. 
Since that time he has made his home in Yunnan where he has been 
translating the very ancient pictographic literature of one of the 
aboriginal tribes. He tells us their religion and literature are of pre- 
Buddhist origin. 
Dr. Rock’s scientific contribution has been very large. To schools 
and museums he has sent hundreds of zoological specimens, and to 
universities and arboreta large collections of botanical material, in- 
cluding living plants and seeds of unknown or little known species. 
Many of these have since found their way to gardens in this country 
and in Europe. His speciality has been rhodendrons and azaleas but 
from him we also have primulas, gentians, notholirions, fritillarias 
and fifteen or twenty lilies native to remote sections of the world. 
His background is rich and he has written extensively, for magazines, 
technical and otherwise, in addition to his careful, scholarly books. 
His fund of knowledge is so wide and his life has been so full that a 
few hours spent in his company are a never-to-be-forgotten experience. 
He returned to the United States shortly after Pearl Harbor and re- 
mained here for the duration of the war; but he is returning to Yunnan 
this summer to complete his records of the culture and the literature 
of the ancient people who are his neighbors. 
VIOLET NILES WALKER was born on the island of Guernsey 
July 16, 1877 and died in Woodberry Forest, Virginia, January 16, 1946. 
She was the daughter of Rear Admiral and Mrs. Nathan Eric Niles 
and spent her childhood and early youth in the well-known Naval 
stations of this country. She was privately tutored and also studied 
art in Philadelphia, New York and Paris. While her family was resi- 
dent abroad she married, in London, Joseph G. Walker of the famous 
Woodberry Forest School. She was one of the original and most helpful 
members af the Lily Committee of the American Horticultural Society, 
a famous specialist in the genus, and a most generous friend to all 
who grew and loved lilies. Her colorful and commanding personality 
kept her active in many fields. It was Mrs. Walker who established 
and for a number of years led the work of the Lily Committee of the 
Garden Club of Virginia — a project whose findings, reports and 
annual Lily Show have been distinct and outstanding in the American 
scene. She was a fellow of The Royal Horticultural Society, a member 
of The Massachusetts Horticultural Society, The American Rose 
Society and The American Rock Garden Society. For eight years she 
edited the fine magazine, “Garden Gossip” which is published by the 
Garden Club of Virginia. 
Mrs. Walker’s friends will be pleased to know that Louis Vas- 
seur’s newest introduction, a fine persimmon orange L. UMBELLA- 
TUM, has been named in her honor. 
aera 
