Ich Dien 
A PERSONAL LETTER — TO YOU 
Dear Floral Friends: 
I want to tell you a story about the introduction of a plant, as it was told to me by 
a famous plantsman, Major Albert Pam, O.B.E. of England, now a London and 
New York banker. 
In his younger days Maj. Pam explored tropical South America for rare plants, 
especially those of the Amaryllis Family. He discovered 
many new species and genera. One genus was named 
in his honor, Pamiantha. These he collected and sent 
back to England. Seeds and plants were distributed 
among botanical gardens, botanists and friends. His 
plant explorations were an important contribution to 
our knowledge of South American flora. 
For his contributions to the science of Botany and 
of Horticulture, he was one in a group of five to receive 
the second award of the William Herbert Medal along 
with Ernst Krelage, Pierre du Pont, Jan de Graaff and 
Cecil Houdyshel. 
Cecil Houdyshel About every two years, Maj. Pam makes a trip to 
the U.S. These frequent trips, extending over many 
years have won for him the title of Unofficial Ambassador of Good Will between England 
and America. 
On his recent visit last March, I showed him a plant which I had been unable to 
identify. No one else who saw it could: give me a name for the very pretty plant with 
pink spotted foliage. He said that he knew the plant well. It is Hipoestes phyllostachya, 
a native of Madagascar. 
It was first sent to Monsieur A, of Paris, who is an avid collector of rare plants. He 
admired the plant very much, so he said to himself, “Now I have a very rare and desirable 
plant which no one else has. I will never give one away and thus I will always have a 
plant that no one else has.” és 
