Gloria Barretto's 90th Birthday
Gloria Barretto celebrated her 90th Birthday on 10th July 2006
A Celebration Reception was held at The Repulse Bay on Saturday 8th July
I first heard about Gloria Barretto when Veronica & I were living at the leave flat of the Police Bomb Disposal Officer made famous during the 1967 disturbances ~ Norman [Bomber] Hill at Burnside in Repulse Bay.
I was working as an instructor at the Police Training School at the time and had discovered a strange plant flowering in the grass with no apparent leaves and an onion-like bulb. I had no idea what it was, but I took it to a man who lived in one of the ground floor flats at Burnside at the time who I had noted kept orchids on his patio. He turned out to be no other than Dr. Gary Allen who was then a senior officer in the Medical and Health Department, but of much more importance to me, he was a very keen amateur naturalist and spent a lot of his leisure time wandering alone in the hills discovering new and interesting plants. He could not help me with a positive identification of the plant, but said it was definitely an Orchid and he recommended that I try visiting the Hong Kong Herbarium that was then situated in the Causeway Bay Magistracy Building or if I had time to go up to the New Territories to visit a Mrs. Gloria Barretto who was then the Secretary to the Tai Po District officer and lived somewhere at Tai Po Kau.
I first tried the nearest option and managed to get time off during working hours to go the Causeway Bay Magistracy and the Herbarium. At that time I had no idea what a Herbarium was like ~ and I was highly disappointed to find that there was not a living plant in the place and every drawer I opened contained dried and dessicated plants that ore no resemblance to the living thing. How on earth was I supposed to identify my living 'onion bulb' orchid amongst that lot !!!
I was about to give up my search, when a diminutive elderly Chinese lady came over and asked if she could be of assistance. I told her of my disappointment at not finding any living plants ~ and she quietly told me what a Herbarium was all about. She was very interested in my orchid and she too suggested that I should make contact with her good friend Gloria Barretto who was the driving force behind a keen group of orchid hunters, and who would be very interested to see the living specimen.
That kind lady was none other than our very own Dr. [now Professor] HU Shiu-ying who celebrated her 100th Birthday on 1st March 2005 by giving a computerised illustrated lecture in a Chinese University Lecture Hall filled with hundreds of admirers on her life with plants.
Shortly after that I had my first meeting with Gloria and my Onion orchid was identified as the rarely seen Eulophia sinensis.
And so began a lasting friendship. In the early 1970s when Gloria went to England for several weeks for Ruy's Graduation she asked us to look after her lovely house Girassol at Tai Po Kau. As we lived in a 4th floor flat above Happy Valley at that time, we were delighted to have access to a place with a garden in the country.
It was this introduction to New Territories life that made us decide to apply for a government quarter at Tai Mei Tuk Plover Cove where we lived from 1973 up until my retirement in 1996.
I often went with Gloria and later with Ruy and others of the Wild Orchid Group for trips into the hills hunting for orchids. In particular I remember a trip in August 1969 on to back of the Patsin Range on the day that Veronica was otherwise engaged ~ giving birth to our second son Michael in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon. We were discussing what to call the new child on the walk ~ possibly after some of the orchids we found that day ~ like Susanna or Buttercup !!!
Gloria was always being asked by Governor's wives to accompany them into the hills on plant hunting expeditions, Lady Noel MacLehose being particularly keen to go into some of the most inaccessible places in the New Territories.
As the ADC to the Governor and the bodyguards were not keen on accompanying her on these expeditions ~ a phone call from Government House to my various bosses would ensure that I would be released from my duties to act as 'bodyguard' to the Governor's Lady.
On one occasion we were to go by a helicopter of the Government Flight to the top of Tai Mo Shan where we would meet Gloria and other member of the orchid group. I arrived early at Government house in my battered old VW and was asked to park it out of sight by the garages.
I then accompanied Lady M in one of the Governor's Rolls Royce cars with the Crown on the front and driven by a white liveried chauffeur to the helicopter landing site on the Wanchai waterfront. We were flown to the top of Tai Mo Shan in less than five minutes, where to my surprise we were met by no less than the Air Commodore himself ~ all dressed up in his finery ~ well he was in charge of the landing site at Tai Mo Shan as it was within his highly secret listening post. Gloria and others had arrived ahead of us by car. We were invited in for tea before we began our excursion into the undergrowth ~ and I was surprised to discover that it was served by Deaf and Dumb servants [so that they could not hear or tell any Secrets {I guess they would have been Blind ~ to see no secrets too ~ if that had not made it difficult for them to pour the tea !]
We excused ourselves of our hosts ~ being eager to get started on the day's plant hunting ~ and a very successful day it was too.
We arrived back at the gates of the Secret establishment in the late afternoon all soaked in sweat and very dirty from crawling about in the damp undergrowth on the top of Tai Mo Shan ~ only to find the Air Commodore once again snapping to attention in full regalia and offering us tea before we departed. Lady M and I flew back in the
government helicopter to the helipad at the Wanchai waterfront where we were met once again by the Governor's Rolls for the return journey to Government House. The chauffeur looked somewhat askance at our filthy clothes as we sat ourselves on the clean white seat covers !
I decided that helicopters were quite the right way to go plant hunting on the tops of high mountains ~ but sadly there are no more Governor's Ladies needing bodyguards!
Gloria shares her birthday with Veronica ~ both being born on 10th July, so we have often celebrated the two birthdays together, and we have traditionally visited Gloria on Christmas Eve when everybody sings Christmas Carols with gusto before enjoying a sumptuous meal before going to midnight Mass at the Chinese University.
Here's wishing Gloria a Happy 90th Birthday and Veronica a Happy Birthday on 10th July 2006.
Ron Clibborn-Dyer
______________________________
10th July, 2006
Dearest Gloria,
Best Wishes come flying through space to Wish you a Very Happy Birthday for today.
I do know that you will be surrounded by wonderful family and friends, so I would like to join you by sharing this poem that I love:
THE WEAVER
The weaver takes his canvas
it is empty and it is bare
And through his eyes of artistry
he sees a vision there.
He takes his yarn of every hue
and lays them side by side
And with the magic of his hands
he weaves a work of pride.
He weaves some sections dark and grey
and dreary to the eye
And then he'll choose a lovely thread
made from a golden dye.
And with deftness he will weave
the threads so there will be
The blending of the different hues
a lovely tapestry.
He knows the value colours hold
to form a work of art
So, he weaves gold among the dark
for balanced counterpart.
And, when the weaver's work is through
with threads of dark and gold
He has a masterpiece of art
for mankind to behold.
And so it is in our own lives
the finished product stands
A masterpiece of priceless worth
when woven by God's hand.
by: Betty Purser Pattern.
You have been a "Masterpiece" to our family, by sharing so much love, fun, house, garden, delicious fayres and wonderful mountain walks, so today, enjoy your Special Day with all your wonderful friends.
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST GLORIA,
Much Love, Veronica.
---oOo---
__________________________
Gloria D' Almada Barretto was born in Kowloon on 10th July 1916, but spent her childhood and formative years at the D' Almada family bungalow set in a lychee orchard and extensive gardens near Fanling village and where she rambled and rode her pony among the hills, fields and streams. She was initially taught by her mother, a keen gardener and later studied at St. Mary's School, Kowloon. Gloria Barretto's late husband, an amateur painter, gardener and bird watcher, provided early appreciation into the culture of the NT and the mysteries and beauty of Hong Kong's natural history. Their 50-year old house Girassol, near Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve is an embodiment of how human elements can be harmoniously integrated into natural surroundings, and she is currently working to have the Tai Po Kau Headland designated an SSSI. It has been a centre to inspire the generations who are working towards conservation in Hong Kong.
While in government service, Gloria as a member of the Hong Kong Heritage Society and an early member of the Conservancy Association worked to conserve our countryside and preserve old monuments and some of the cultural heritage of Hong Kong and one of their partial successes was the preservation of the Clock Tower at Tsim Sha Tsui although the historic KCR Terminus itself, with its memories for so many NT people, was sadly destroyed.
During her 20 years working in the District Office at Tai Po, Gloria's special interest in Hong Kong wild orchids was first aroused by her colleagues who asked for identifications which led to her active investigations into the subject. Her knowledge and the wild orchids growing at her Fernery interested Sir Horace Kadoorie who invited her to work at the Kadoorie Farm, where she started on 15th July 1971.
While working with the Reception Office, she also helped initiate the Farm's "Botanic Section", became its Supervisor, and played a major role with the late Mr T.S. Woo in gardening, landscaping and conservation of native flora. Her long term study of Hong Kong orchids and other plants was the main impetus for the Farm's initial flora conservation work. In the late 1960s Gloria Barretto pioneered the conservation of native Hong Kong orchids, ferns and other plants. At the Farm itself, a total of about 1100 native species of vascular plants (i.e. ferns, conifers and flowering plants) plus some 180 species of bryophytes (i.e. mosses and liverworts) can be found growing in a wild state. At the suggestion of Sir Horace, Gloria established the Orchid Haven at the Farm in the 1970s, which provides both research and growing facilities. Today some 90 of Hong Kong's 123 native orchid species are found within the Farm growing in natural settings.
Gloria's contribution to the Farm has been enormous and varied. She helped compile a guidebook (1973) to assist self-guided visitors to KFBG who came in their thousands at weekends and who were transported to the hilltops by shuttle buses. She was also responsible for coordinating, editing and contributing to chapters and sections of the many Kadoorie Farm reports, pamphlets and postcards and calendars produced at that time.
At the suggestion of Lord Kadoorie, Gloria wrote educational articles for the South China Morning Post. From February 1974 to 1978 some 54 whole pages entitled "Kadoorie farm and gardens, Notes and news" were published on a monthly basis, which covered a wide range of interests from the wild flora, gardening plants, orchard trees, fauna, insects, and to various agricultural activities at the Farm. In this she followed in the footsteps of an earlier Hong Kong naturalist, Dr Geoffrey HerkIots and his team of expert enthusiasts from the 1930's who provided scientific information in a readable and accessible style.
Humbly calling herself a gardener and a nature lover, Gloria was often concerned about her lack of formal botanical qualifications and downplayed her ability and expertise in horticulture and conservation. In fact, she taught herself and learned from experts such as the late Mr. J.L. Young-saye and Prof. Hu Shiu Ying. Her generous contribution in time and work to various authors' works on Hong Kong plants can be seen in numerous books and publications by the USD, AFCD, Prof. S.Y. Hu, Mrs. Beryl Walden, providing practical advice to landscape consultants on greening and planting in early Government planning studies for the new towns, and several general books on Hong Kong nature. From the 1960's Gloria was part of the "Hong Kong Wild Orchid Group" who in their spare time surveyed native wild orchids in almost every part of the countryside of the territory. Through their enthusiasm, the number of wild native orchids in Hong Kong was increased from around 70 at the beginning of their study, to around 120 in 1980. Some of the group who have continued links with the Farm include Dr. Gary Allan, Mr. Ron Clibbon-Dyer, Mr. Bernard Coultous, Mr. Tse Sing Chi and her son Ruy Barretto.
Gloria co-authored the Urban Council book of Hong Kong Orchids, with Mr. J.L.Young-saye in 1980. She also co-authored several scientific articles with Professor Hu on local orchids and assisted with her revision of Bentham's Flora Hongkongensis in respect of the Orchidaceae.
She did much of the detailed taxonomic work leading to the identification of several new records of plants being discovered in Hong Kong and in the Farm itself. Many of these are rare locally or in the region. Examples include Kopsia arborea (K. lancibracteolata, Apocynaceae), Rehderodendron kwangtungense CStyracaceae), Salomonia elongata (Epirixanthes elongata, Polygalaceae), Malaxis acuminata var. biloba fOrchidaceae), Phaius d. bicolor (Orchidaceae) and Machilus wangchiana (Persea Kadooriei, Lauraceae).
She made contacts with the University of Hong Kong, working closely with Dr Maureen Weatherhead, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong and this encouraged and facilitated the employment of suitably qualified staff in due time.
She also fostered clo~e contact with officials at alllevels,AFCD officials and in particular the Hong Kong Herbarium and this friendship continues to be of use. She always passed information, photos, and plant specimens for new records of local flora, including but not restricted to orchids, to the Herbarium. This encouragement and the publicity generated from new discoveries contributed to proper attention being paid to Hong Kong's Herbarium and Hong Kong's biological diversity.
Her expertise and wide interests coupled l\ith her position responsible for meeting important visitors to the Farm ensured that the cause for nature conservation in Hong Kong was made known directly to several of the former Governors of Hong Kong.
She was also the expert witness for the Government in the successful prosecution of wild orchid traders. In 1989 she was involved in a case whereby 6000 slipper orchids were confiscated. This was a landmark event at the time. The case and others involved liaison between Kew, IUCN (the World Conservation Union) and Gloria assisted in formulating the criteria to differentiate wild collected from cultivated plants based upon her expert observations.
Her general expertise was applied in the judicial review whereby Friends of the Earth succeeded in preventing the development of Sha Lo Tung into a golf resort on Country Park land in 1992. She was a member of the Orchid Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN since the inception of this group in 1984.
Gloria was one of the earliest Hong Kong botanists to return to China, being part of memorable expeditions led by the plantsman Roy Lancaster from 1980. She had many first hand personal contacts with the foremost orchid experts in China, such as Professors Chen Singchi and Tsi Zhanhuo of the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She was one the first persons from the Farm to be involved in South China when in May 1986 she was invited to Guangdong to advise and later in January 1987 she and Timothy Yam of HKU were invited by Vice Director He Qing Zhen of the Floriculture Research Institute of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wushan, Guangzhou to Hainan, in particular th~ Jianfengling Tropical Rainforest, now a National Forest Park as well as a National Nature Reserve, to advise on conservation of their orchids for which she wrote a report. She and the Manager Gregory Chung fostered a warm relationship with the South China Institute of Botany, Guangdong who over the years from 1987-1991 provided several specialists who surveyed and assisted in identifying our Farm flora.
She had also first hand contacts all around the world, such as the late Professor R.E. Holttum, Dr. Phillip Cribb, now Deputy Curator of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the late Dr. Gunnar Seidenfaden. These connections and academic exchanges ensured recognition for the Farm internationally.
Following a visit by the Hon Treasurer Lawrence Banks of the International Dendrology Society, Gloria was requested to write an article for their 1980 Yearbook and this was instrumental in the award of "Arboretum Distinguished for Merit" to the "Kadoorie Botanic Garden", as they called us, in 1981.
She also was the person who initially responded to Sir Horace's special concern for the future of the Farm and suggested that the Farm be reorganized as a Botanic Garden. She and Gregory Chung drafted a paper, and this finally led to the Kew Gardens team visit in April 1993, which led KFBG to its new direction as a centre for conservation and environmental education, enshrined by a Government Ordinance in 1995 as a public corporation. Her persistence on this issue was crucial to the existence of the Farm as we now have it.
She has always concerned for the long-term future development of the Farm in one aspect or another. Gloria was much involved in planning the transition from Farm to Botanic Garden and working out what would be needed for future activities. In November 1993 she submitted a draft report on future management of the Farm. In March 1994 she prepared a paper giving the reasons for the extension of our Short Term Tenancy for Sir Piers Jacobs, and in July 1994 prepared a detailed 30 page plan for the conservation of flora for each main locality of the Farm. This was followed by a guide to work force activities in the conservation flora areas in February 1995.
Gloria was awarded the M.B.E. in 1970 and included in the citation were her contributions to the study and conservation of local flora.
She was also awarded the Gold Veitch Memorial Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1997 for her contribution in the advancement and improvement of the science and practices of horticulture.
Gloria was the Manager of the Botanic Section when she retired in January 1995. She was re-engaged as a consultant working on various projects in the Flora Conservation Department including the compilation of this Checklist. She finally ceased employment in January 2003 but continues to assist and provide suggestions.
Gloria Barretto's work on the "Check List of Plants at KFBG" presents in a simple way the results of many years of her research, observation, and experience.
Gloria Barretto is currently working on a book describing the Hong Kong orchids.
Source: Check List of Plants at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Gardens by Gloria D'Almada Barretto
________________________
A Celebration Reception was held at The Repulse Bay on Saturday 8th July
I first heard about Gloria Barretto when Veronica & I were living at the leave flat of the Police Bomb Disposal Officer made famous during the 1967 disturbances ~ Norman [Bomber] Hill at Burnside in Repulse Bay.
I was working as an instructor at the Police Training School at the time and had discovered a strange plant flowering in the grass with no apparent leaves and an onion-like bulb. I had no idea what it was, but I took it to a man who lived in one of the ground floor flats at Burnside at the time who I had noted kept orchids on his patio. He turned out to be no other than Dr. Gary Allen who was then a senior officer in the Medical and Health Department, but of much more importance to me, he was a very keen amateur naturalist and spent a lot of his leisure time wandering alone in the hills discovering new and interesting plants. He could not help me with a positive identification of the plant, but said it was definitely an Orchid and he recommended that I try visiting the Hong Kong Herbarium that was then situated in the Causeway Bay Magistracy Building or if I had time to go up to the New Territories to visit a Mrs. Gloria Barretto who was then the Secretary to the Tai Po District officer and lived somewhere at Tai Po Kau.
I first tried the nearest option and managed to get time off during working hours to go the Causeway Bay Magistracy and the Herbarium. At that time I had no idea what a Herbarium was like ~ and I was highly disappointed to find that there was not a living plant in the place and every drawer I opened contained dried and dessicated plants that ore no resemblance to the living thing. How on earth was I supposed to identify my living 'onion bulb' orchid amongst that lot !!!
I was about to give up my search, when a diminutive elderly Chinese lady came over and asked if she could be of assistance. I told her of my disappointment at not finding any living plants ~ and she quietly told me what a Herbarium was all about. She was very interested in my orchid and she too suggested that I should make contact with her good friend Gloria Barretto who was the driving force behind a keen group of orchid hunters, and who would be very interested to see the living specimen.
That kind lady was none other than our very own Dr. [now Professor] HU Shiu-ying who celebrated her 100th Birthday on 1st March 2005 by giving a computerised illustrated lecture in a Chinese University Lecture Hall filled with hundreds of admirers on her life with plants.
Shortly after that I had my first meeting with Gloria and my Onion orchid was identified as the rarely seen Eulophia sinensis.
And so began a lasting friendship. In the early 1970s when Gloria went to England for several weeks for Ruy's Graduation she asked us to look after her lovely house Girassol at Tai Po Kau. As we lived in a 4th floor flat above Happy Valley at that time, we were delighted to have access to a place with a garden in the country.
It was this introduction to New Territories life that made us decide to apply for a government quarter at Tai Mei Tuk Plover Cove where we lived from 1973 up until my retirement in 1996.
I often went with Gloria and later with Ruy and others of the Wild Orchid Group for trips into the hills hunting for orchids. In particular I remember a trip in August 1969 on to back of the Patsin Range on the day that Veronica was otherwise engaged ~ giving birth to our second son Michael in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Kowloon. We were discussing what to call the new child on the walk ~ possibly after some of the orchids we found that day ~ like Susanna or Buttercup !!!
Gloria was always being asked by Governor's wives to accompany them into the hills on plant hunting expeditions, Lady Noel MacLehose being particularly keen to go into some of the most inaccessible places in the New Territories.
As the ADC to the Governor and the bodyguards were not keen on accompanying her on these expeditions ~ a phone call from Government House to my various bosses would ensure that I would be released from my duties to act as 'bodyguard' to the Governor's Lady.
On one occasion we were to go by a helicopter of the Government Flight to the top of Tai Mo Shan where we would meet Gloria and other member of the orchid group. I arrived early at Government house in my battered old VW and was asked to park it out of sight by the garages.
I then accompanied Lady M in one of the Governor's Rolls Royce cars with the Crown on the front and driven by a white liveried chauffeur to the helicopter landing site on the Wanchai waterfront. We were flown to the top of Tai Mo Shan in less than five minutes, where to my surprise we were met by no less than the Air Commodore himself ~ all dressed up in his finery ~ well he was in charge of the landing site at Tai Mo Shan as it was within his highly secret listening post. Gloria and others had arrived ahead of us by car. We were invited in for tea before we began our excursion into the undergrowth ~ and I was surprised to discover that it was served by Deaf and Dumb servants [so that they could not hear or tell any Secrets {I guess they would have been Blind ~ to see no secrets too ~ if that had not made it difficult for them to pour the tea !]
We excused ourselves of our hosts ~ being eager to get started on the day's plant hunting ~ and a very successful day it was too.
We arrived back at the gates of the Secret establishment in the late afternoon all soaked in sweat and very dirty from crawling about in the damp undergrowth on the top of Tai Mo Shan ~ only to find the Air Commodore once again snapping to attention in full regalia and offering us tea before we departed. Lady M and I flew back in the
government helicopter to the helipad at the Wanchai waterfront where we were met once again by the Governor's Rolls for the return journey to Government House. The chauffeur looked somewhat askance at our filthy clothes as we sat ourselves on the clean white seat covers !
I decided that helicopters were quite the right way to go plant hunting on the tops of high mountains ~ but sadly there are no more Governor's Ladies needing bodyguards!
Gloria shares her birthday with Veronica ~ both being born on 10th July, so we have often celebrated the two birthdays together, and we have traditionally visited Gloria on Christmas Eve when everybody sings Christmas Carols with gusto before enjoying a sumptuous meal before going to midnight Mass at the Chinese University.
Here's wishing Gloria a Happy 90th Birthday and Veronica a Happy Birthday on 10th July 2006.
Ron Clibborn-Dyer
______________________________
10th July, 2006
Dearest Gloria,
Best Wishes come flying through space to Wish you a Very Happy Birthday for today.
I do know that you will be surrounded by wonderful family and friends, so I would like to join you by sharing this poem that I love:
THE WEAVER
The weaver takes his canvas
it is empty and it is bare
And through his eyes of artistry
he sees a vision there.
He takes his yarn of every hue
and lays them side by side
And with the magic of his hands
he weaves a work of pride.
He weaves some sections dark and grey
and dreary to the eye
And then he'll choose a lovely thread
made from a golden dye.
And with deftness he will weave
the threads so there will be
The blending of the different hues
a lovely tapestry.
He knows the value colours hold
to form a work of art
So, he weaves gold among the dark
for balanced counterpart.
And, when the weaver's work is through
with threads of dark and gold
He has a masterpiece of art
for mankind to behold.
And so it is in our own lives
the finished product stands
A masterpiece of priceless worth
when woven by God's hand.
by: Betty Purser Pattern.
You have been a "Masterpiece" to our family, by sharing so much love, fun, house, garden, delicious fayres and wonderful mountain walks, so today, enjoy your Special Day with all your wonderful friends.
HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAREST GLORIA,
Much Love, Veronica.
---oOo---
__________________________
Gloria D' Almada Barretto was born in Kowloon on 10th July 1916, but spent her childhood and formative years at the D' Almada family bungalow set in a lychee orchard and extensive gardens near Fanling village and where she rambled and rode her pony among the hills, fields and streams. She was initially taught by her mother, a keen gardener and later studied at St. Mary's School, Kowloon. Gloria Barretto's late husband, an amateur painter, gardener and bird watcher, provided early appreciation into the culture of the NT and the mysteries and beauty of Hong Kong's natural history. Their 50-year old house Girassol, near Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve is an embodiment of how human elements can be harmoniously integrated into natural surroundings, and she is currently working to have the Tai Po Kau Headland designated an SSSI. It has been a centre to inspire the generations who are working towards conservation in Hong Kong.
While in government service, Gloria as a member of the Hong Kong Heritage Society and an early member of the Conservancy Association worked to conserve our countryside and preserve old monuments and some of the cultural heritage of Hong Kong and one of their partial successes was the preservation of the Clock Tower at Tsim Sha Tsui although the historic KCR Terminus itself, with its memories for so many NT people, was sadly destroyed.
During her 20 years working in the District Office at Tai Po, Gloria's special interest in Hong Kong wild orchids was first aroused by her colleagues who asked for identifications which led to her active investigations into the subject. Her knowledge and the wild orchids growing at her Fernery interested Sir Horace Kadoorie who invited her to work at the Kadoorie Farm, where she started on 15th July 1971.
While working with the Reception Office, she also helped initiate the Farm's "Botanic Section", became its Supervisor, and played a major role with the late Mr T.S. Woo in gardening, landscaping and conservation of native flora. Her long term study of Hong Kong orchids and other plants was the main impetus for the Farm's initial flora conservation work. In the late 1960s Gloria Barretto pioneered the conservation of native Hong Kong orchids, ferns and other plants. At the Farm itself, a total of about 1100 native species of vascular plants (i.e. ferns, conifers and flowering plants) plus some 180 species of bryophytes (i.e. mosses and liverworts) can be found growing in a wild state. At the suggestion of Sir Horace, Gloria established the Orchid Haven at the Farm in the 1970s, which provides both research and growing facilities. Today some 90 of Hong Kong's 123 native orchid species are found within the Farm growing in natural settings.
Gloria's contribution to the Farm has been enormous and varied. She helped compile a guidebook (1973) to assist self-guided visitors to KFBG who came in their thousands at weekends and who were transported to the hilltops by shuttle buses. She was also responsible for coordinating, editing and contributing to chapters and sections of the many Kadoorie Farm reports, pamphlets and postcards and calendars produced at that time.
At the suggestion of Lord Kadoorie, Gloria wrote educational articles for the South China Morning Post. From February 1974 to 1978 some 54 whole pages entitled "Kadoorie farm and gardens, Notes and news" were published on a monthly basis, which covered a wide range of interests from the wild flora, gardening plants, orchard trees, fauna, insects, and to various agricultural activities at the Farm. In this she followed in the footsteps of an earlier Hong Kong naturalist, Dr Geoffrey HerkIots and his team of expert enthusiasts from the 1930's who provided scientific information in a readable and accessible style.
Humbly calling herself a gardener and a nature lover, Gloria was often concerned about her lack of formal botanical qualifications and downplayed her ability and expertise in horticulture and conservation. In fact, she taught herself and learned from experts such as the late Mr. J.L. Young-saye and Prof. Hu Shiu Ying. Her generous contribution in time and work to various authors' works on Hong Kong plants can be seen in numerous books and publications by the USD, AFCD, Prof. S.Y. Hu, Mrs. Beryl Walden, providing practical advice to landscape consultants on greening and planting in early Government planning studies for the new towns, and several general books on Hong Kong nature. From the 1960's Gloria was part of the "Hong Kong Wild Orchid Group" who in their spare time surveyed native wild orchids in almost every part of the countryside of the territory. Through their enthusiasm, the number of wild native orchids in Hong Kong was increased from around 70 at the beginning of their study, to around 120 in 1980. Some of the group who have continued links with the Farm include Dr. Gary Allan, Mr. Ron Clibbon-Dyer, Mr. Bernard Coultous, Mr. Tse Sing Chi and her son Ruy Barretto.
Gloria co-authored the Urban Council book of Hong Kong Orchids, with Mr. J.L.Young-saye in 1980. She also co-authored several scientific articles with Professor Hu on local orchids and assisted with her revision of Bentham's Flora Hongkongensis in respect of the Orchidaceae.
She did much of the detailed taxonomic work leading to the identification of several new records of plants being discovered in Hong Kong and in the Farm itself. Many of these are rare locally or in the region. Examples include Kopsia arborea (K. lancibracteolata, Apocynaceae), Rehderodendron kwangtungense CStyracaceae), Salomonia elongata (Epirixanthes elongata, Polygalaceae), Malaxis acuminata var. biloba fOrchidaceae), Phaius d. bicolor (Orchidaceae) and Machilus wangchiana (Persea Kadooriei, Lauraceae).
She made contacts with the University of Hong Kong, working closely with Dr Maureen Weatherhead, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong and this encouraged and facilitated the employment of suitably qualified staff in due time.
She also fostered clo~e contact with officials at alllevels,AFCD officials and in particular the Hong Kong Herbarium and this friendship continues to be of use. She always passed information, photos, and plant specimens for new records of local flora, including but not restricted to orchids, to the Herbarium. This encouragement and the publicity generated from new discoveries contributed to proper attention being paid to Hong Kong's Herbarium and Hong Kong's biological diversity.
Her expertise and wide interests coupled l\ith her position responsible for meeting important visitors to the Farm ensured that the cause for nature conservation in Hong Kong was made known directly to several of the former Governors of Hong Kong.
She was also the expert witness for the Government in the successful prosecution of wild orchid traders. In 1989 she was involved in a case whereby 6000 slipper orchids were confiscated. This was a landmark event at the time. The case and others involved liaison between Kew, IUCN (the World Conservation Union) and Gloria assisted in formulating the criteria to differentiate wild collected from cultivated plants based upon her expert observations.
Her general expertise was applied in the judicial review whereby Friends of the Earth succeeded in preventing the development of Sha Lo Tung into a golf resort on Country Park land in 1992. She was a member of the Orchid Specialist Group of the Species Survival Commission of the IUCN since the inception of this group in 1984.
Gloria was one of the earliest Hong Kong botanists to return to China, being part of memorable expeditions led by the plantsman Roy Lancaster from 1980. She had many first hand personal contacts with the foremost orchid experts in China, such as Professors Chen Singchi and Tsi Zhanhuo of the Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She was one the first persons from the Farm to be involved in South China when in May 1986 she was invited to Guangdong to advise and later in January 1987 she and Timothy Yam of HKU were invited by Vice Director He Qing Zhen of the Floriculture Research Institute of the Guangdong Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Wushan, Guangzhou to Hainan, in particular th~ Jianfengling Tropical Rainforest, now a National Forest Park as well as a National Nature Reserve, to advise on conservation of their orchids for which she wrote a report. She and the Manager Gregory Chung fostered a warm relationship with the South China Institute of Botany, Guangdong who over the years from 1987-1991 provided several specialists who surveyed and assisted in identifying our Farm flora.
She had also first hand contacts all around the world, such as the late Professor R.E. Holttum, Dr. Phillip Cribb, now Deputy Curator of the Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the late Dr. Gunnar Seidenfaden. These connections and academic exchanges ensured recognition for the Farm internationally.
Following a visit by the Hon Treasurer Lawrence Banks of the International Dendrology Society, Gloria was requested to write an article for their 1980 Yearbook and this was instrumental in the award of "Arboretum Distinguished for Merit" to the "Kadoorie Botanic Garden", as they called us, in 1981.
She also was the person who initially responded to Sir Horace's special concern for the future of the Farm and suggested that the Farm be reorganized as a Botanic Garden. She and Gregory Chung drafted a paper, and this finally led to the Kew Gardens team visit in April 1993, which led KFBG to its new direction as a centre for conservation and environmental education, enshrined by a Government Ordinance in 1995 as a public corporation. Her persistence on this issue was crucial to the existence of the Farm as we now have it.
She has always concerned for the long-term future development of the Farm in one aspect or another. Gloria was much involved in planning the transition from Farm to Botanic Garden and working out what would be needed for future activities. In November 1993 she submitted a draft report on future management of the Farm. In March 1994 she prepared a paper giving the reasons for the extension of our Short Term Tenancy for Sir Piers Jacobs, and in July 1994 prepared a detailed 30 page plan for the conservation of flora for each main locality of the Farm. This was followed by a guide to work force activities in the conservation flora areas in February 1995.
Gloria was awarded the M.B.E. in 1970 and included in the citation were her contributions to the study and conservation of local flora.
She was also awarded the Gold Veitch Memorial Medal by the Royal Horticultural Society in 1997 for her contribution in the advancement and improvement of the science and practices of horticulture.
Gloria was the Manager of the Botanic Section when she retired in January 1995. She was re-engaged as a consultant working on various projects in the Flora Conservation Department including the compilation of this Checklist. She finally ceased employment in January 2003 but continues to assist and provide suggestions.
Gloria Barretto's work on the "Check List of Plants at KFBG" presents in a simple way the results of many years of her research, observation, and experience.
Gloria Barretto is currently working on a book describing the Hong Kong orchids.
Source: Check List of Plants at Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Gardens by Gloria D'Almada Barretto
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posted by Ron at 3:00 AM
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