“L” is for Lamboll, Elizabeth (ca. 1725-1770). Botanist.
Lamboll was born around 1725, probably in Charleston. She contributed to the establishment and advancement of scientific gardening in South Carolina. She shared seed, roots and gardening techniques with local gardening enthusiasts. A skilled gardener, she created one of Charleston’s earliest gardens, composed primarily of native flowers, vegetables, shrubs and trees. Lamboll’s friendship with the Philadelphia botanist John Bartram helped him become the premiere botanist in the American colonies. She alerted him to previously unknown plant species which he described and documented for botanical publications. In 1760 she and Bartram initiated a regular exchange of plants including the magnolia tripetela, or umbrella tree, indigenous to South Carolina. In 1765 Bartram and his son visited Elizabeth Lamboll’s garden when he was enroute to Florida as His Majesty’s botanist.
