Guillermo Kalbreyer

Wilhelm (Guillermo) Kalbreyer (1847–1912) was a German plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons of Chelsea, London to collect new plants in West Africa and South America.

According to Hortus Veitchii, the Veitch family history:

Guillermo Kalbreyer, a promising young man, twenty-nine years of age, entered Messrs. Veitch's service as a plant-collector in 1876, and his first trip was to the West Coast of Africa in search of tropical flowering and foliage plants, very popular at that time.

Kalbreyer set off from Liverpool in November 1876 and arrived at the island of Fernando Po in the Gulf of Guinea on Christmas Eve before travelling on to Victoria in Cameroon a week later. His travels took him into neighbouring southern Nigeria, including exploring the coastal areas around Calabar and Bonny, as well as the Cameroon mountains and the Sanaga River basin. At that time travelling in the region was difficult, and, owing to the hostility of native traders, foreigners were unable to penetrate far into the country.

Whilst in Victoria, Kalbreyer met Rev. George Thomson, a Baptist missionary and amateur plant collector, who assisted him on his plant gathering expeditions.

In July 1877, after suffering from frequent attacks of malaria, Kalbreyer's health deteriorated and he returned to England, bringing with him a small collection of plants and seeds, including Adenorandia kalbreyeri (originally known as "Gardenia kalbreyeri"), five species of Mussaenda (a flowering plant in the Rubiaceae family) and two new orchids: Brachycorythis kalbreyeri, a terrestrial species named by Reichenbach after its discoverer, and Pachystoma thomsonianum, an epiphyte, named, at Kalbreyer's request, in honour of George Thomson. He also brought back seeds of Pararistolochia promissa which were successfully grown at Chelsea – this was described by Masters as, "one of the most extraordinary members of an extraordinary genus." The flowers extend into three tails, which sometimes reach a length of 2 feet.

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