Study of Coco de Mer - Lodicea sechellarum, c.1880 (watercolour)

The illustration depicts the germination process of a nut, featuring a cross-section of the nut and a snake coiled around one of the trees. It also includes handwritten notes by Major Charles George Gordon on various aspects of the plant. Major Charles George Gordon, often referred to as Charley Gordon or Chinese Gordon, was a renowned soldier and diplomat of the Victorian era. Known for his eccentricity, he was described by Gladstone as a "hero" and a "hero of heroes." Gordon's tragic death at Khartoum was immortalized in George William Joy's painting, General Gordon's Last Stand (1885). During his tenure as Governor of the Egyptian Equatorial Provinces, Gordon was enlisted by Sir Joseph Hooker to collect plant specimens. In 1881, while serving as Commanding Royal Engineer in Mauritius, Gordon visited the Seychelles and developed an interest in the Coco-de-mer. He sent specimens of the Coco-de-mer and the breadfruit tree to Kew Gardens. In 1882, Gordon sent an illustrated letter to Kew, proposing that the Seychelles could be the site of the Biblical Garden of Eden. He suggested that the breadfruit tree might be the Tree of Life and the Coco-de-mer the Tree of Knowledge.