author
Gerrit Parmile Wilder
1863–1935
A Hawaiian botanist and horticultural writer, he devoted much of his work to the plants and fruits of the Pacific. His books open a vivid window onto island landscapes, cultivation, and botanical exploration in the early 1900s.
1 Audiobook
Fruits of the Hawaiian Islands
by Gerrit Parmile Wilder
About the author
Born in Honolulu in 1863, Gerrit Parmile Wilder became known as a botanist and horticultural writer with deep ties to Hawaiʻi and the wider Pacific. Library and biodiversity records identify him as living from 1863 to 1935, and his work is closely associated with botanical study and plant collecting.
He is best remembered for books including Fruits of the Hawaiian Islands and Flora of Rarotonga. Those works reflect a practical, observant style: he wrote not just as a classifier of plants, but as someone interested in how they grew, traveled, and mattered in everyday island life.
Wilder also took part in botanical exploration beyond Hawaiʻi. An obituary from Hawaiʻi notes that in his later years he did significant botanical exploring in South Pacific island groups in connection with discovering and introducing useful plants, helping explain why his writing still appeals to readers interested in natural history, gardens, and the Pacific world.