Wardian case
Caja de Ward
- Date
- 1829 · confidence high
- Place
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Credited to
- Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward
- Field
- Life & health
What it is
A sealed glass case that creates a stable, humid microclimate able to keep plants alive during long sea voyages, invented by physician and amateur botanist Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward.
What it led to
- successful long-distance transport of exotic plants (tea, cinchona) in the 19th century
- direct precursor of the modern terrarium and aquarium
- boost to 19th-century colonial botanical trade and exchange