76 TEQUESTA


 have enriched the state of Florida not only through the intro-
 duction of a wide range of new plants, but also by the knowl-
 edge you have gained and freely shared of the behavior in this
 climate of hundreds of other plants....1 Ifeel, my dear Simpson,
 that in giving this Meyer Medal to you today, I am merely do-
 ing what I know Meyer would like to have done himself.59

 Ms. Douglas reported, "When the medal was put in his hands, Pro-
fessor Simpson had tears in his eyes and he was shaking a little, quite
overcome. Lathrop [Barbour Lathrop, Fairchild's great benefactor
and the first recipient of the Meyer Medal] stepped up to shake
hands, proclaiming, 'I'm damn glad you've got it! You deserved it!'
and saved the situation with a shout of laughter."~
 There were many other tributes honoring the Sage of Biscayne
Bay. In 1927, the University of Miami awarded him the honorary
doctorate in science degree, a first for the institution and for Simpson.
Through the years a great many shells and plants, such as the fan
palm Simpsonia microcarpa and the tropical tree snail Liguus
fasciatus simpsonii, were named for him. On June 3, 1930, two
hundred of Simpson's friends and admirers, among them members of
garden clubs and departments of parks and recreation, celebrated his
eighty-fourth birthday at the Sentinels. The Simpsons were presented
with a gift and there was a cake with eighty-four candles. Punch
was served from blocks of ice in which roses had been frozen. There
was an article about the party in the Tiskilwa, Illinois, newspaper -
for Simpson still had many friends in his hometown who had followed
his career with great interest. On April 1 of the following year, the
Simpson Park meeting house was dedicated, with two hundred people
in attendance.61
 Theodore Spicer-Simpson, the sculptor and medalist, struck a medal-
lion with a profile portrait relief of Dr. Simpson. In a letter of thanks to
the artist, the Doctor wrote, "It makes me look dignified and gives
more of an air of power to my physiognomy than I possess but these
things are, no doubt, a sort of poetic licence [sic] which artists are
allowed to use."62 In Thelma Peters' Biscayne Country, there is a
picture of Simpson posing for a life-size portrait bust executed by
Elva Perrine, member of a pioneer South Florida family.63 At Simpson
Park today, one can see a large oil painting by local artist Henry
Salem Hubbell of Simpson receiving his honorary doctorate (the frame
was a gift from the doctor's tree class). The painting was unveiled