Plants in the Hortus
Many of the plants described here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861. A large number of additional plants were identified from correspondence, gardening notebooks and other documents surviving in the archives. The Hortus attempts to describe all the plants grown in the gardens at Camden Park and those grown in horticultural enterprises such as orchards and vineyards and includes plants grown outside the gardens in the park-like environs of the Camden Park estate. The Hortus plants served a wide range of purposes in the 19th century household; as ornament, living fences, fibre, dyestuffs, medicines, food and drink from the garden, orchard and vineyard and many others.
Glycine backhousiana Lem.
No description at present. Listed in Johnson’s Dictionary and Paxton’s Dictionary, but no details given other than that it is a tender evergreen climber.
Gmelina asiatica L.f. var. parvifolia (Roxb.) Moldenke
Frost tender, often spiny shrub with ovate leaves, to 6cm, and slightly pendant terminal racemes of yellow flowers. To 10m. [RHSD].
Godetia bifrons Hort.
Fully hardy biennial with purple flowers with a prominent crimson blotch in the centre of the petals, in summer. To 45cm. [BR f.1405/1831]. Said to be a hybrid between Clarkia amoena A.Nelson & J.F.Macbr. roseo-alba, synonym Oenothera roseo-alba Bernh., and Clarkia amoena A.Nelson & J.F.Macbr. lindleyi.
Godetia grandiflora Lindl.
Stout-stemmed, bushy annual with oblong leaves and leafy raceme of satiny, saucer-shaped flowers, usually rose-coloured with a deeper cente, but in garden varieties ranging in colour from red to white. To 30cm. [RHSD, Hortus].
Gomphocarpus fruticosus (L.) Spreng.
Half hardy, upright, deciduous sub-shrub with linear, lance-shaped leaves and axillary clusters of cup-shaped, creamy-white flowers in summer, followed by ovoid, softly-spiny, silver-green fruit. To 1.5m. [RHSE, Don].
Gongora galeata Rchb.f. var. loddidgesii Autran & Durand
Evergreen epiphytic orchid with clustered, ovate pseudobulbs, to 5cm high, leaves to 30cm long and drooping racemes of tawny-yellow flowers with brownish-red lips. [RHSD, Hortus].
Goodia lotifolia Salisb.
Half-hardy evergreen shrub, the leaves with 3 obovate leaflets, to 1.5cm long, and axillary and terminal recemes of yellow flowers, stained reddish-purple at the base, in spring. To 4m. Often appearing as a pioneer species in recently disturbed land. [RHSD, Hortus, FNSW].
Gordonia altamaha Sarg.
Deciduous shrub or small tree with toothed oblong leaves and solitary, cup-shaped white flowers, to 8cm across, in late summer. To 9m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Gordonia lasianthus L.
Evergreen shrub, but sometimes growing to a medium-sized tree, with shallowly toothed rounded leaves and axillary white flowers. To 18m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Graptophyllum pictum (L.) Griff.
Frost tender, sparsely branched, erect shrub with elliptic leaves, veined or marked yellow, or entirely suffused deep purple, and short racemes, to 8cm long, of crimson to purple flowers with inflated throats, to 8cm long, in summer. To 2m. [RHSE].
Grevillea banksii R.Br. var. fosteri
A variable species with many garden forms. It forms a half hardy, large, open, strongly branched shrub or small tree, sometimes prostrate, with deeply pinnatifid leaves, hairy beneath, and cylindrical racemes, to 18cm long, of red, pink, or creamy white flowers in winter and spring. To 10m. [RHSE, Hortus]. The form grown by Macarthur was probably fosteri. This is a silvery-leaved shrub that flowers continuously with a spring peak. Both red and white flower forms are known. To 3m. [Olde & Marriot]. See also History at Camden Park.
Grevillea caleyi R.Br.
Frost tender, evergreen, spreading shrub, stems covered in reddish hairs, with deeply pinnatifid leaves and racemes of dark red flowers. To 4m. [RHSD, FNSW, Beadle].
Grevillea longifolia R.Br.
Frost tender evergreen shrub or small tree with serrated leaves, silvery or yellowish hairy beneath, to 25cm long, and racemes of dark red flowers in spring. The foliage has been used by florists for decoration in Europe, particularly France. To 5m. [RHSD, FNSW, Olde & Marriott].
Grevillea robusta A.Cunn. ex R.Br.
Frost tender, fast-growing upright to conical tree with fern-like leaves, to 30cm long, deeply pinnate, paler, with silky hairs beneath, and erect, one-sided racemes of golden yellow flowers, to 15cm long, in spring and summer. To 35m. [RHSE, Hortus, FNSW, Olde & Marriott].
Griffinia hyacinthina Ker Gawl.
Bulbous perennial with oblong leaves and umbels of 9 or 10 white flowers, produced in summer, the upper segments tending to blue at the apex. The 4-5 leaves, to 15cm long, have lattice-like veining and are produced after the flowers. To 45cm. [RHSD, Baker Am.].
