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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Hemerocallis flava L.
Rhizomatous hardy perennial with dark green, arching leaves, to 60cm long, and lemon-yellow, fragrant, widely trumpet-shaped flowers on branched stems. To 1m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Hemerocallis flava L. var. florepleno
See Hemerocallis flava L. for a description of the species. Double-flowered forms have been available for centuries.
Hemerocallis fulva L.
Fully-hardy, semi-evergreen, rhizomatous perennial with trumpet-shaped orange-brown flowers in summer. To 1m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Herbertia pulchella Sweet
Bulbous perennial with few only pleated, erect, linear basal leaves, to 20cm long, and blue or violet flowers, to 5.5cm across, with a bowl-shaped, reflexed centre, often streaked purple and with a white central stripe, in spring. To 15cm. [RHSE].
Hesperis matronalis L.
Fully hardy rosette-forming biennial or short-lived perennial with racemes or panicles of white, lilac or purple flowers in late spring to mid-summer. To 90cm. [RHSE, Hortus].
Heteromeles arbutifolia (Ait.) M.Roem.
Half-hardy evergreen shrub with thick and leathery, lance-shaped leaves, to 10cm long, and flattened, terminal panicles of white flowers in late summer, followed by small red berries. To 4.5m. [RHSD, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Heterophragma quadriloculare K.Schum.
Deciduous tree with brown bark, compound leaves, to 60cm long, crowded near the end of branches, each leaf with 3-5 pairs of leaflets, and a terminal leaflet, and terminal, velvety panicles of white flowers with a rosy tinge, to 6cm across, the five petals rounded with crinkled margins, followed by fruit to 30 cm long. To 15m. [www.flowersofindia.net].
Hibiscus cannabinus L. var. lindleyi
Half-hardy, erect, almost unbranched, fast-growing annual or short-lived perennial with palm-like, 3- to7-lobed leaves, to 15cm long, and single or few-flowered axillary racemes of funnel-shaped, pale yellow or purple-red flowers with crimson-red centres, from summer to autumn. To 3.5m. The variety Lindleyi has deep purple flowers. [RHSE, Hortus].
Hibiscus heterophyllus-puniceus [Macarthur]
Hibiscus heterophyllus Vent. x Hibiscus puniceus Hort. I have found no description of this plant.
Hibiscus huegelii Endl. var. grossulariifolius (Miq.) Benth.
The type Hibiscus huegelii is a rounded shrub with deeply lobed leaves and lilac flowers, to 12cm across, in spring and summer. To 2m. [Wrigley].
Hibiscus liliiflorus Cav.
Frost-tender, evergreen shrub or small tree with entire, sometimes trifid, lance-shaped leaves and variable bell-shaped flowers, from pink to scarlet. To 3m. [Don].
Hibiscus liliiflorus-rosa-sinensis [Bidwill]
A hybrid of Hibiscus liliiflorus Cav. x H. rosa-sinensis L. ‘Sometimes the shape of the leaves is almost exactly as in H. Rosa-sinensis: at other times, and that very frequently, they are trifid, or tripartite, with the segments laciniated. The flowers are deep red, buff-coloured, and more frequently of a bright and delicate rose colour.’ [BM t.2891/1829]. The figure is of the hybrid Hibiscus liliiflorus x H. rosa-sinensis shown in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine, but to what extent it resembles Bidwill’s hybrid is impossible to say.
Hibiscus moschato-speciosus [Bidwill]
Probably an Abelmoschus moschatus Medik. x Hibiscus coccineus Walter hybrid. I have found no description of this plant but it is reasonable to assume that the hybrid would share the herbaceous habit and bright red flowers of both parents, assuming moschatus to be the subspecies tuberosus. The illustration of Hibiscus coccineus given here is a possible likeness.
Hibiscus moscheutos Welw. ex Hiern. subsp. palustris (L.) R.T.Clausen
Half-hardy, strong-growing, woody-based perennial with mostly ovate to rounded, sometimes 3- to 5-lobed leaves, white-hairy beneath, and widely funnel-shaped, white, pink or crimson flowers, rarely white, to 20cm across, with spreading petals, in summer. To 2.5m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Hibiscus mutabilis L.
Frost-tender, erect to spreading, usually freely branching, evergreen shrub or small tree, with stems covered in soft, star-shaped hairs, 3- to 7-lobed leaves, hairy beneath, and axillary clusters of funnel-shaped, white or pink flowers, to 12cm across, sometimes with a darker base. Flowers sometimes borne singly. To 5m. [RHSE, Hortus].
