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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Abutilon grandifolium (Willd.) Sweet
Much branched woody shrub or small tree with alternate, ovate-heart-shaped leaves, somewhat hairy, and large, axillary, orange-yellow flowers. To 1.5m. [Beadle, Don].
Abutilon pictum (Gillies ex Hook.) Walp.
Half-hardy, evergreen shrub or small tree, upright, then spreading, with pendant, bell-shaped, yellow to orange flowers with prominent darker veins, from spring to autumn. To 5m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Abutilon venosum Lem.
Frost tender shrub or small tree with 5 or 7-lobed leaves, to 23cm across, and solitary, axillary, golden yellow flowers veined with reddish-brown, to 5cm across. [RHSD].
Acacia amoena Wendl.f.
Half hardy, bushy shrub with bipinnate, bluntish oblong, blue-green phyllodes and axillary racemes of bright yellow flowers in compact, round heads in spring. To 2m. [FNSW, Beadle].
Acacia brownei (Poir.) Steud
Erect or spreading shrub with thorn-like phyllodes and axillary, globular bright yellow flower heads. To 1m. [FNSW].
Acacia farnesiana (L.) Willd.
Frost-tender, medium-sized shrub or small tree with leaves bearing up to 8 pairs of pinnae, each with up to 20 pairs of leaflets, and sweet-scented, deep yellow flowers in summer. To 7m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Acacia linifolia (Vent.) Willd.
Fully-hardy, sparsely branched, arching shrub with narrow, linear leaves (phyllodes) and terminal, rounded heads of fragrant cream flowers in slender racemes from summer to winter. To 2m. [RHSD, Beadle, FNSW].
Acacia paradoxa DC.
Spiny, usually erect and bushy, sometimes spreading shrub with half ovate phyllodes to 2.5cm long and masses of axillary, globular flower heads, to .5cm or so across, with bright yellow flowers all along the branches. To 3m. [RHSD, Hortus, Hilliers’, FNSW].
Acacia pendula A.Cunn.
Half-hardy, bushy, broad-headed, evergreen tree with sickle-shaped leaves and short, branching racemes of spherical, pale yellow flower heads in winter. To 10m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Acacia riceana Hensl.
Graceful, often weeping, small tree with up to 4 needle-like, spine-tipped phyllodes at each joint, to 5cm long, and globose heads of yellow flowers forming spikes up to 5cm long. To 10m. [RHSD, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Acacia suaveolens (Sm.) Willd.
Prostrate to erect shrub with linear phyllodes up to 15 cm long, and globular axillary racemes of pale yellow flowers. To 2.5m. [RHSD, Hortus, FNSW].
Acacia terminalis (Salisb.) J.F.Macbr.
Frost-hardy, dense shrub or small tree with leaves composed of 2-6 pairs of pinnae, each bearing up to 12 pairs of leaflets, and rounded heads of cream to deep yellow flowers in long racemes, often forming a large terminal panicle, in autumn and winter. To 3m. [RHSD, Hortus, FNSW].
Acacia verticillata (L’Hér.) Willd.
Shrub or small tree with downy shoots, spine-tipped phyllodes in whorls of about 6 and bright yellow flowers in cylindrical spikes in late winter and spring. To 3m or more. [RHSD, Hortus, Hilliers', FNSW].
Acantholimon venustum Boiss.
Fully hardy, slow-growing perennial with rosettes of lance-shaped, silver-margined, blue-grey leaves and spikes of pink flowers in midsummer. To 8cm. [RHSE, Hortus].
Acanthus mollis L.
Fully hardy, clump-forming perennial with obovate, deeply-lobed, dark green leaves, and 1m long racemes of white flowers with purple-shaded bracts in summer. To 1.5m. [RHSE, Hortus].
