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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.

Ixia flexuosa L.

A cormous perennial. Growing to 65cm tall, it has wiry stems, often unbranched and pink, mauve or white flowers, up to 12 per stem, with darker streaks and a musky odour. [CECB].

Ixia hybrida Ker-Gawl.

Grey believes that Ixia hybrida is likely to be a naturally-occuring hybrid of Ixia flexuosa L. and I. maculata L. He describes Ixia hybrida as similar to a small-flowered form of I. flexuosa, with pink-flushed flowers, but with a distinct black basal blotch, similar to I. maculata.

Ixia longituba N.E.Br.

A cormous perennial with 5-6 linear, lance-shaped leaves, often spirally twisted, and flowering stems to 75cm, sometimes branched, bearing small pale to deep pink, sometimes white flowers, darker on the outside, in spring and summer. [RHSD, CECB].

Ixia maculata L.

Cormous perennial with lance-shaped, usually twisted, leaves and spikes of few to many orange or yellow flowers with dark purple or black centres, in spring or early summer. To 50cm. [RHSE, Hortus, CECB].

Ixia maculata L. var. L. var. columellaris

A form of Ixia maculata with purple flowers with bluish spots. [RHSD, Hortus]. The flower figured in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine has pinkish-purple flowers with a dark red centre.

Ixia maculata L. var. conica

See Ixia maculata L. for a description of the type. Conica is a form of Ixia maculata with orange flowers.

Ixia maculata L. var. flavo-aurea

An unidentified variety or hybrid. This plant may be the same as Ixia fusco-aurea which was first listed in the 1845 catalogue, see Ixia maculata L. var, fuscocitrina. Possibly a hybrid.

Ixia maculata L. var. fuscocitrina

For a description of the type see Ixia maculata L. Grey describes the variety fuscocitrina as being in cultivation in several gardens in Cape Town, its exact provenance being unknown. It is similar to I. maculata but the flowers are citrus-yellow with a dark basal blotch.

Ixia monodelpha D.Delaroche

Cormous perennial with lance-shaped, twisted leaves and compact spikes of 4-12 white, blue, purple or pink flowers, with a green or brown, circled, central mark, in spring and early summer. [RHSE, Hortus, CECB].

Ixia monodelpha D.Delaroche blue form

See Ixia monodelpha D.Delaroche. This is a form with blue flowers as illustrated.

Ixia monodelpha D.Delaroche pink form

See Ixia monodelpha D.Delaroche. This is a form with pink flowers.

Ixia odorata Ker-Gawl.

Cormous perennial with from 5-12 crowded, small, pale yellow or cream, sweetly fragrant flowers per stem. [CECB].

Ixia paniculata D.Delaroche

Half-hardy cormous perennial with erect lance-shaped leaves and branched stems bearing spikes of 5-18 pink-suffused, cream or pale yellow flowers in spring and summer. To 90cm. [RHSE, CECB].

Ixia paniculata D.Delaroche var. tenuiflora

For discussion of the species see Ixia paniculata D.Delaroche. Tenuiflora means with slender flowers although there appears to be very little difference in this respect between flowers depicted as tenuiflora, such as here, and others of the species.

Ixia patens Ait.

Cormous perennial with up to 7 linear to lance-shaped leaves, to 35cm long and often with a prominent margin, and a lax, branched flowering stem, to 50cm, bearing up to 15, pink, rose-purple or crimson, rarely white, flowers in spring. [RHSD, CECB].

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