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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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

Kalanchoe pinnata (Lam.) Pers.

Frost tender, bushy, erect, perennial succulent with ovate, toothed, red-tinged leaves, and pendant, tubular to bell-shaped, red-tinted, greenish-white flowers in cyme-like panicles in late summer. To 1m. [RHSE].

Kalmia latifolia L.

Rhododendron-like shrub with glossy, alternate leaves, to 13cm long, and terminal clusters of pink, saucer-shaped flowers in summer. To 7.5m. There are a number of garden varieties, varying in flower colour, leaf and habit. [RHSD, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Kerria japonica DC. var. flore pleno

Fully-hardy, suckering shrub with arching green shoots, pointed, sharply-toothed leaves, and solitary, single or double, golden yellow flowers, to 5cm across, covering the branches in spring. To 2m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Knowltonia capensis Huth

Half-hardy cormous perennial with cordate or ovate, usually toothed leaves, and few-flowered umbels of narrow-petalled, daisy-like yellow-green flowers. [RHSD].

Koellikeria argyrostigma (Hook.) Regel.

Frost-hardy, rhizomatous perennial with rosettes of softly hairy leaves, a rich, velvety, dark green colour, spotted with silver and often veined deep reddish-green, and slender racemes, to 30cm, bearing many alternate flowers with white corollas, flushed deep pink or red, and yellow-blotched and red-lined throats, in summer. [Moore].

Köelreuteria paniculata Laxm.

Fully hardy, spreading tree with large pinnate leaves, consisting of up to 15 or more finely-toothed leaflets, and large panicles, to 30cm long, of red-spotted yellow flowers, to 1cm across, in summer and autumn, followed by red-brown fruits. To 10m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers'].

Kohleria bogotensis Fritsch

It was described in the Ornamental Flower Garden as ‘a very handsome stove perennial with scaly tubers. The stems grow erect, from 1 to 2 feet high, or sometimes more, bearing opposite leaves, of a broadly ovate form, beautifully variegated with bands of pale whitish blue on a ground of velvet of the deepest bronzy green. The flowers grow on long peduncles from the axils of the leaves, the upper half of the tube and limb rich scarlet, the lower half yellow, marked on the face of the limb with dotted lines of scarlet.’ [OFG f.27/1854]. The accompanying figure shows a striking flower, its yellow throat spotted with brilliant crimson.

Kydia calycina Roxb.

Frost-tender, monoecius evergreen shrub or tree with almost circular, shallowly-lobed leaves, to 15cm long, and long panicles of small, fringed, fragrant white or pink flowers on female plants in spring and sometimes autumn, followed by small fruits. To 15m. [RHSD].

Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet

Frost-tender, fast-growing, twining, perennial climber, with leaves composed of three triangular leaflets, and racemes, to 40cm long, of fragrant purple or white pea-like flowers in summer and autumn, followed by 10-15cm long pods containing beans ranging from white to black in colour. To 6m. [RHSE, Hortus].

Laburnum alpinum Bercht. and Presl.

Fully-hardy spreading tree with almost hairless glossy leaves consisting of 3 elliptic-ovate leaflets, and slender racemes of bright yellow flowers in spring and early summer. To 8m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Laburnum anagyroides Medik.

Fully-hardy spreading small tree with hairy grey-green young shoots, leaves consisting of 3 elliptic-obovate leaflets, and dense. pendant racemes of bright yellow flowers in spring and early summer. To 8m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Lachenalia bulbifera (Cirillo) Engl.

Half-hardy, robust bulbous perennial with strap-like, semi-erect, brown-purple spotted leaves and loose racemes of few to many pendant, cylindrical red or orange flowers with green and purple tips. To 30cm. [RHSE, CECB, Hortus].

Lachenalia species blue

There is insufficient data to positively identify this plant but three possibilities, all from South Africa, are suggested under Notes.

Laelia anceps Lindl.

Frost-tender epiphytic orchid with ovate pseudobulbs with 1 or 2 lance-shaped leaves, to 15cm long, and racemes, to 60cm long, of up to 5 white to light pink flowers, to 6cm across, usually with deeper coloured lips and yellow, purple-veined throats, in winter. To 60cm. There are many named colour varieties. [RHSE, Pridgeon, Hortus, Jennings].

Laelia crispa (Lindl.) Rchb.f.

Frost-tender epiphyte with a strong habit, a solitary leaf, to 30cm long, and spikes of 5-6 fragrant white flowers in summer, sometimes with a faint purplish blush, the labellum stained with a rich crimson-violet, and the petals waved and crisped. [RHSD, Hortus, Jennings].

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