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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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

Paeonia suffruticosa Andr.

Fully-hardy, upright, sparsely-branched deciduous shrub with deeply cut leaves composed of 9 elliptic leaflets, and single or double, cup- to bowl-shaped, sometimes scented, white, pink, red or purple flowers, to 30cm across, often with maroon marks at the base, in spring and summer. To 2.2m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. Banksii

See Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. for a description of the species. The variety Banksii seems rather similar to Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. rosea which also see. Johnson’s Dictionary describes the flowers as purple.

Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. carneaplena

See Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. for a description of the species and Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. Banksii and Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. papaveracea for more specific information relating to the description below.

Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. humei

Paeonia suffruticosa var. humei has partially double, whitish flowers with a dark centre. [Hortus]. ‘The flowers of this variety are double, and have a bunch of petals arising from the middle of the flower of a reddish colour. It is a pretty variety.’ [Clericus in FC p.45/1842]. See Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. for more information.

Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. papaveracea

Papaveracea has nearly single, white flowers with a purple blotch at the base of the petals. Such a plant is figured beautifully in Curtis’s Botanical Magazine. The flowers apparently tended to become more double in succeeding generations. [Hortus, BM t.2175/1820, Don]. See Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. for more information.

Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. rosea

See Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. for a description of the species. Rosea is a variety with pink flowers. [JD].

Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. var. speciosa

See Paeonia suffruticosa Andr. for a description of the species. According to Johnson’s Dictionary it has pink flowers but I have no more detailed description.

Paeonia tenuifolia L.

A fully-hardy herbaceous perennial with deeply cut, fern-like leaves and single, cup-shaped, deep red flowers in spring and summer. To 70cm. [RHSE, Hortus].

Paeonia tenuifolia L. var. latifolia

See Paeonia tenuifolia L. for a description of the species. The variety latifolia has a taller habit and the leaf segments are broader than the type and less finely cut. [Hortus, JD].

Paliurus spina-christi Mill.

Frost hardy, bushy, deciduous shrub with slender, thorny shoots, ovate, glossy leaves, to 4cm long, and small cymes of tiny, star-shaped yellow flowers in summer, followed by woody fruit. To 4m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Pandorea jasminoides (Lindl.) K. Schum.

Frost tender, vigorous twining climber with wiry, branching stems, pinnate leaves, composed of 5-9 leaflets, to 5cm long, and freely-produced cyme-like panicles of tubular white flowers, flushed crimson in the throat, from spring to summer. To 5m or more. [RHSE, Hilliers’, Hortus].

Pandorea jasminoides (Lindl.) K. Schum. var. alba

See Pandorea jasminoides (Lindl.) K. Schum. for discussion of the species. The variety alba has pure white, somewhat larger flowers. [RHSE]. There are a number of named cultivars.

Pandorea pandorana (Andr.) Steenis

The designation ‘sp. nova’ suggests an Australian plant and was often used in this sense by Macarthur. The only other Australian bignonia known at the time is Pandorea pandorana (Andr.) Steenis, although it seems unlikely that William Macarthur would have been unaware of this plant as it first botanically described in 1800 and introduced to Europe even earlier. It is a climber with creamish-white flowers with a purplish throat, native to the Sydney area. [FNSW, Beadle].

Papaver somniferum L.

Fully hardy, erect annual with solitary, bowl-shaped, pink, mauve-purple, red or white flowers in spring and summer. There are a number of ornamental garden forms, including paeony-flowered hybrids. Cultivated for the milky sap produced in their seed capsules, the source of opium and its derivatives, such as heroin and morphine and other powerful narcotics and analgesics. The seeds have also been used for medicinal and culinary purposes since antiquity. To 1.2m. [RHSE, Hortus].

Paphiopedilum barbatum (Lindl.) Pfitzer

Frost tender ground orchid with oblong, light green leaves blotched and spotted with dark green markings, and solitary, whitish ladies’ slipper flowers striped and flushed with purple, in summer. [RHSD].

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