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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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

Rhus verniciflua Stokes

With a range from the Himalayas to Japan, it is a medium-sized tree with large pinnate leaves and drooping panicles of flowers. It is the source of the famous varnish or lacquer of Japan. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Ribes aureum Pursh

Fully hardy shrub with 3-lobed leaves and spicily aromatic, yellow flowers, often flushed red, followed by black berries. To 2m. [RHSE, Hortus].

Ribes grossularia ‘Green Walnut’

A cultivar of Ribes grossularia L. ‘Green Walnut’ is probably very similar to Macarthur’s ‘large, smooth, green’ gooseberry. ‘Fruit medium sized, obovate. Skin very thin, dark green, and smooth. An early variety, of excellent flavour. Bush with long-spreading shoots; leaves close to the branches; and a great bearer.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.83/1860]. Hogg includes it among his smooth, oblong, oval or obovate, green dessert gooseberries.

Ribes grossularia ‘Ironmonger’

A cultivar of Ribes grossularia L. A red gooseberry, cultivated by 1831, although not new at this time [George Lindley – Orchard Guide p.178/1831]. ‘Ironmonger’ was only included among Additional Gooseberries Cultivated in this Country.

‘Ironmonger’ is considered a superior variety by Hogg and included among the hairy, round or roundish, red dessert gooseberries.

Ribes grossularia ‘Yellow Champagne’

A cultivar of Ribes grossularia L. ‘Small and roundish. Skin yellow, and hairy. Of first-rate excellence. Bush erect.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.90/1860]. Hogg included ‘Yellow Champagne’ among his yellow, round, hairy-skinned dessert gooseberries.

Ribes grossularia L.

Deciduous spiny shrub with bristly shoots and lobed leaves, the greenish flowers born singly or in twos and threes, followed by round to ovate edible green fruits, sometimes bristly. To 1m or so. [RHSD, Hortus].

Ribes odoratum Wendl.f.

A spineless, erect, deciduous shrub with ovate, 3- to 5-lobed leaves, to 8cm long, turning red and purple in autumn, and pendant racemes of tubular, fragrant yellow flowers, to 5cm long, in spring, followed by spherical black fruit, to 1cm across. To 2m. [Hilliers’, Hortus].

Ribes rubrum ‘Bertin’s Seedling no. 31’

‘Bertin Seedling’ is briefly mentioned in Card’s Bush Fruits, listed under Red and White Currants: ‘Appears in the Catalogue of the American Pomological Society for 1869’. [Card – Bush Fruits p.304/1920]. This is the only reference I have found.

Ribes rubrum ‘Bertin’s Seedling no. 9’

‘Bertin Seedling’ is briefly mentioned in Card’s Bush Fruits, listed under Red and White Currants: ‘Appears in the catalogue of the American Pomological Society for 1869’. [Card – Bush Fruits p.304/1920]. This is the only reference I have found. See also Ribes rubrum L.

Ribes rubrum ‘Cherry’

‘Bunches, short, with few berries. Berries, very large, of a deep red colour, and acid flavour, more so than the Red Dutch. It is the largest Red Currant. The bush is of a dwarf habit, with strong, short, and stout stunted-looking shoots; and it has the objectionable practice of sending up a gross shoot from the bottom, which almost invariably breaks off with the wind. The foliage is large, of thick substance, and dark green. The fruit ripens rather early.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.318/1884]. See also Ribes rubrum L.

Ribes rubrum ‘Raby Castle’

‘Bunches, very long, more so than those of Red Dutch. Berries, larger, brighter red, and rather more acid. The bush has a rapid and unusually tall habit of growth. Shoots, reddish brown. Leaves, shining above, dark bluish green, very rugose, and darker than those of any other variety. Flowers tinged with red. This is a valuable currant; the fruit ripens later, and hangs longer than that of any other variety; but it is not an abundant bearer, and on account of its strong, vigorous growth, Mr. Barron recommends it as very suitable for growing as standards or large bushes.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.321/1884]. See also Ribes rubrum L.

Ribes rubrum L.

‘Spiny deciduous shrub with alternate, lobed leaves and racemes of small flowers in spring, followed by small, edible red or white fruits. To. 1.5m. [RHSD, Hortus].

Ribes sativum Syme is often said to be the parent of red and white currants, but others regard R. sativum as a variety of R. rubrum. The RHS Dictionary states: ‘These [R. rubrum and R. sativum] are the two main species that include all the red and white currants, but other species have been used in breeding modern cultivars, including R. petraeum, R. vulgare and R. multiforum. All are native to Europe although R. rubrum and R. petraeum are also found in Asia.’ [RHSD/1999].

Ribes sanguineum Pursh

Fully hardy, upright, spineless, deciduous shrub with rounded, 3- to 5-lobed leaves, to 10cm long, and pendant racemes of tubular, deep pinkish-red flowers in spring, followed by spherical blue-black fruit. To 2m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

Ribes sanguineum Pursh var. flore pleno

See Ribes sanguineum Pursh for more detail on the species. Flore pleno is a double-flowered form. [RHSD].

Ribes speciosum Pursh

Fully hardy, upright, spiny, deciduous shrub with bristly shoots, red when young, ovate, 3- to 5-lobed leaves, to 4cm long, and small pendant racemes of slender, bell-shaped, dark red flowers in spring, followed by spherical, bristly red fruit. To 2m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].

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