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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Callistephus chinensis (L.) Nees
Upright summer annual with coarsely toothed leaves and very striking single or double flowers in shades of pink, red, blue, purple and white. Variable in height, to 75cm. [RHSD, Hortus]. There are many garden forms.
Callitris endlicheri (Parl.) Bail.
Frost-hardy, evergreen, columnar shrub or small tree with spreading branches. To 25m. [RHSD, Beadle, FNSW].
Callitris macleayana (Muell.) Muell.
Half-hardy tree with a spreading crown, fibrous, furrowed bark and a mixture of juvenile and adult leaves, even on mature trees, the glaucous juvenile leaves in whorls of 4, the adult leaves smaller and acutely keeled. To 20m, rarely as tall as 45m. [RHSD, FNSW].
Callitris oblonga Rich. subsp. oblonga
Frost-hardy, evergreen, symmetrical shrub or small tree with erect branches, a dense crown, keeled leaves, and ovoid, shiny black female cones, to 2cm, single or in small groups. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’, FOA].
Callitris rhomboidea R.Br. ex Rich.
Frost-hardy evergreen columnar, shrub or small tree with blue-green, scale-like leaves, and flattened, brownish female cones, to 1.5cm across, single or in small groups. To 15m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’, FNSW].
Callitris species Swan River
Unidentified, no description.
Callitris species Van Diemen's Land
Probably a form of Callitris rhomboidea R.Br. ex Rich. or Callitris oblonga Rich. subsp. oblonga which see.
Calluna vulgaris (L.) Hull.
Very variable, hardy, prostrate to erect shrub with green to grey leaves, to 3mm long, and racemes of white to red flowers in summer and autumn. To 60cm. There are many garden varieties. [RHSE, Hortus].
Calochilus robertsonii Benth.
Terrestrial orchid with an ovoid tuber, a long, narrow, conspicuously channelled leaf, to 20cm long, and a terminal raceme of up to 8, greenish-purple flowers, the labellum covered with purple hairs, in spring. To 35cm. [Jones, FNSW, Beadle].
Calostemma purpureum R.Br.
Deciduous or evergreen bulbous plant, depending on growing conditions. The leaves may die back in summer, the umbels of 10-20 purple flowers appearing in summer or autumn, on a scape to 50cm long, followed by the leaves. [RHSD, FNSW].
Calostemma purpureum R.Br. var. bronze
For details of the species see Calostemma purpureum R.Br. No doubt a variety with bronze-hued flowers. Calostemma purpureum is highly variable in flower colour, varying from very pale blush, almost white, to deep reddish pink. Yellow forms also occur and these are also variable, verging on white in some plants. See Calostemma purpureum R.Br. var. luteum and Calostemma purpureum R.Br. var. cunninghamii.
Calostemma purpureum R.Br. var. carneum (Lindl.) Benth.
For a description of the species see Calostemma purpureum. R.Br. The variety carneum has rather larger flowers than the species, variously described as pink, flesh-coloured, pale purple or white. [Baker Am.].
