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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Cestrum aurantiacum Lindl.
Frost tender evergreen shrub with arching branches, ovate to lance-shaped leaves and axillary and terminal panicle-like cymes of tubular bright orange flowers in spring and summer. To 3m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Cestrum corymbosum Schltdl.
Frost tender, branching shrub with rigid, narrow branches, lance-shaped leaves, to 10cm, and terminal corymbs of tubular-funnel-shaped red flowers. To 2m. [RHSD, Don].
Cestrum elegans (Brong. ex Neumann) Schltdl.
Frost tender, vigorous, evergreen shrub with alternate, softly hairy, oblong leaves, to 12cm long, and axillary and terminal cymes of tubular to funnel-shaped, vivid orange flowers in autumn, followed by black berries. To 3m. [RHSE, Hilliers’, Hortus].
Cestrum fasciculatum (Schltdl.) Miers
Frost hardy, strong-growing, evergreen shrub with arching branches, lance-shaped, wavy-margined leaves, to 7cm long, and terminal, pendant cymes, to 8cm long, of tubular, red or purple flowers in spring and summer, followed by purple-red berries. To 2m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nak. var. japonica
A vigorous, wide-spreading shrub with tangled, spiny branches and glossy, oval leaves, to 9cm, and clusters of up to 4 scarlet to crimson flowers, to 4.5cm across, in spring, followed by aromatic, yellow-green fruit, to 6cm long. To 2.5m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nak. var. japonica ‘Alba’
See Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nak. var. japonica. ‘Alba’ is a cultivar with white flowers. Possibly the white flowered form mentioned by Don.
Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nak. var. japonica ‘Rubra’
See Chaenomeles speciosa (Sweet) Nak. var. japonica. ‘Rubra’ is a cultivar with red flowers. How it differs from the variety figured under Chaenomeles speciosa japonica is unclear and that illustration is also used here. ‘Rubra grandiflora’, of low and spreading habit with large, crimson flowers, is an old variety raised in Belgium. [Hilliers'].
Chamaecytisus purpureus (Scop.) Link.
Fully-hardy, deciduous, dense, semi-erect shrub with smooth, branching stems, 3-palmate leaves and axillary clusters of 2 or 3 pale pink to lilac flowers, to 2.5cm across, with darker throats, in early summer. To 45cm. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Chamaemelum nobile (L.) All.
Fully hardy, mat-forming, hairy, aromatic perennial with feathery leaves, to 5cm long, and long-staked daisy-like flowers, to 1.5cm across, in summer. To 30cm. [RHSE, Hortus].
Chamaerops humilis L.
Half hardy, bushy palm producing suckers when mature, with broad, pinnate, bluish leaves to 100cm long, composed of up to 15 linear leaflets, and yellow flowers in dense, almost hidden panicles in spring and summer. To 3m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Chasmanthe aethiopica (L.) N.E.Br.
A shade-loving, clump-forming cormous perennial with lance-shaped leaves and one-sided racemes of red or orange flowers with maroon throats and yellow-striped tubes from spring to early summer. To 70cm. [RHSE, Hortus, CECB].
Chilianthus oleaceus Burch.
Frost tender shrub or small tree with entire, lance-shaped leaves, to 10cm long, and terminal or axillary, rounded pannicles of small, heavily scented yellowish-white, flowers. To 9m. [RHSD, Don].
Chimonanthus praecox Link.
Fully hardy, vigorous, broadly upright, deciduous shrub with lance-shaped leaves arranged in opposite pairs and pendant, fragrant, sulphur-yellow flowers, 2.5cm across and marked brown or purple inside, borne on the bare stems in winter. To 4m. [RHSE, SD, HM, Don].
Chionanthus virginicus L.
Fully-hardy, spreading, deciduous shrub or small tree with peeling or deeply furrowed bark, elliptic, opposite leaves, glossy above, softly hairy beneath, and erect panicles of fragrant white flowers, followed by blue-black fruit, in summer. To 3m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Chiranthodendron pentadactylon Larreat.
Tender evergreen tree downy stems, 5- to7-lobed palmate leaves and solitary, axillary, reddish, downy flowers with very prominent 5-lobed stamens, somewhat resembling a hand. To 10m or more. [RHSD].
