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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Cornus capitata Wall.
Tender evergreen tree with hairy, grey-green, lance-shaped leaves, to 12cm long with dense clusters of insignificant flowers surrounded by yellowish bracts, followed by strawberry-like crimson fruits. To 15m. [RHS, Hortus].
Cornus florida L.
Deciduous shrub or small tree with oval leaves to 15cm long, turning red in Autumn, small yellow-green flowers in small heads, surrounded by showy white to pink bracts, followed by pendant, strawberry-like fruit. To 12m. [RHS, Hortus]. There are many garden varieties.
Coronilla juncea L.
Half hardy shrub with arching, almost naked rush-like branches, pinnate leaves, to 40cm long, with 3-7 lance-shaped leaflets, and terminal and axillary umbels of bright yellow flowers. To 1m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Coronilla valentina L. subsp. glauca
Frost-hardy, dense, rounded, compact shrub with pinnate leaves with, usually, 5-7 leaflets, and axillary umbels of 4-14 fragrant, bright yellow flowers in late winter and spring, and again in late summer. To 80cm. The subspecies glauca differs from the type in having only 2-3 pairs of leaflets, blue-green in colour, with a waxy bloom, and lemon-yellow flowers. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Corylus avellana ‘Cob Nut’
A cultivar of Corylus avellana L. ‘Husk hairy, shorter than the nut, and much frizzled. Nut large, obtusely ovate. Shell of a light brown colour, rather thick. Kernel large. A good nut for early use, but does not keep well.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.131/1860].
Corylus avellana ‘Cosford’
A cultivar of Corylus avellana L. ‘Husk hairy, as long as the nut, and deeply cut. Nut large, oblong. Shell of a light brown colour, very thin, so much so as to be easily broken between the finger and thumb. Kernel large, and well flavoured. An excellent early nut, and the tree is an abundant bearer.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.131/1860].
Corylus avellana ‘Northamptonshire Prolific’
A cultivar of Corylus avellana L. ‘Northamptonshire Prolific’ is described as an ‘oblong nut, middle-sized, with a thick shell, and very early.’ [Hort. Soc. Fruit Cat. Nut no.27/1831].
Corylus avellana ‘Red Filbert’
A cultivar of Corylus avellana L. ‘Husk hairy, longer than the nut. Nut of medium size, ovate. Shell thick. Kernel full, covered with a red skin.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.132/1860].
Corylus avellana ‘White Filbert’
A cultivar of Corylus avellana L. ‘Husk hairy, longer than the nut, round the apex of which it is contracted. Nut medium sized, ovate. Shell thick. Kernel full, and covered with a white skin.’ [Hogg – Fruit Manual p.132/1860].
Corylus avellana L.
Fully hardy upright or tree-like shrub with broadly heart-shaped leaves and pendant catkins in winter and spring, followed by the edible nuts. To 5m. An important economic crop. The Filbert differs from the common Hazel-nut in having nuts in ones, twos or threes completely enclosed in a longer, lobed husk. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Corylus colurna L.
Hardy, deciduous, pyramidal tree with corky, corrugated bark, ovate, pointed, toothed leaves, and nuts usually in clusters of 3-6. To 24m. [RHSD, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Corynocarpus laevigata Forsk.
Frost tender, erect and bushy, then spreading tree with elliptic, deep green leaves, and, when mature, stiff panicles of tiny, greenish yellow flowers in spring and summer, followed by orange fruit, to 4cm long. To 15m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Corytholoma splendens (Van Houtte) Fritsch
I have found no description to date.
Cotinus coggygria Scop.
Fully hardy bushy shrub or tree with often greyish oval leaves, to 7cm long, turning yellow to red in autumn, and fruiting panicles, to 15cm long, turning from green to grey as they mature. To 5m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers’].
Cotyledon orbiculata L.
Frost tender, shrubby, erect, freely-branching succulent with thick, fleshy stems, white-frosted-waxy, white or grey leaves, and long inflorescences of tubular, red, or yellowish red flowers in summer and autumn. To 1m. [RHSE, Hortus].
