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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Dendranthema x grandiflorum ‘Tasselled Lilac’
A cultivar of Dendranthema x grandiflorum Kitam. Tassel flowered chrysanthemum. ‘A middle-sized, a rather tall plant, of very great beauty, and one of the most desirable of the whole group, having very showy tasselled flowers, five inches or more in expanse, very numerous, early, and elegantly drooping from their weight, but they often show a disk.’ [FC p.73/1833].
Dendranthema x grandiflorum ‘Tasselled White’
A cultivar of Dendranthema x grandiflorum Kitam. Tassel flowered chrysanthemum. ‘This large, strong and broad, deep-green, shiny-leaved variety is one of the latest of all in blooming; but its lovely flowers are larger and more showy than those of any white-flowered variety, and endure to the end of January. No flower in this chilly climate stands the cold so well, or so long continues to beguile the fancy of a florist by its protracted opening, by its hardihood in expansion, and by the soft hew of its snowy blossoms; carrying on, as it were, the flowering beauty of lingering autumn into the bosom of winter, whose ice at length closes the temple of Flora for a time, until the herald flowers of spring appear amidst the melting snow as if impatient of delay.’ [FC p.73/1833].
Dendranthema x grandiflorum ‘Tasselled Yellow’
A cultivar of Dendranthema x grandiflorum Kitam. Tassel flowered chrysanthemum. ‘A very tall and strong-growing large-leaved variety, with numerous tassel-formed flowers of the largest and most showy kind, often measuring more than 5 inches over, and appearing rather early. It is one of the most desirable and free-growing of the whole collection.’ [MB p.194/1834].
Dendranthema x grandiflorum Kitam.
Very variable, frost-tender or half-hardy perennial with small to large flowers in a large range of form and colour. Up to 1.2m. [RHSE, Hortus]. Florist’s chrysanthemum: ‘Half a ball, double, symmetrical; centre well up and perfect; petals broad, blunt, and thick; colour decided, and every petal free from notch.’ [FC p.10/1848]. A figure in Illustration Horticole in 1870 shows how the chrysanthemum had improved in little over three decades. [IH pl.8/1870].
Dendrobium aemulum R.Br.
Epiphytic orchid with short pseudobulbs, to 15cm long, 2-4 leaves, to 7cm long, at the apex of each pseudobulb, and racemes, to 10cm long, of many spidery, white to pink flowers in late winter to spring. To 30cm. [RHSD, Jones, FNSW, Beadle].
Dendrobium albosanguineum Lindl. & Paxt.
Frost tender orchid with very variable pseudobulbs, from very small to 30cm long and 5cm thick, and racemes of 2-7 creamy-white flowers, to 10cm across, with red streaks at the base of the petals and 1 or 2 large reddish-crimson blotches at the base of the lip, in summer. [RHSD, Hortus].
Dendrobium cucumerinum Macleay ex Lindl.
Frost-tender epiphytic orchid with gherkin-shaped leaves attached to a creeping rhizome and short racemes of slightly perfumed, greenish white flowers, to 2.5cm long, with reddish purple streaks at the bottom of the segments and a 3-lobed lip, in spring. [RHSD, Jones, FNSW, Pridgeon, Beadle].
Dendrobium devonianum Paxt.
Frost tender, pendulous, deciduous orchid with stems to 1m long and usually 1 or 2 creamy white flowers, to 5cm across, the lip fringed, white, margined purple and blotched orange at the base and bordered with a lace-like frill, in spring or summer. Pseudobulbs may bear up to 100 flowers. [RHSD, Hortus].
Dendrobium fimbriatum Hook.
Frost-tender evergreen, epiphytic orchid with slender, spindle-shaped pseudobulbs, to 2m long, bearing lance-shaped leaves, to 15cm long, and pendant racemes, to 18cm long, of orange-yellow flowers, to 6cm across, with fringed lips, in spring. [RHSE, Pridgeon, Hortus, Jennings].
Dendrobium gibsonii Paxt.
Frost tender, erect, evergreen orchid with racemes of up to 10 flowers, to 7.5 cm across, growing from the upper parts of the pseudobulbs, rich orange in colour, the lips bright yellow with 2 dark spots at the base, in summer. [RHSD].
Dendrobium kingianum Bidwill ex Lindl.
Frost-tender, evergreen, epiphytic or lithophytic orchid with narrow, conical, pseudobulbs, to 55cm long, with ovate leaves, to 10cm long, and racemes, to 15cm long, of fragrant, pink to deep mauve, occasionally white, flowers, to 4cm across, produced from the pseudobulb tips in spring. [RHSE, Jones, FNSW, Pridgeon, Hortus].
Dendrobium linguiforme Sw.
Frost-tender lithophytic orchid with creeping stems, ovate leaves, to 3cm long, and racemes to 12cm long, bearing numerous white flowers, with faint purplish markings, in winter. [RHSD, Jones, FNSW, Beadle].
Dendrobium loddigesii Rolfe
Frost-tender, small epiphytic orchid with a branched, creeping rhizome, alternate, oblong, somewhat fleshy leaves, and pinkish purple flowers, with white-banded orange lips, in spring. The flowers are solitary and arise from stem joints after the leaves have fallen. [RHSD, Hortus].
Dendrobium nobile Lindl.
Frost-tender, semi-evergreen epiphytic orchid with cylindrical pseudobulbs and lance-shaped leaves, to 12cm long, and usually pairs of flowers varying in colour from largely white, to pinkish purple, with a maroon mark on each lip, in spring. There are many named colour forms. [RHSE, Pridgeon, Hortus, Jennings].
Dendrobium ochreatum Lindl.
Half hardy deciduous orchid with curved and knotted pseudobulbs, to 35cm long, and usually pairs of bright orange flowers, to 7.5cm across, arising from the nodes, with a crimson blotch on the lip. [RHSD, Hortus].
