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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Agapanthus praecox Willd. var. variegatus
See Agapanthus praecox Willd. for a discussion of the species. Macarthur’s ‘f. var.’ is probably a foliage variant of the species. Such a plant was described by Allen as less vigorous than the species, its leaves being less broad and long than the type and almost pure white with a few green bands and delicate blue flowers. [Allen, RHSD, Hortus]. Macarthur’s plant is possibly the variety listed by Steudel in 1840 as Agapanthus variegatus Hort., considered by him to be a form of A. umbellatus [Nomencl. Bot. – Steudel vol.1, p.33/1840]. Although Macarthur was obviously familiar with a foliar variety the only reference I have found to such a plant in the contemporary literature is the brief mention by Steudel. Today there are many variegated garden forms.
Agathis australis (D.Don) Loudon
Half-hardy, evergreen conical tree when young, becoming spreading with a massive trunk, with lance-shaped, leathery leaves, to 8cm long, and woody female cones, to 7cm long, with smaller male cones. To 40m. [RHSE, Hortus, Hilliers'].
Agathis robusta (C.Moore ex F.Muell.) Bail.
Frost-hardy, tall, straight tree with scaly bark, narrow, glossy leaves, to 10cm long, and ovoid female cones, to 12cm long. To 50m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Agave americana L.
Frost-hardy, succulent perennial with rosettes of spreading, lance-shaped, spine-tipped, grey-green leaves, to 2m long, and panicles up to 8m long, bearing clusters of yellowish-green flowers in summer. [RHSE, Hortus].
Agave americana L. var. marginata
Agave americana L. was first botanically described by Linnaeus in 1853 [Sp. Pl. p.323/1753]. There are a number of variegated forms, with yellow or white leaf margins, e.g. marginata, or yellow or white striped leaves, mediopicta and striata. [RHSE]. Macarthur’s variegata is most likely to be marginata.
Agave boscii (Hornem.) ined.
Short-stemmed Agave with a dense rosette of narrow dark green leaves, to 60cm, some times with fine marginal hairs, and a flowering spike to about 5m, bearing pairs of greenish flowers, flushed red or purple above. [www.mswn.com].
Ageratum houstonianum Mill. var. caeruleum
The wild type is a short-lived perennial, a somewhat untidy plant with blue flowers. To 60cm. It is mostly grown as an annual, with most cultivars being compact, mound-forming plants, 15-30cm tall, with numerous small, rounded flower clusters in shades of blue, red and white in summer. [RHSE, Hortus].
Ailanthus altissima (Mill.) Swingle
Fully hardy, spreading, suckering tree with large, oblong-elliptic, pinnate leaves, to 60cm long, with up to 30 leaflets which open reddish green and later turn green. In summer, terminal panicles of small green flowers, up to 30cm long, are followed by red-brown fruit, similar to the ash. To 25m. [RHSE, Hilliers’, FNSW].
Allamanda cathartica L.
Frost-tender, vigorous, evergreen climber with whorls of 3-4 lance-shaped leaves and axillary and terminal cymes of golden-yellow, trumpet-shaped flowers from summer to autumn. To 16m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Allamanda cathartica L. var. grandiflora L.H.Bailey & Raffill.
For a description of the species see Allamanda cathartica L. Grandiflora freely produces flowers with trumpets almost twice as large as the type, sometimes more than 10cm across. [RHSD].
Allamanda cathartica L. var. schottii L.H.Bailey & Raffill.
For a description of the species see Allamanda cathartica L. Schottii has yellow trumpets with a dark striped throat. Tends to be bushier than the species. [RHSD].
Allamanda neriifolia Hook.
Frost-tender, semi-erect, evergreen semi-climber with oblong leaves in whorls of 2-5, and deep golden yellow flowers streaked with orange-red in summer. To 1.5m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Allium neapolitanum Cirillo var. cowanii
Half-hardy perennial with somewhat flaccid, stem-sheathing, lance-shaped leaves which often wither before flowering time, and white flowers with spreading petals in multi-flowered umbels. [RHSE].
