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here were listed in the catalogues of plants published by Sir William Macarthur in 1843, 1845, 1850 and 1857 and in an unpublished catalogue dated 1861.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.
Disocactus flagelliformis (L.) Barthlott
Frost tender, pendant, perennial cactus with greyish-green, ribbed stems with reddish-brown spines and narrowly tubular, funnel-shaped, purple-red flowers, 8cm long in spring and summer. [RHSE, Hortus].
Disocactus x mallisonii (Otto & Dietr.) Barthlott
A hybrid cactus, Disocactus flagelliformis x D. speciosus. Frost tender, pendant, perennial cactus with dark green, ribbed stems, dark yellow spines and funnel-shaped, diurnal red flowers, to 7cm long, mainly on the upper stems. To 15cm. [RHSE, Hortus].
Distictis buccinatoria (DC.) A.H.Gentry
A borderline half-hardy vigorous climber with lance-shaped leaflets to 10cm long and racemes of tubular-salverform, purple-red flowers, with yellow towards the bases, particularly noticeable in the bud, from summer to autumn. To 25m. [RHSE, Hortus].
Dolichandrone spathacea (L.f.) Schum.
Frost tender tree with pinnate leaves composed of up to 8 pinnae, and racemes of large, fragrant, nocturnal, salverform white flowers. To 20m. [RHSD, Don].
Dombeya wallichii (Lindl.) K.Schum.
Large shrub or small tree with lobed, cordate leaves and drooping umbels of scarlet flowers. To 9m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Doronicum caucasicum M.Bieb.
A rhizomatous herbaceous perennial with toothed, kidney-shaped basal leaves, a few lance-shaped stem leaves and solitary yellow, daisy-like flower heads, about 5cm across. To 60cm. Improved garden forms exist, such as magnificum, with larger flower heads. [RHSE, Hortus].
Dorotheanthus apetalus (L.f.) N.E.Br.
Half hardy, erect red-stemmed annual with somewhat fleshy bright green leaves and solitary crimson, pink or white flowers with a dark central disk in summer. To 10cm. [RHSE, Hortus].
Doryanthes excelsa Correa
Frost-tender perennial with erect clusters of 100 or more curving, lance-shaped leaves and, in late summer, flowering stems to 5m bearing short, lance shaped leaves and dense, spherical racemes, to 70cm across, of tubular red flowers enclosed in leafy bracts. To 6m. [RHSE, Hortus, FNSW].
Doryphora sassafras Endl.
Large, aromatic tree with elliptic, coarsely serrated leaves, to 10cm long, and short axillary peduncles of, usually, three white flowers in early spring. The timber of the Sassafras is of some commercial value. [RHSD, FNSW, Beadle].
Dovyalis caffra Warb.
Spiny shrub or small tree with glossy, oblong-ovate leaves and inconspicuous green or yellow flowers, followed by edible spherical fruits, to 4cm in diameter, with an apricot odour. To 6m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Downingia pulchella Torr.
Hardy annual with alternate lance-shaped leaves and blue and white flowers, the throat marked with green or yellow. To 15cm. [RHSD, Hortus].
Draba incana L.
Dwarf biennial or perennial herb with somewhat hairy, often toothed, lance-shaped leavesand a dense, hairy raceme of up to 40 white flowers. The leaves die at flowering time. To about 20cm. [RHSD, Hortus].
Dracaena species unknown
Possibly Dracaena concinna Kunth., from Madagasdcar. An evergreen shrub with lance-shaped green leaves, to 90cm, margined with red. To 2m. [RHSD, Hortus]. another possibility is Dracaena deremensis Engl., from Tropical East Africa. A spreading shrub with leaves to 70cm, usually variegated in cultivated plants, of which there are many varieties, and terminal panicles of dark red flowers in clusters of 20-30. To 4.5m. [RHSD, Hortus].
Dracocephalum moldavica L.
Fully hardy, erect, bushy annual with aromatic, triangular, toothed leaves, to 4cm long, and slender spike-like racemes of whorled, 2-lipped, violet-blue to purple, sometimes white flowers, to 2.5cm long, in summer. To 60cm. [RHSE, Hortus].
Dracopis amplexicaulis (Vahl) Cass.
Fully hardy annual with simple or branching stems, alternate, oblong leaves, to 10cm long, and yellow to orange-purple, daisy-like flowers in summer. To 1m. [RHSD, Hortus]. Dracopis is a monospecific genus.
