Sunday, August 28, 2016

1890 - Rocket to Sea Kale - Part 17 of Sturtevant's HISTORY OF GARDEN VEGETABLES


(Continued from p. 332.) 

Original at https://books.google.com/books?id=2WxNAAAAYAAJ&lpg=PA629
Remember, to see the footnotes to find the books he used, go to the link above.  
When I insert my two cents into Sturtevant's text I try to remember to do it in red type.

 Rocket Salad. Brassica eruca L. 


THIS strong, and to most persons offensive, plant has been long under culture, and is even now highly esteemed by the Greeks and Turks, who prefer it to any other salad. 

It was cultivated by the ancient Romans.  Albertus Magnus in the thirteenth century speaks of it in gardens; so also does Ruellius in 1536, who uses nearly the present French name, roqueta.   In 1586 Camerarius says it is planted most abundantly in gardens.     In 1726 Townsend  says it is not now very common in English gardens, and in 1807 Miller's Dictionary  says it has been long rejected. 

It was in American gardens in 1854 or earlier,  and is yet included by Vilmorin among European vegetables.  
Bulliard, P., Herbier de la France, 1776-1783 (Lovely book)

Rocket or Rocket Salad is called



  • in France, roquette, cresson de fontaine, salade de vingt-quatre heures (!)
  • in Germany, rauke, senfkohl ; 
  • in Flanders, krapkool ; 
  • in Holland, rakette kruid ; 
  • in Italy, ricola, ruca, ruccola, ruchetta, rucola ; 
  • in Spain, jaramago, oruga, raqueta ; 
  • in Portugal, pinchao
  • in Greece, aromatos, euzomaton, roka ; 
  • in Egypt, djaerdjir ;
  • in Arabic, gergyr. 



Rosemary. Rosmarinus officinalis L. 


Laguna y Villanueva,
M., Avilla y Zumarán, P. de, 

Flora forestal española
This aromatic herb, whose leaves are sometimes used for seasoning, had many virtues ascribed to it by Pliny, and it is also mentioned by Dioscorides and Galen.   

It was also familiar to the Arab physicians of Spain in the thirteenth century, and is mentioned in an Anglo-Saxon herbal of the eleventh century. 

 The first notice I find of its use as a condiment is by Lignamine in 1478, who describes Rosemary as the usual condiment with salted meats. 

In 1783 it is described by Bryant as so common in gardens as to be known to every one, and it also finds mention in nearly all the earlier botanies. 




In 1778 Mawe names four varieties, 

  • the common narrow-leaved, 
  • broad-leaved, 
  • the silver-striped, and 
  • gold-striped leaved. 
It was in American gardens in 1806 or earlier.  

Rosemary is called 
  • in France, romarin, encensoir, herbe aux couronnes ; 
  • in Germany, rosmarin ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland, rozemarijn ; 
  • in Denmark, rosmarin ; 
  • in Italy, rosmarino ; 
  • in Spain, romero ; 
  • in Portugal, alecrim; 
  • in Greece, dendrolibanon ; 
  • in Arabic, klyl, aselban, vkleehd-jilbal, hasalban-achsir ; 
  • in India, bubureeah
  • in Tagalo, romero


Merian, M., Der Fruchtbringenden Gesellschaft, t. 45 (1646)


Rue  Ruta graveolens L.
The leaves of Rue, although of a strong odor, disagreeable to some people, are occasionally used for seasoning, and the Italians and Greeks are said to eat them in salads. 
Moninckx, J., Moninckx atlas
It was formerly in request, and the Romans seem to have appreciated it highly; and Pliny devotes more than a just space in enumerating its virtues, and speaks of wine flavored with Rue as among the viands distributed to the populace by a Roman consul. 
In the book on cookery by Apicius in the third century we find Rue used among the condiments. In the thirteenth century Albertus Magnus describes Rue among garden esculents, and praises it. 

At a later period its garden culture is mentioned in the early botanies and in the earlier works on gardening.  In 1806 McMahon mentions it among the medicinal herbs for American gardens.  Two varieties, the broad-leaved and the narrow-leaved, were known to Burr in 1863, to Mawe in England in 1778, and apparently to Tragus in Germany in 1552.

 Rue or herb grace is called 
  • in France, rue ; 
  • in Germany, raute, weinraute ; 
  • in Holland, wijnruit ;
  • in Spain, ruda ; 
  • in Norway, viinrude ; 
  • in Italy, ruta ; 
  • in Greece, peganos ; 
  • in Arabia, schedab ; 
  • in India, satoora, aloodu;
  • in Japan, mats kase so. 



Ruta-baga. Brassica napo-brassica.  
(See previous post -Pursuing the Great Ruta-baga of Botley)




 The Ruta-bagas of our gardens include two forms, the one with white flesh, the other with yellow. 

The French call these two classes chou-navets and Ruta-bagas
The chou-navet or Brassica napo-brassica communis A. P. DC  has either purple or white roots; the Ruta-baga or B. napo-brassica Ruta-baga A. P. DC  has a more regular root, round or oval, yellow both without and within. 
(What is A. P. DC?)

In English nomenclature, while now the two forms are called by a common name, yet formerly the first constituted the turnip-rooted cabbage
In 1806 the distinction was retained in the United States, McMahon describing the turnip-rooted cabbage and the Swedish turnip or Roota-baga.  As a matter of convenience we shall describe these two classes separately. 

The first description of the white-rooted form that I note is by Bauhin in his Prodromus, 1620, and it is named again in his Pinax, 1623, who calls it napo-brassica. In 1686, Ray apparently did not know it in England, as he quotes Bauhin's name and description, which states that it is cultivated in Bohemia and is eaten, but Morison in 1669 catalogues it among the plants in the royal gardens. 

In France it is named by Tournefort, in 1700, Brassica radice napiformi or chou-navet. In 1778 these were called in England turnip cabbage with the turnip underground, and in the United States, in 1806, turnip-rooted cabbage, as noted above. 

There are three varieties described by Vilmorin, one of which is purple at the collar, and apparently these same varieties are named by Noisette  in 1829, and the white, and the red-collared by Pirolle  in 1824, under the names chou-navet, chou turnip, and chiou de Lapland. This class, as Don says in 1831, is little known in English gardens, though not uncommon in French horticulture. 

 The Ruta-baga is said by Sinclair, in the account of the system of husbandry in Scotland, to have been introduced into Scotland about 1781—2, and a quotation in the Gardeners' Chronicle says it was introduced into England in 1790. I find no earlier references. 

It is mentioned in 1806 by McMahon as in American gardens, and in 1817 there is a record of an acre of this crop in Illinois. The vernacular names all indicate an origin in Sweden or Northern Europe. It is called Swedish turnip or Roota-baga by McMahon (His name is actually M'Mahon. I keep forgetting to mention that.) in 1806, by Miller's Dictionary in 1807, by Cobbett in 1821, and by other authors to the present time. 


Decandolle in 1821 calls it navet jaune, navet de Swede, chou de Laponie, and chou de Suede. 
Pirolle in 1824 Ruta-baga or chou navet de Suede, as does Noisette in 1829. 
In 1821 Thorburn calls it Ruta-baga or Russian turnip
and a newspaper writer in 1835 calls it Ruta-baga, Swedish turnip, Lapland turnip. 

The foreign names given by Don in 1831 include many of the above-named and the Italian navone di Laponia. Vilmorin,  in his Les Plantes Potageres, 1883, describes three varieties, one with a green collar, one with a purple collar, and a third which is early. 

 The modern names for the species are : 
  • in English, Swedish turnip, Ruta-baga ; 
  • in England also, turnip-rooted cabbage and Swede ; 
  • in France, chou-navets, chou-rave en terre, chou turnep ; 
  • in Germany, kohlrube, erd-oder unter-kohlrabi, wruekenrube ; 
  • in Flanders, steekrapp ; 
  • in Holland, koolraapen onder den grond ; 
  • in Denmark, roe; 
  • in Italy, cavalo navone; 
  • in Spain, col nabo, nabicol ; 
  • in Portugal, couve nabo; 
  • in Sweden, rot-kal , 
  • in India, lal shulghum.




Saffron. Crocus sativus L. 



This plant is hardly deserving of mention, as its presence in the kitchen-garden is scarcely ever noted. Saffron, however, as a medicine, condiment, perfume, or dye, has been highly prized by mankind from a remote period. 

Under the Hebrew name, carcorn, the plant is alluded to by Solomon ; and as krohos by Homer, Hippocrates, Theophrastus, and Theocritus. Virgil and Columella mention it, and Cilicia and Sicily are both alluded to by Dioscorides and Pliny as localities celebrated for this drug. 

Throughout the middle ages frequent notices are found of its commerce and cultivation. A most interesting resume of the history of Saffron may be found in the Pharmacographia by Fluckiger and Hanbury. 

 




Saffron is called :
Passe, C. van de, Hortus floridus
  • in France, safran ; 
  • in Germany, saframpflance ;  
  • in Italy, zafferano ;
  • in Spain, azafran ; 
  • in Greece, krokos ; 
  • in Egyptian, methaio ; 
  • in Arabic, koorkum zafran ; 
  • in Burma, thauwen ; 
  • in Hindustani, zofran keysur ; 
  • in Malay, saffaron coonyer ;
  • in Persian, kerkum ; 
  • in Sanscrit, kasmirajamma, kunkuma ; 
  • in Tamil, khoongoomapoo ; 
  • in Telegu, khoonkoomapoo, kukuma



Sage. Salvia officinalis


 This is one of the most important occupants of the herb garden, being commonly used for seasoning, and also in domestic medicine. It has been under cultivation from a remote period, and is considered to be the elelisphakos of Theophrastus, the elelisphakon of Dioscorides, the salvia of Pliny, and its medicinal virtues are noted by Oribasius, and others of the early writers on medicine. 

In the middle ages it found frequent mention, as by Albertus Magnus in the thirteenth century, and the plant and its uses are noticed in nearly all of the early botanies. 

Although but one variety is now grown in our gardens,  formerly a number of sorts are noted, the red, green, small, and variegated being named by Worlidge in 1683. 
Sage was in American gardens in 1806 and doubtless long before, and six varieties are described by Burr in 1863, all of which can perhaps be included among the four mentioned in 1683, and all by Mawe in 1778. 

Sage is called 
  • in France, sauge officinale, grande sauge, herbe sacree ; 
  • in Germany, salbei ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland, salie ; 
  • in Italy, salvia ; 
  • in Spain, salvia ; 
  • in Portugal, molho , 
  • in Norway, salvie ; 
  • in Greece, sphakos, sphakelos ; 
  • in India, seesta, salbeea ; 
  • in Hindustani, salbia. 
Bonelli, Giorgio, Hortus Romanus juxta Systema Tournefortianum,  (1783-1816)
Salvia officinalis L. [as Salvia foliis auritis et non auritis, floribus violaceis] 


Salsify. Tragopogon porrifolium L. 
Vilmorin


In the thirteenth century Albertus Magnus describes a wild plant, Oculus porce or flos campi, which commentators identify with the salisfy, as having a delectable root, which is eaten, but he makes no mention of cultivation. 

It is described, but apparently not under kitchen garden culture by Matthiolus in 1570 and 1598, but not mentioned by him in 1558, when he refers to the yellow-flowered species; there is no mention of culture by Camerarius in 1586, but in 1587 Dalechamp  says it is planted in gardens. In 1597 Gerarde describes it, but apparently as an inmate of the flower garden. 

In 1612 Le Jardinier Solitaire speaks of it as under kitchen garden culture in France, and in 1616 Dodonaeus, J. Bauhin in 1651, and Ray in 1686, refer to it as apparently cultivated. After this period its culture seems to have been quite general, as it is referred to in the works on gardening, beginning with Quintyne, in 1693. 

It was in American gardens prior to 1806. There are no varieties, and the drawings of an early period indicate as improved a root as is now commonly grown. 

 The Salisfy or oyster plant is called 

  • in France, salsifis, cercifix, salsifix blanc, barberon ; 
  • in Germany, haferworzel ; 
  • in Flanders, haverwortel ; 
  • in Denmark, havrerod ; 
    Waldstein, F.
  • in Italy, barba di becco, salsifia ; 
  • in Spain, salsifi bianco; 
  • in Portugal, cercifi ; 
  • in Brazil, cercefin ; 
  • in Greece, trihoura;
  • in Norway, havrerod ;
  • in the Mauritius, salsifis


 The yellow-flowered species, Tragopogon pratense L.  seems formerly to have been cultivated. The use of the root is noted by Matthiolus in 1558. In 1597 Gerarde notes it as a wild plant of England. In 1640 Parkinson recommends it as excellent for the table, and cultivated for this purpose. Vilmorin, in 1883, also mentions a yellow-flowered form as under occasional culture, but he does not refer it decisively to this botanical species.



Samphire. Crithmum maritimum L. 

 The shoots of this seaside plant are pickled in vinegar, and it is even an object of garden culture for this purpose. 

The first mention of its culture that I find is by Quintyne, in France, in 1690; it is again mentioned by Stevenson, in England, in 1765 ; and its use as a pot-herb by the poor, as well as a pickle, is noticed by Bryant in 1783. 

It is noticed in American gardens in 1821. 



Samphire, Sampier, Sea Fennel, or Sea Samphier is called 
  • in France, perce-pierre, baeile, christe marine, crete marine , fenouil des marais, fenouil marin, herbe de St. Pierre, passe-pierre, saxifrage maritime ; 
  • in Germany, meer-fenchel, steinbrech ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland, zeevenkel ; 
  • in Italy, bacicci, erba san-pietro, sassifraga ; 
  • in Spain, hinojo marino, pasa piedra ; 
  • in Portugal, funcho marino ;
  • in Greece, almura or kretamon





Savory. Satureja sp. 

 But two species of Savory are now included among the cultivated sorts, but it is not long since that four species occurred in our books on garden esculents, and yet another by earlier writers. This class of aromatics were known to the ancient Romans, and were referred to under the name of satureia cunila and thymbra

The European names given to the Savory are : 
In France, sarriette
in Germany, die saturei ; (not recognized by Google translate)
in Holland, keid ; (not recognized by Google translate) 
in Italy, sautoreggia ; 
in Spain, ajedrea ; 
in Portugal, segurelha ; 
in Russia, tschaber ; 
in Denmark, saer ; (Hmm..in Danish saer means weird...think someone was pulling Sturtevant's or his source's leg?)
in Poland, ozabi. (not recognized by Google translate)

Satureja hortensis L. 
 This species seems to be the satureja of Palladius  in the third century, and of Albertus Magnus in the thirteenth, and is mentioned in England by Turner in 1538, which would indicate its presence there at this date. It was also well known to all the earlier botanists, and is mentioned as a common pot-herb by all the earlier writers on gardening. 

In 1783 Bryant says that besides being used as a pot-herb, it is frequently put into cakes, puddings, sausages, etc. It was in American gardens in 1806 or earlier, and as an escape from gardens is now sparingly found in Ohio, Illinois, Nevada, etc. 

The whole plant is highly odoriferous, and it is usually preferred to the other species.

Summer Savory is called: 
  • in France, sarriette annuelle, sarriete commune, herbe de St. Julien, sadree, savouree; 
  • in Germany, bohnenkraut, pfefferkraut, kollkraut ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland boonenkruid ; 
  • in Denmark, sar ; 
  • in Italy, santoreggia ; 
  • in Spain, ajedrea comun, sojulida ; 
  • in Portugal, segurelha
  • in Norway, sar ; 
  • in the Mauritius, sarriette. 
Satureja montana - Winter Savory
Satureja montana L. 
 A species known to the earlier botanists, and probably known to the ancient culture, although I do not find it identified with any certainty. It is mentioned in Turner's Herbal in 1562, and this is as far back as we have printed registers ; but there can be little doubt but that this, with the summer savory, was much cultivated in far earlier times in England. 
It was in American gardens in 1806.

The uses are the same with the preceding species. 

Winter Savory is called: 
  • in France, sarriette vivace, sarriette des montagnes ; 
  • in Germany, winter bohnen-oder pfefferkraut ; 
  • in Spain, hisopielo.
Satureja capitata











 Satureja capitata L. 

This species is omitted from our most modern books on gardening, although recorded in American gardens as late as 1863.  

It is mentioned as under culture in many of the early works on botany and gardening. 

Headed Savory is called 
in France, thim de Crete












Satureja viminea - Jamaican Mint Tree
 Satureja viminea L. 

 A native of Jamaica, and introduced in Britain in 1783, and has two varieties. It was recorded by Burr, in 1863, as in American gardens, but as little used. 

It is said to be much used for seasoning in its native country. It is not now recorded as in European cultivation.



Satureja juliana

 Satureja juliana L. 


 This Savory is mentioned by Gerade, in 1597, as sown in gardens. 

It is a native of the Mediterranean countries, 
called in Greece, ussopo, in Egyptian, pesalen.  

Its name has disappeared from our seed catalogues. 

This herbarium page is from the Linnean Herbarium!  >>>






And, just when I was almost done looking for images, up came this PDF from the Herb Society of America,  The Essential Guide to Savory.  Savory was the 2015 Herb of the Year! :-) It is a very nice brochure.



Savoy cabbage. Brassica oleracea bullatta DC. 

 This race of cabbage is distinguished by the blistered surface of their leaves, and by forming only a loose or little compact head. I am inclined to believe that the heading cabbages of the ancient Romans belonged to this class, as in their descriptions there are no indications of a firm head, and at a later period this form is named as if distinctly Roman. Thus Ruellius in 1536 describes under the name Romanos a loose heading sort of cabbage, but does not describe it particularly as a Savoy. 
Bauhin's Brassica italica tenerrima glomerosa flore albo 

This sort probably is the Brassica italica tenerrima glomerosa flore albo figured by J. Bauhin in 1651, its origin, judging from the name, being ascribed to Italy, and also figured by Chabraeus, 1677, under the same name, and with the additional names of Chou d'ltalie and Chou de Savoye.     In the Adversaria and elsewhere this kind is described as tender, and as not extending to the northern climates. 
I do not know of this form, so carefully pictured, as existing under culture, and it has doubtless been superseded by better varieties. 

 In the Savoy class three types are to be seen. The most common is the spherical-headed, next the long-headed or elliptical, and lastly the conical. There are a number of varieties. 

In 1883 Vilmorin describes fifteen in his Les Plantes Potageres, and names others. In the report of the New York Agricultural Experiment Station for 1886, thirteen varieties are described. 

The Spherical-Headed. 

This race is the most common, and occurs in various degrees of blistering, and in a large number of varieties. The following synonymy embraces this type : 

  • Brassica crispa. Matth., 1558,247; Pin., 1561, 162; Cam. epit, 1586, 249; Pancov., 1673, n. 614.  
  • B. alba crispa. Lugd., 1587, I, 520. 
  • B. patula crispa. Sabauda aestiva. Lob. ic, 1501, I., 244; Chabr., 1677, 269. 
  • B. sabauda. Gef., 1537, 247. 
  • B. sabauda crispa. Ger., 1. c. 
  • B. sabauda rugosa. J. Bauh., 165 1, II., 828. II., 828

The Elliptical-Headed. 

This race has also a synonomy, and has been long known. 

  •  Brassica sabauda hiberna. Lob. ic, 1591, I., 244. 
  •  B. alba capite oblongo non penitus clause C. Bauhin, Phytopin., 1596, 176; Pin., 1623, III. 
  • B. sabauda. Dod. Pempt, 161 6, 624.





The Conical-Headed. 

Of this type I know of but one form, the Conical Savoy, the French synonyms chou milan a tete longue, chou frise pointu, and chou milan pain de sucre. 

This variety finds mention in French works on gardening in 1824, 1826, and 1829. 






The modern names of the Savoy Cabbage are : 
  • In France, choux de milan, chou milan, chou cabus frise, chou cloque, chou de Hollande, chou pancalier, chou de savoie; 
  • in Germany, wirsing, savoyerkohl, borskohl ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland, savooikool ;
  • in Denmark, savoy kal ; 
  • in Italy, cavolo di milano, verza; 
  • in Spain, col de milan, col risada, col lombarda ; 
  • in Portugal, sabóia , 
  • in India, sikoree kobee.  
    In ancient times it was called:
  • In English, savoie cole, Ger. 1597, savoy cabbage, Ray, 1686; 
  • in France, chou de savoye, Lyte, 1586, choux vers, Pin., 1561
  • in Germany, koel, Pin., 1561, krauskol, Cam. Epit, 1586
  • in Dutch, savoy koolen, Lyte, 1586 
  • in Italy, cavoli, verza, Pin., 1561, cavolo crespo, verza crespa, Cam. Epit, 1586; 
  • in Spain, colles or covves, Pin., 1561. 

A more minute examination would serve to identify nearly all of our sub-varieties with kinds named preceding 1830. 





Scarlet runner bean. Phaseolus multiflorus Willd. 
Thomé, O.W.,
Flora von Deutschland Österreich
und der Schweiz, Tafeln, (1885)

 This bean, a native of South America, was described and figured by Cornutus in 1635, under the name Faseolus puniceo flore; but it appears in Johnson's edition of Gerarde, 1633.
It was first cultivated as an ornamental plant, and the first mention I find of its use as a vegetable is by Townsend in 1726, who says "the pods are eaten sometimes like other kidney beans," and Stevenson, in 1765, gives directions for kitchen-garden culture. 

 In America, in 1806, it was cultivated exclusively for ornament, and first appears in the vegetable garden about 1819. 
 At the present time five varieties are given by Vilmorin, but one of these, the black, I have neither seen nor found recorded for American gardens, and the hybrid is not clearly described. 

 The synonymy of the different varieties is as below : 

 I. 
Phaseolus flore coccineo. Ray, 1686, I., 884. 
P. multiflorus coccineus. Lam. ex Martens, n. 123.  
Large Scarlet Climber. Mawe, 1778. 
Haricot d'Espagne rouge. Vilm., 1883, 276. 
Scarlet Runner. N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. Rept, 1883, n. 56 1874, n. 89. 


 II.
Faseolus puniceo flore. Cornutus, 1635, 184. 
Phaseolus indicus flore miniato, semine nigro. Titius, 1654, ex Mart. 
P. multiflorus niger. Martens, 1869, n. 121. 
Haricot d'Espagne a grain completement noir. Vilm., 1883, 277. 

 III. 
Phaseolus multiflorus bicolor. Anabida, 1827, ex Martens, 83. 
Haricot d' Espagne bicolor. Vilm., 1883, 227. 
Painted Lady. N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. Rept., 1884, n. 90. 

 IV. 
Phaseolus indicus flore et semine albo. Titius, 1654, ex Martens. 
Phaseolus multiflorus albus. Martens, 1869, 82. 
Large White Climber. Mawe, 1778. 
White Dutch Runners. Gardiner and Hepburn, 18 18, 68. 
White or Dutch Runner. N. Y. Agr. Exp. Sta. Rept, 1884, n. 91. 

This synonymy establishes the dates at which each variety appeared, and the varieties have kept true since then. 

The seed of each produces its own variety, unless the blooms have been cross fertilized. Under these circumstances I have noted the Scarlet Runner seed producing the White Runner; the White Runner seed producing the Scarlet Runner, the Painted Lady, and another form which I think is the Haricot d'Espagne hybrid of Vilmorin.

 There have appeared in these crossed plants no intermediate types whatsoever, and I believe that the mixed seed tends to revert ultimately to the original variety, having purged itself of its contamination. 





The names under which the species is known are : 
  • In France, haricot d'Espagne ; 
  • in Germany, arabische bohne ; 
  • in Holland, tursche boon ; 
  • in Italy, fagivolo di Spagna 
  • in India, lal loba or lal lobeea. 


Scolymus. Scolymus hispanicus L. 
Clusius, C. - 1601
 This plant is supposed by authors to be the skolumus and leimonia of Theophrastus, 322 B.C., and its root recorded as edible; the scolymus of Pliny A.D. 79, recorded as a food plant.

 The wild plant was seen in Portugal and Spain by Clusius in 1576. The plant was described by Gerarde in England in 1597, but he does not appear to have grown it.  

It was in the botanic gardens at Oxford in 1658, but receives no other than a quoted mention from Clusius by Ray in 1686. It appears not to have been in English culture in 1778, nor in 1807, and in 1869 is recorded as a new vegetable. 


Flora Graeca -1837
In 1597 Gerarde mentions its culture in Holland, and in 1616 Dodonaeus  says it was planted in Belgian gardens.  In France, in 1882, it is said not to be under culture, but that its long fleshy root is used as a kitchen vegetable in Provence and Languedoc.    In 1883 it is included among kitchen esculents by Vilmorin. 

It is accorded by Burr for American gardens in 1863, and its seed was offered in American seed catalogues of 1882, perhaps a few years earlier. 

Scolymus, Spanish scolymus, Spanish oyster plant or golden thistle is called

  • in France, scolyme d'Espagne cardouille, cardousse, epine jaune ; 
  • in Holland, varkens distel ; 
  • in Italy, barba gentile, cardo scolimo ; 
  • in Spain, escolimo, cardilla ; 
  • at Constantinople, by the Greeks, kephalaggalho 



 Scorzonera. Scorzonera hispanica L. 
1804 - Vietz, F.B., Icones plantarum medico-oeconomico-technologicarum
 This plant was not mentioned by Matthiolus in 1558, but in 1570 was described as a new plant, called by the Spaniards scurzonera or scorzonera. In 1576, Lobel  says the plant was in French, Belgian and English gardens from Spanish seed. 

Neither Camerarius  in 1586, nor Dalechampius in 1587, nor Bauhin 126 in 1596, nor Clusius in 1601 , indicate it as a cultivated plant, and Gerarde, in 1597, calls it a stranger in England, but growing in his garden. 

In 1612 Le Jardinier Solitaire calls it the best root which can be grown in gardens. The use of the root as a garden vegetable is recorded in England by Meager in i683, Worlidge in 1683, by Ray in 1686, etc.    Quintyne in France, in 1690, calls it "one of our chiefest roots." 

Its cultivation does not, therefore, extend back to the sixteenth century. No varieties are recorded under culture. It was in American gardens in 1806. 

The black oyster plant, black salsify, Spanish salsify, or scorzonera, is called 
  • in France, scorsonere, scorzonere d'Espagne, corcionnaire, ecorce noire , salsifis noir; 
  • in Germany, scorsoner, schwarz wurzel ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland, schorseneel ; 
  • in Denmark, schorsenerrod ;
  • in Italy, scorzonera ; 
  • in Spain, escorzonera, salsifi nero ; 
  • in Portugal, escorcioneira ; 
  • in Norway, skorsoneerrod. 







Scurvy grass. Cochlearia officinalis L. 

 The wild plant, as an antiscorbutic salad, has long been in request, and received especial commendation in Holland, where, on account of its abundance, it does not seem to have been cultivated.   In 1586 it is mentioned as common in gardens by Camerarius; in 1597 it was grown in England by Gerarde and a few others; in 1598 it was only found in gardens in Germany; in 1616 recorded in the gardens of Brabant by Dodonaeus.   In 1686 called the Garden Scurvy by Ray.
Vahl, M.H., Symbolae botanicae - 1791

In the United States it is recorded among garden vegetables by Burr in 1863. 

 Scurvy Grass is called 

  • in France, cochlearia officinal, herbe au scorbut, herbe aux cuillers ; 
  • in Germany, loffelkraut ; 
  • in Flanders, lepelkruyd ; 
  • in Holland, lepelblad ;
  • in Denmark, kokleare ; 
  • in Italy and Spain, coclearia; 
  • in Portugal, cochlearia ; 
  • in Norway, cochleare. 







Sea kale. Crambe maritima L. 

 Although this plant is recorded as wild on the coast of Britain, and as fit for food, by Pena and Lobel, Dalechampius, Gerarde, and Ray, yet it was brought into English culture from Italy a few years preceding 1765, and the seed sold at a high price as a rarity. 


In 1778 it is said to "be now cultivated in many gardens as a choice esculent," and in 1795 it was advertised in the London market. According to Heuze it was first cultivated in France by Quintyne, the gardener to Louis XIV., but I do not find it mentioned in my edition of Quintyne of 1693; it, however, is mentioned in the French works on gardening of 1824 and onward. 

The Sea Kale is named in American gardens in 1806, and by seedsmen in 1829 and onwards, and in 1809 is recorded as cultivated near Boston, and introduced to the public in 1813.   
At the Mauritius it was cultivated in 1837. It is even now but rarely grown in the United States. There are no varieties. 

 Sea Kale or beach-cole is called 

  • in France, crambe, chou marin ;
  • in Germany, meer-kohl, see-kohl ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland, zeekool, meerkool ; 
  • in Denmark, strandkaal ; 
  • in Spain, soldanela maritima, crambe, col marino , 
  • in Italy, crambe marina 





Shallot,  Allium ascalonicum L. 


 The askalonion krommoon of Theophrastus, and the cepa ascalonia of Pliny, are usually supposed to be our Shallot, but this identity can scarcely be claimed as assured. It is not established that it occurs in a wild state, and Decandolle is inclined to believe it a form of A. cepa or onion. 

It is mentioned and figured in nearly all the early botanies, and many repeat the statement of Pliny that it came from Ascalon, a town in Syria, whence the name. 
Indeed, Michaud, in his History of the Crusades, says that our gardens owe to the holy wars Shallots, which take their name from Ascalon. 

Amatus Lusitantis, in 1554, gives  Spanish, Italian, French, and German names, which goes to show its culture in these countries. In England, they are said to be cultivated in 1633, but McIntosh  says they were introduced in 1548, but they do not seem to have been known to Gerarde in 1597. 


In 1633, Worlidge says "eschalots are now from France become an English condiment." 
They are enumerated for American gardens in 1806. Vilmorin mentions one variety with seven sub-varieties little differing. 

 The Shallot or eschalot is called 

  • in France, eschalote, chalote, ail sterile ; 
  • in Germany, schalotte, eschlauch ; 
  • in Flanders and Holland, sjalot ; 
  • in Denmark, skalottelog ; 
  • in Italy, scalogno ; 
  • in Spain, chalote, escaluna ; 
  • in Portugal, eschalota ;
  • in Norway, skalotlog ;
  • in the Mauritius, echallotte; 
  • in China, hiai ;
  • in Cochinchina, cay nen; 
  • in India, gundhuna, gudheenk.
to be continued...

Monday, August 22, 2016

1890s (mostly) - Petunia History by L.H. Bailey and Others; and One Amazing Color Plate

This astonishing flower has won my heart.  How the heck it is a Petunia violacea I don't know.
It looks like the inside of a ripped fig.  I wonder how big it is.


I never had petunias in my garden, so I never thought about petunia species.
 There was something about the sticky foliage that repulsed me, plus they were messy. Recently I have begun to flirt with them. I can no longer resist the colors and patterns! And they have learned to be tidier sometime in the last 40 years!

Now that I am "petunia aware" I am catching up on a few centuries of petunia news and gossip.
Here are some that caught my eye.

When I insert my two cents into an article's text I try to remember to do it in red type.


A really nice, current, one page historical overview of petunias in the trade can be found at the Esbenshade's  Garden Centers site.

1827 - a letter to the editor

On the Culture of Petunia nyctaginiflora. 
By Robert Sweet, F. L. S., Author of Flora Australasica, Sweet's Hortus Britannicus, &c. &c.
Dear Sir, 
Thinking it might be interesting to some of your readers to know to what perfection the Petunia nyctaginiflora might be brought in a sheltered border of the flower-garden, I am induced to send you the following particulars of one cultivated in my garden. 

In October, 1826, I turned out of a pot a seedling plant about six inches high, with two or three shoots to it, into a border by the side of a wall, facing the south, where it continued to grow rapidly all last winter, and never had a leaf injured. In very severe frosty weather, I covered it with a mat, but left it exposed whenever the weather was milder. By the middle of March, it was above eighteen inches high, with numerous branches, above half of which I was obliged to cut away in the beginning of April, when I first tied it up to a stick.

 After this it grew very fast, and, by the end of May, began to be covered with flowers. By the middle of July it was above six feet high, with many hundreds of its fine large white flowers open every day, each flower continuing in perfection two or three days; and by the middle of August it was eight feet high, and bushy in proportion, covered with flowers from the ground to the top, some thousands being expanded at one time, so that, at a distance, it appeared like a white sheet. 

In this state it continued to the beginning of the present month (November, 1827), when the flowers began to open more sparingly as the nights became longer; but it still continues to open a few, and is quite covered with others in a bud state, but those of course will not open. 

I intend shortly to cut it down to the young shoots, which are springing up in abundance from the bottom, and which I expect will produce me an equally fine plant for next year. 

Wishing great success to your interesting Magazine,
I am, dear Sir, &c. 
R. Sweet.
No. 20. Camera Square, Chelsea,

November 20. 1827.

PS. — I omitted to mention that the flowers of my plant were double the size of those that are produced on weak plants; consequently nearly double the size of those represented in the figure of it in my British Flower-garden. I have sent you a few seeds of my Alstroemeria hirtella, which has ripened in my garden by the side of the Petunia. You had better sow them in a pot at once, and turn them out in a warm border in spring. — R. S.

1838 - The British Flower Garden, Robert Sweet



Sweet's book was in 7 volumes...


1836 -Now, this is identified as a Petunia nyctaginiflora violacea.  It is from 

Paxton's Magazine of Botany, and Register of Flowering Plants, Volume 2.

See the next article to follow  the parentage of this first modern looking petunia hybrid.



1893 - This article that explains the history of the modern petunia is online at Google Books  but like many of the b&w scans of small type journals it is fuzzy and the OCR is not reliable. 

Liberty Hyde Bailey's Hortus Third was my first big investment in gardening/botany books.  I would pour through it back when if you didn't own the book you were sunk until you got to a bigger library.  I feel guilty not touching my books more often now...they are old friends.  I rearrange them every 5 years, more or less, so they know they are still loved.

EVOLUTION OF THE  PETUNIA. 
Liberty Hyde Bailey

The modern petunia is a strange compound of the two original species which were introduced to cultivation less than three-quarters of a century ago. The first petunia to be discovered was found by Commerson on the shores of the La Plata in South America, and from the dried specimens which he sent home the French botanist, Jussieu, constructed the genus petunia, and named the plant Petunia nyctaginiflora, in allusion to the four-o'clock-like or nyctaginia-like flowers. 

The plant appears to have been introduced into cultivation in 1823. It was a plant of upright habit, thick, sticky leaves and stems and very long-tubed white flowers, which exhale a strong perfume at nightfall. This plant, nearly or even wholly pure, is not infrequent in old gardens, and fair strains of it can be had in the market.

 I remember that it self sowed year after year in the old garden in my younger days, and even now an occasional plant may be found in some undisturbed corner. This plant is fairly well represented in the drawing. The stem leaves of this species are said to be sessile—or without stalks—but the lower leaves in strong specimens like that in the engraving are often conspicuously narrowed into long petioles. Possibly this is a mark of hybridity, but I am rather inclined to think that the pure species has the lower leaves prominently stalked. This old-fashioned petunia is a coarse plant, and is now little known. It was not a difficult matter for the second species to dislodge it.

This second species of petunia first flowered in the Glasgow Botanical Garden in July, 1831, from seeds sent the fall before from Buenos Ayres by Mr. Tweedie; and in 1831 an excellent colored plate was made of it, under the name of Salpiglossis integrifolia.  This is a neater plant than the other, with a decumbent base, narrower leaves and small violet-purple flowers, which have a very broad or ventricose tube scarcely twice longer than the slender calyx-lobes. This neat little plant has been known under a variety of names, having been referred to nierembergia by two or three botanists. Lindley was the first to refer it to the genus petunia, and called it Petunia violacea, the name which it
Petunia phoenicea
Maund, B., The botanic garden, (1847-1848).

still bears. 
It was also early known as Petunia phoenicea but this name is forgotten by the present generation of gardeners. It became popular immediately upon its introduction. In August, 1833, Joseph Harrison wrote that it was ''one of the most valuable acquisitions that has been made to our collections of late  years,".

Petuniania violacea
early hybridized with the older white petunia, P. nyctaginiflora, and as early as 1837 a number of these hybrids—indistinguishable from the common garden forms of the present day—were illustrated in colors in the Botanical Magazine. 

Sir W J. Hooker, who described these hybrids, declared that "it must be confessed that here, as in many other vegetable productions, the art and skill of the horticulturist has improved nature." 
''Cultivation alone," he wrote, '' has, indeed, very much increased the size of the flowers and foliage of this plant (P. violacea), so that it can scarcely be recognized as belonging to the same species as the native specimens sent by Mr. Tweedie."
P. Violacea
 This was about the time that Phlox Drummondii was becoming popular in England, having been sent there from Texas, in 1835, by Drummond.   These two plants were novelties. "These varieties of petunia and the Phlox Drummondii," Hooker continues, "were decidedly among the greatest ornaments of the greenhouse in the Glasgow Botanic Garden during the month of May (1836), a season too early for them to come to perfection in the open border." 

These hybrid petunias were even described as a distinct species, Nierembcrgia Atkinsiana; and this fact is still remembered in some books in Petunia violacca var. Atkinsiana

Nierembcrgia phoeniciaMaund, B., The botanic garden, (1847-1848).

Harrison gave a colored plate of these hybrid petunias, in 1837 in his Floriculturai Cabinet, but without description.   He says, in an earlier issue of the magazine for that year, that the "impregnation of P. violacea and P. nyctaginiflora has produced several very charming varieties, such as pale pink with a dark center, sulphur with dark center, white with dark center, and others streaked and veined with dark. 

The size of the flowers of some of these hybrids has been much increased, some being three inches across." It would be interesting to know if Petunia intermedia, which was introduced about the same time as P. violacea, and which appears to be lost to cultivation, entered into any of these early hybrids. Here, then, our garden petunias started, as hybrids; but the most singular part of the history is that the true old Petunia violacea  is lost to cultivation.

The pen-drawing herewith shows the closest approach to the true P. violacea which I have

observed in several years' study of the petunia. Two or three plants came from a packet of mixed seed. But even this shows a flower-tube too long and a limb or border too wide; and perhaps the leaves are too broad. The nearest approach to the true species, among the named varieties which I have seen, is the neat little white-tubed, purple-limbed Countess of Ellesmere.   

Vilmorin makes this variety a subdivision of Petunia violacea, and calls it Gloire de Segrez, or Petunia violacea var. oculata.  I imagine that even Lindley did not have the pure species when he described P. violacea in 1833, for he says that it differs from P. nyctaginiflora "in nothing whatever except the inflated tube of its corolla and the size of its embryo." 

The common form of garden petunia is well shown in the illustration, page 281(above). Here the plant is low and slender, like the old P. violacea, but the tube is greatly lengthened and reduced in diameter by the influence of P. nyctaginiflora, and the colors sport into every combination of the purple and white cf the original parents. These little petunias assume a fairly permanent light purple shade when left to themselves for a time, and they then reproduce themselves with tolerable accuracy; and they afford an admirable example of a hybrid which is abundantly fertile and which holds its own year after year.
Edwards's Botanical Register,  (1835) artist -SA Drake


Various curiously marked types of petunias have appeared and are lost. One of the early forms had a redbody color, with grass-green borders. This was figured by Harrison in 1838 under the name of Petunia marginata frasina. These green-bordered strains appear now and then, and Mr. Carman, in using them in crossing experiments, obtained "rosettes of green leaves without
Petunia, Burpee's Defiance Strain.—Hybrid
 the rudiments of calyx, corolla, stamens or pistils."

 A faintly striped variety, called Petunia violacea, was also figured by Harrison at the same time. The stripes originated in the throat of the flower and ran outwards, as they do in most of the striped sorts of the present day; but in 1844 he announced a variety, Petunia Nixenii, in which the stripes originate at the border of the flower and proceed inwards.


The most singular development in these hybrid petunias is the appearance of the very broad-mouthed fringed flowers, with short, sessile and more or less trough-like leaves.  A flower of one of these, from the strain sold as Burpee's Defiance, is shown in the photograph. These forms may not come true from seed, but among any batch of seedlings flowers of the most remarkable beauty of shape and intensity of color may be found, and in some of them the texture of the flower is almost as firm as that of a rose petal. 

A seedling from this Burpee's Defiance strain is shown in the pen drawing (page 282). I have called it the Cornell. The flower is of the most intense royal purple, with a velvety texture which reminds one of the richest silk plush. This velvet surface of petunia flowers is very marked in some of the recent forms, and I suppose that the character comes from Petunia violacea, which is said by Vilmorin to have had a velvety cast. This Cornell propagates true from cuttings. Some petunias do not. The double fringed petunia, shown so well on page 277 (The photo of a collection of petunia blooms in a grid way down below), is the highest development of the plant; but by most persons the gorgeous single forms of the Defiance and other strains will be preferred. 


Of late years the improvement of the petunia has been comparatively neglected, but it is worthy of greater attention from flower lovers. Yet, during 1892 twenty-six new varieties were introduced in this country. To scientists it has particular interest, because the contemporaneous forms have developed widely from the well known original species within little more than half a century.
—L. H. Bailey.


Mills’ garden annual : 1895
Hmmm...Mill's Defiance? Note shape of illustration compared to Burpee's colored lithograph right above it!

1893 - letter to the editor - from G. A. McTavish, British Columbia.

American Gardening, Volume 14



1893 catalog

THE HORTICULTURE AND THE BOTANY 
OF AN OLD-FASHIONED FLOWER.



PETUNIAS have long been attractive to me. Some twelve years ago, having succeeded in raising a few plants with double flowers from imported seed, I determined to try my hand at pollinating a few blossoms, in hope of getting a double flower of my own, as I may say, parentage. It may be as well to state here that double petunias, like many other double flowers, do not yield any seed themselves, but in order to get seed which will yield double flowers a single-flowering variety must be fertilized with the pollen from a double flower, when the seed from this flower will yield a certain percentage of double flowering plants.

My first attempts at pollinating were of the crudest description. I simply took the anthers from a double flower and placed them on the stigma of the one I wished to pollinate. This being my first attempt at pollination, and owing to the crudeness of my method, I was not very successful, but I succeeded in getting a few double flowers from the seedlings, flowers which would not be given a second glance now, but none of my best flowers of later production have given me half the satisfaction that those few poor ones did. They were double —there was no mistake about that—and they proved to me that I could grow double flowers if I wanted to. From that small beginning —I do not believe that I pollinated over a dozen flowers—I have continued year after year, getting a new strain from this man and another from that, to cross with those I already had, and the result is shown in the illustration of a few of my seedlings of 1892.

It may be prejudice on my part, but I must say that I have a strong partiality for a bed of petunias. Hardly any other plant which is used for summer planting gives the satisfaction that the petunia does. It is a rapid grower, a free bloomer, and is not, at least with me, troubled with insect pests. The best double flowers also make excellent pot plants, and give a constant show of bloom throughout the entire summer.

For pot culture, or for any one wishing to grow double flowers entirely, it is always better to procure plants of named varieties from a florist, but a packet of good seed will always yield a large percentage of double flowers. They will not all come double, as some always take after the female parent, the single flower, but at least half ought to be double. To me the great charm of growing seedlings consists in the uncertainty. One watches the flowers expanding. Is this going to be a double? Is that? Yes, here is one that there is no mistake about. Look at the mass of petals, still showing green, but there is not room in the corolla to contain them all, and one watches them, day by day, until the color comes and the fully developed flower is there, in all its beauty.

To obtain the best result, I sow the seed in March, in either a hotbed or in the house in shallow boxes, covering it very lightly with fine soil. When the seedlings are about half an inch high, I prick them into small pots, and about the end of May plant out into the border. The petunia is a gross feeder, likes a rich soil and an abundance of water, and the plants should have plenty of room for their development. I plant them a foot apart each way, and in a short time the ground cannot be seen between the plants. Owing to the constant hybridizing that this plant undergoes in the production of double flowers, it is almost impossible to give a description of the colors of any single variety propagated from cuttings.

For the sake of any of my readers who might desire to try growing double seed, I will describe my system, which I find gives the best results. First, in order to have plants of strong vitality, in the late summer I pick out the best of the seedlings of that year, both double and single, and strike cuttings, which are wintered in the ordinary way, in a cool greenhouse. Another point which I am particular about is. if possible, to see that all the single plants show signs of their double parentage. This may be seen in a small leaflet growing out of one or more of the anthers. These produce seed freely, although, as a rule, only when pollinated by hand. I never propagate for seed growing

from plants which have been for several years in cultivation, as I find that they seem to lose in vigor by constant propagation from cuttings.

At the end of May I plant out in a sheltered spot in rich soil these wintered plants, the singles against a wire trellis and the doubles in the ordinary way, a foot apart. The single plants are trained to the trellis for convenience in pollinating. All the flowers that are not hand-pollinated are picked off, so that all the strength of the plants may be devoted to the development of the double seed, and that there may be no danger of mixing single seed with it. As soon as the flowers of the double plants are fully expanded they are picked, torn to pieces, and the anthers carefully picked out and placed in a sunny window to dry. As soon as the single flowers can be opened by hand, I remove the anthers with a pair of tweezers. This must be done before the anthers burst, for the minute they do this the flower is no longer of any use to the hybridizer. When the flower opens, the double pollen is applied to the stigma with a camel's-hair brush, the flower is drawn into the shape of a bag and tied with thread, and the operation is complete. They are tied to prevent insects carrying pollen from other flowers and destroying the efforts of the hybridizer.

The principal difference between my system and that of most other growers is in planting the petunias in the open ground. The claim is usually made that the seed is "pot grown;" that is, from plants grown in pots. My contention is, and I think that I have pretty well proved it in practice, that a plant grown in a pot has not the vigor of one whose roots are allowed the range of a garden-bed, and consequently the pot-grown plant is not in a position to yield the same quality of seed of one grown in the open ground, while a continuance of the practice of pot-growing must necessarily impair the vitality of the parent plant, and through it that of its offspring. 

While I am satisfied that our climate here is one remarkably suited to the best development of the petunia, I think that in any place where the plants can be grown in the open ground, seed from such plants will give better results than will that from plants grown in pots. This is may experience.
(I find this next bit charming.)

The flowers shown in the engraving are all from named varieties, and their names and the colors which they showed last year are here given: 

The one at the upper left-hand corner of the engraving is named Rita, and is white, blotched with carmine.

The one at the right of it is Hilda, a purple.

To the right of Hilda is Comox, a purple, tipped with white.

Directly below Rita is Aimee, a white, blotched with rose.

To the right of Aimee is Naniamo, a white.

To the right of that is Annie, a white, shaded with rose.

In the third row, the left-hand flower is Cariboo, white, veined and tinted with rose.

The middle one is Vancouver, white, shaded with light purple.

Lilian is at the right, and is carmine, tipped with white.

In the lowest row, at the left, is Zuadra, a light purple, tipped with white.

At the right is Alberni, a purple, bordered with white.

The flower at the lower right-hand corner is named Cicely, and is a white, blotched with purple and shaded with carmine.
—G. A. Mctavish, British Columbia.  (who loved his petunias...)

Just having fun with Rita, Hilda, and Comox.       I wondered where Comox came from since the others are ladies names, and I found the name Comox  comes from the name of the K'ómoks First Nation who inhabited the area on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.


1925

I'm an art teacher :-)

Georgia O'Keefe, Petunia No. 2, 1925



1944

Robert J. Griesbach,
USDA-ARS U.S. National Arboretum, in Flower Breeding and Genetics