January 2008 Newsletter
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Issue No. 17 January 2008 Patron: The Viscount Ashbrook Newsletter Charity Number: 1119592 Inside: Some future events: Linnaeus and the binomial system Rare but obtainable plants – 16 February Our Chair reports on his China adventures Spring lecture (Tim Mowl) & AGM – 27 March Recognition for the President of AGT Joint visit with Lancashire Gardens Trust: Birkenhead Park – 19 April Tea or beer? Bread or potatoes? A brief history of William Cobbett Greg’s garden at Styal – May (date to be confirmed) Visit to Jodrell Bank Arboretum On a perfect Autumn day Doug and I enjoyed a good Moreover, the lovely white fruits of Sorbus lunch at the Swettenham Arms before joining twenty or cashmiriana were conspicuous against the almost so fellow members and guests to explore Jodrell Bank leafless branches, as were the yellow fruits of Joseph Arboretum. Rock: all sights that stay in the memory long after the We were greeted with the warning not to expect much event. Autumn colour this year – of course that’s exactly what And there was a moment when we were standing by a we had expected. lime tree when a slight breeze set all its leaves However, there was a flaming red Parrotia persica quivering and making a lovely, rippling sound. (overleaf); there were the glowing orange shoots of We had the great good fortune to be guided, covering Salix Chermesina, forming an archway near a pond about half of the arboretum, by Doctor R A (Dick) (above); there was the brilliant Acer rubrum Scanlon in Benton, who, as a Manchester University Lecturer in full Autumn colour, viewed across a green, open space. ecology, originally collaborated with Sir Bernard 2 Lovell in planning the arboretum, bringing it to fruition (with many trees from Hilliers) and managing it. Dr. Benton (below) was a mine of information, not only on nomenclature, identification and cultivation, but on lots of those interesting snippets which bring a talk to life. Above: Parrotia persica So we learned that the common name for Sorbus torminalis is ‘the Chequer tree’, which gave its name to the Prime Minister’s country house, where many of these Sorbus are grown. Above: brilliant Sorbus berries Dr. Benton said that the RSPB had calculated that there And I came back with the fruit of a medlar (above), the were one hundred and eighty different birds living in fruit originally used for ‘marmalade’ making in the the arboretum, whilst other knowledgeable visitors had days of Mary Tudor. commented on the great number and variety of fungi. I also brought back my small list of trees to find for In the section dedicated to the Cheshire Orchard myself: Cherry Tai Haku, solid white in May, and Project there were collected at least fifteen different Dawyck Gold, a columnar yellow variety of Dawyck varieties of apples which had been bred in Cheshire. Beech. So we were concerned to learn that there is very little Below: although overall the autumn colour was staff available to manage the arboretum, only one disappointing, some trees were determined to put on a show person for three days a week and Dr. Benton’s one day a week. Therefore for some years no propagation has been possible. We should support if we can. Perhaps a Spring visit? With all the Malus collection the Spring colour should be glorious! Mary Varey Above: it was a good turnout 3 Carl Linnaeus – Prince of Botanists The year 2007 was the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus, one of Sweden’s greatest scientists and a major figure in world botany. His life and work was the subject of a recent CGT lecture at Bishop Lloyd’s Palace in Chester, and this is a brief summary. Linnaeus (pictured right) was the son of a church minister, and he seemed destined for a career in the church, but his passion for natural history led him to study to be a doctor, since in the 18th century a medical training included a great deal of botanical instruction. He enrolled at Uppsala University, and made a name for himself by making a one-man expedition to Lapland, in northern Sweden, where he collected material for a Flora Lapponica. Other journeys to the Baltic islands of Öland and Gotland, and to the remote western Swedish province of Dalarna, provided material for further travel journals as well as adding to his knowledge of the Swedish flora. After visiting Holland to obtain a doctorate he made brief trips to Paris, London and Oxford before returning to Uppsala. While in Holland, Linnaeus was employed by the rich East India merchant George Clifford to catalogue the plants in his garden at Hartekamp near Haarlem. This led to the publication of his Hortus Cliffortianus, a folio volume with many engravings of plants based on drawings by the German-born botanical artist Georg Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778) by A. Roslin Dionysius Ehret. The collaboration between Linnaeus and Ehret at Previously the scientific names of plants and animals Hartekamp was highly productive; Ehret went on to had been lengthy and inconsistent; by standardising settle in London, where he did much to promote names Linnaeus introduced a much more stable Linnaeus’ novel (if somewhat artificial) approach to system, based on Latin, which is still internationally plant classification, and his table illustrating Linnaeus’s accepted and used to this day. sexual system became widely reproduced. In later life Linnaeus purchased a country estate at During his stay in Holland Linnaeus also published a Hammarby, south-east of Uppsala, where he built a table setting out a classification of the whole of nature fireproof herbarium for his growing collection of dried – plants, animals and minerals – under the title Systema plants and preserved animal specimens. Naturae. He was offered a post at Oxford University, This collection was eventually sold to Sir James Smith, but preferred to return to Sweden where his fiancée a British botanist who later founded the Linnean was waiting patiently for him. Society of London named in Linnaeus’s honour. Linnaeus’s later career in Uppsala as a medical teacher Many of Linnaeus’s students set off on expeditions to and later as professor of natural history was very different parts of the world to explore and collect the productive. He took charge of the historic botanic flora and fauna; some never returned. But they garden, founded a century earlier by Rudbeck, and produced a rich haul of new species, many of which are planted it with a teaching collection arranged according now familiar garden plants. to the sexual system. He led his students on popular Linnaeus’s main legacy for the world of horticulture botanical excursions to the countryside around was to introduce stability into the naming of garden Uppsala. plant species and varieties; though classifications have But his international reputation was established by the changed, as modern research has demonstrated new publication, in 1753, of his Species Plantarum, a relationships, the enduring use of Linnaean binomials compilation of the world’s then-known flora. This is his principal scientific achievement. work introduced a consistent way of summarising the John Edmondson botanical names of plants through a binomial system of genus and species. Our thanks to John for his informative lecture and article. 4 The Binomial system – a breakthrough in science For the plantsman, knowing the Latin names for plants Even factory workers, in their few hours free of work, is indispensable. could go out into the fields and seek out the native For example, if a plant is on sale as a “geranium” the flora. Investigation of the flowers would then enable purchaser needs to know whether the word is being them to identify the plants. Many became skilled used in its purest or its common sense. The tender botanists. plant, used extensively throughout the past two Today, there are more tools available to botanists and centuries for bedding, is commonly called a geranium family connections can be made via DNA, which is but its Latin name is Pelargonium. accurate, but less fun and not available to the amateur. And among the true geraniums there is a world of ******************************************** difference between Geranium madarense (not very Cataloguing all known plants was a considerable task. hardy and grows to 4.5 x 3 ft) and Geranium Many plants were known by different names, so new sanguineum (a hardy, grow anywhere plant of 8 ins by ones were needed. 12 ins). Some plants have been named after their discoverers. Before Linnaeus came up with his binomial system, So, for example, Tradescantia virginianum (originally plants were burdened with long Latin descriptions that known as Phalangium Ephemerum virginiana Joannis would have defeated any but the most serious scholar. Tradescant) is named after John Tradescant who found Take, for example, the plant that today bears Linnaeus’ it on a plant-hunting trip to America. own name. Its flowers grow only 6 inches high; it Linnaeus recognised the founder of the botanic garden creeps along the ground. It is pretty, but small and in Uppsala by naming the genus Rudbeckia after him. delicate: This beautiful, yet tiny, plant is now known as Linnaea borealis (Linnaea from Linnaeus and borealis to describe its habitat among trees). Before Linnaeus renamed it, it carried the lengthy name of Nummularia maior, rigidoribus et rarius crenatis foliis, flore purpureo gemello. My Latin is virtually non-existent, but I can see that Above: Rudbeckia hirta, (Black-eyed Susan), whose name this name includes a description of flower and foliage. commemorates Olof Rudbeck (1630-1702) No doubt correct, but hardly user-friendly. ************************************************ It was a great idea that Linnaeus had.