Bad Blood. Sigesbeckia orientalis, Eastern St Paul's-Wort, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The catalogue of the plants in the garden of George Clifford (1885-1760) at Heemstede, written by great Carolus Linnaeus, Hortus Cliffortianus (1638), was beautifully illustrated by Jan Wandelaar (1690-1759). One of his finely-detailed illustrations is of Sigesbeckia orientalis. Linnaeus and his patron no doubt enjoyed those engravings.
Johann Siegesbeck (1686-1755), for whom the plant is named, and Linnaeus later fell out. Siegesbeck as not a few other botanists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries disagreed with and were even outraged at Linnaeus's ideas on plant sexuality (www.flickr.com/photos/87453322@N00/26208808473/in/photoli...) and he lost no time in denouncing the latter's work. It has been said - incorrectly - that In retaliation, Linnaeus named this 'smelly' plant for his new enemy (but see the last comment below by Aleid Offerhaus). Sigesbeckia orientalis was used in traditional medicine for a variety of skin diseases, in particular for the treatment of syphilis and other 'bad blood'...
I think the small flowers quite pretty. They're intriguing too because of the 'hairy' outer bracts. Those hairs are in fact small glands which produce a sticky essential oil. Seeds of most of the aster family are dispersed by animals by way of their little attaching 'hooks'. But Sigesbeckia orientalis rather uses that adhering oil. Touch the bracts yourself to test this out...
PS I couldn't identify this plant but Jos van der Hoek, highly knowledgeable gardener, told me what it is.
Bad Blood. Sigesbeckia orientalis, Eastern St Paul's-Wort, Hortus Botanicus, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The catalogue of the plants in the garden of George Clifford (1885-1760) at Heemstede, written by great Carolus Linnaeus, Hortus Cliffortianus (1638), was beautifully illustrated by Jan Wandelaar (1690-1759). One of his finely-detailed illustrations is of Sigesbeckia orientalis. Linnaeus and his patron no doubt enjoyed those engravings.
Johann Siegesbeck (1686-1755), for whom the plant is named, and Linnaeus later fell out. Siegesbeck as not a few other botanists of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries disagreed with and were even outraged at Linnaeus's ideas on plant sexuality (www.flickr.com/photos/87453322@N00/26208808473/in/photoli...) and he lost no time in denouncing the latter's work. It has been said - incorrectly - that In retaliation, Linnaeus named this 'smelly' plant for his new enemy (but see the last comment below by Aleid Offerhaus). Sigesbeckia orientalis was used in traditional medicine for a variety of skin diseases, in particular for the treatment of syphilis and other 'bad blood'...
I think the small flowers quite pretty. They're intriguing too because of the 'hairy' outer bracts. Those hairs are in fact small glands which produce a sticky essential oil. Seeds of most of the aster family are dispersed by animals by way of their little attaching 'hooks'. But Sigesbeckia orientalis rather uses that adhering oil. Touch the bracts yourself to test this out...
PS I couldn't identify this plant but Jos van der Hoek, highly knowledgeable gardener, told me what it is.