"For the Stricter Eye of the Botanist". Hamamelis virginiana, American Witchhazel, 'De Kas' Garden, Frankendael Park, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In 1785 the English horticulturalist William Marshall (1745-1818) published a manual on gardening. In it he describes plants from a horticulturalist point of view: those that 'make no show' are relegated to second place. One such was this - in my eyes at least - pretty American Witchhazel which, writes our Marshall, 'Nature seem to have designed for the stricter eye of the botanist'. Hence he spends not much time on its description.
This Witchhazel was already being cultitvated in at least one English garden in 1736. But it enters the annals of botany a bit later. John Clayton (1694/5-1773), avid American plant collector, sent a potted exemplar (1743) to Mark Catesby (1682/3-1749). Catesby had traveled in North America between 1722 and 1726, and was known to be working on a great Flora of 'Virginia'. To Catesby's delight, this Hamamelis arrived alive and well around Christmas after the arduous North-Atlantic sea-voyage. Catesby, one of Great Linnaeus's suppliers, described it in his usual dry but precise style (1747) and sent it to him in Holland. There's a whole history of intrigue and plagiarism associated with the descriptions of this shrub which I will pass over here.
Just enjoy the Gold and the Green!
"For the Stricter Eye of the Botanist". Hamamelis virginiana, American Witchhazel, 'De Kas' Garden, Frankendael Park, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
In 1785 the English horticulturalist William Marshall (1745-1818) published a manual on gardening. In it he describes plants from a horticulturalist point of view: those that 'make no show' are relegated to second place. One such was this - in my eyes at least - pretty American Witchhazel which, writes our Marshall, 'Nature seem to have designed for the stricter eye of the botanist'. Hence he spends not much time on its description.
This Witchhazel was already being cultitvated in at least one English garden in 1736. But it enters the annals of botany a bit later. John Clayton (1694/5-1773), avid American plant collector, sent a potted exemplar (1743) to Mark Catesby (1682/3-1749). Catesby had traveled in North America between 1722 and 1726, and was known to be working on a great Flora of 'Virginia'. To Catesby's delight, this Hamamelis arrived alive and well around Christmas after the arduous North-Atlantic sea-voyage. Catesby, one of Great Linnaeus's suppliers, described it in his usual dry but precise style (1747) and sent it to him in Holland. There's a whole history of intrigue and plagiarism associated with the descriptions of this shrub which I will pass over here.
Just enjoy the Gold and the Green!