Botantical Illustration from Chelsea Physic Garden

Plate 1

Cyrtomium fortunei J.Sm. Family – Dryopteridaceae Catharine Nicholson

Ferns first evolved in the Carboniferous period

used to seeing ferns growing in damp woodlands, on

(beginning about 360 million years ago). They were

damp rock faces and clefts in rocks and old walls.

the first land plants to possess transport tissue (xylem) and fibres strengthened with lignin and so could grow

Fern specialist Thomas Moore (1821-1887), author of

to great size unlike the earlier land plants, the mosses

Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland (1855), was Curator at

and their allies. However, although like all other land

Chelsea from 1848 until his death. In 1862/3 he built a

plants the fern life cycle has two distinct phases, one

lean-to greenhouse against the southwest wall of the

sexual involving fusion of male and female cells, and

Garden which was replaced in 1907 and has since been

one asexual involving the production of spores, the

fully restored. This is now called the Thomas Moore

fern sexual phase or prothallus consists of an

Cool Fernery and inside are grown tender ferns while in

independently-living flat sheet of green tissue only few

the shaded area outside the hardy ferns are to be found.

millimetres wide and involves the active swimming of male ‘sperm’ cells through a film of water. This

I asked Christopher Nicholson, Catharine’s widower,

requirement limits the habitat of most ferns to places

to tell us something of the way she worked to produce

where water is abundant during at least part of the

her remarkable images, always accurate but never

year or often enough in dry areas. In Europe we are

laboured. He writes:

If I had to give a brief account, I’d say something like this: that she worked in a north-facing studio, and that she had extraordinary patience. Some of her most detailed pictures must have taken four or more months each, working long hours. She always worked from life, and always insisted that she drew only what she saw. She worked either sitting down or standing – standing for large pictures – with the paper taped to a wooden board. At the start of each drawing, especially if it involved complicated subject matter, she would make very light pencil marks on the paper. I assume that these were later rubbed out after she had begun to work in ink. The pen that she used was a Rotring rapidograph, with a 0.10 mm nib – the thinnest possible. She used proportional dividers. She had a magnifying glass to hand, but she used it only to look more closely at the plant subject;

2

she never drew through the magnifying glass. She had very good eyes, and also a very steady hand, which enabled her to achieve a great lightness of touch. This lightness of touch is what admirers of her work often mention. I think – and it’s not unconnected - that she also had a strong core of inner belief in what she was doing. She sometimes found that certain plants presented particular challenges, but she was in the end immensely confident in her art. This is not particularly evident in the three fern pictures owned by the Chelsea Physic Garden, but all her later work, especially after she fell ill, was informed by a vision of nature in relation to time and space. For her the work was akin to spiritual meditation, which is why she was happy for it to take as long as it did. She never hurried. If something went wrong with a drawing, she would abandon it.

Plate 1

Cyrtomium fortunei J.Sm. Family – Dryopteridaceae Catharine Nicholson

Ferns first evolved in the Carboniferous period

used to seeing ferns growing in damp woodlands, on

(beginning about 360 million years ago). They were

damp rock faces and clefts in rocks and old walls.

the first land plants to possess transport tissue (xylem) and fibres strengthened with lignin and so could grow

Fern specialist Thomas Moore (1821-1887), author of

to great size unlike the earlier land plants, the mosses

Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland (1855), was Curator at

and their allies. However, although like all other land

Chelsea from 1848 until his death. In 1862/3 he built a

plants the fern life cycle has two distinct phases, one

lean-to greenhouse against the southwest wall of the

sexual involving fusion of male and female cells, and

Garden which was replaced in 1907 and has since been

one asexual involving the production of spores, the

fully restored. This is now called the Thomas Moore

fern sexual phase or prothallus consists of an

Cool Fernery and inside are grown tender ferns while in

independently-living flat sheet of green tissue only few

the shaded area outside the hardy ferns are to be found.

millimetres wide and involves the active swimming of male ‘sperm’ cells through a film of water. This

I asked Christopher Nicholson, Catharine’s widower,

requirement limits the habitat of most ferns to places

to tell us something of the way she worked to produce

where water is abundant during at least part of the

her remarkable images, always accurate but never

year or often enough in dry areas. In Europe we are

laboured. He writes:

If I had to give a brief account, I’d say something like this: that she worked in a north-facing studio, and that she had extraordinary patience. Some of her most detailed pictures must have taken four or more months each, working long hours. She always worked from life, and always insisted that she drew only what she saw. She worked either sitting down or standing – standing for large pictures – with the paper taped to a wooden board. At the start of each drawing, especially if it involved complicated subject matter, she would make very light pencil marks on the paper. I assume that these were later rubbed out after she had begun to work in ink. The pen that she used was a Rotring rapidograph, with a 0.10 mm nib – the thinnest possible. She used proportional dividers. She had a magnifying glass to hand, but she used it only to look more closely at the plant subject;

2

she never drew through the magnifying glass. She had very good eyes, and also a very steady hand, which enabled her to achieve a great lightness of touch. This lightness of touch is what admirers of her work often mention. I think – and it’s not unconnected - that she also had a strong core of inner belief in what she was doing. She sometimes found that certain plants presented particular challenges, but she was in the end immensely confident in her art. This is not particularly evident in the three fern pictures owned by the Chelsea Physic Garden, but all her later work, especially after she fell ill, was informed by a vision of nature in relation to time and space. For her the work was akin to spiritual meditation, which is why she was happy for it to take as long as it did. She never hurried. If something went wrong with a drawing, she would abandon it.

Plate 3

Ginkgo biloba L. Family – Ginkgoaceae Alister Mathews

This plant and those shown plate 4, Taxus baccata

discovered until the late nineteenth century by a

and plate 5, Ephedra distachya, produce seeds

Japanese botanist. The females produce seeds with a

(unlike the ferns figured in the first two plates)

fleshy outer coat rich in butyric acid which, when they

however they do not produce flowers nor are their

drop, rots to a slimy rancid mass with the nauseating

seeds are enclosed in fruits, unlike the flowering

odour of vomit. So it is only the males which are used

plants in the remainder of this book.

for street planting although there are well documented cases of older males developing female branches.

The maidenhair tree has no close living relatives but is

Male trees are created for the trade by grafting male

very similar to fossils dating back 270 million years.

twigs onto seedling root stock. The Physic Garden

Its origin is in eastern China and it has long been

has a tree of each sex. In autumn the males tend to

grown in temple enclosures there and in Japan, first

drop their leaves, which by then have turned a rich

being noticed in a Japanese temple in 1690 by the

buttery yellow, earlier than the females.

botanist Engelbert Kaempfer. Linnaeus named the species in 1771 based on Kaempfer’s specimens and

The centres of the seeds are eaten in the Far East,

text which had included a slightly faulty transliteration

sometimes after being roasted and removal of the hard

of the Japanese name giving us ‘ginkgo.’ Kaempfer’s

inner wall, sometimes cooked in soups and desserts,

illustration is partly incorrect and is also incomplete so

but they may be toxic if consumed in too great

that Linnaeus was not certain of the ginkgo’s

quantity. The flesh of the part eaten has a distinct

relationships to the plants he knew. Kaempfer’s

umami (‘savoury’) flavour which is quite persistent and

specimen material still exists in the Hans Sloane

not pleasant to all western tastes. The fatty outer layer

herbarium at the Natural History Museum. Some

can cause contact dermatitis in some people so care

cultivated specimens in China are estimated to be

is necessary in preparing the seeds for food.

one thousand years old, whilst groups of trees in some apparently truly wild populations may be as old

Ginkgo leaf extracts contain a mix of potentially useful

as three thousand years. Ginkgo is widely planted in

pharmacological agents. There is well-documented

the west as an amenity tree. It exists as separate

evidence that ginkgo extracts slow the progress of

male and female plants whose sex is controlled, as in

dementia in patients who already have it, but do not

mammals, by sex chromosomes in the cell nuclei.

prevent dementia in healthy patients. In addition, fairly

Reproduction involves sperm cells actively swimming

large doses of extract seem to improve attention in

down a pollen tube formed after the pollen lands on

healthy patients almost immediately after administration.

the female ovules. This primitive mechanism was not

However, some analyses contradict these findings.

6

photoshop these details up to here to enable top pic to be bigger

Plate 3

Ginkgo biloba L. Family – Ginkgoaceae Alister Mathews

This plant and those shown plate 4, Taxus baccata

discovered until the late nineteenth century by a

and plate 5, Ephedra distachya, produce seeds

Japanese botanist. The females produce seeds with a

(unlike the ferns figured in the first two plates)

fleshy outer coat rich in butyric acid which, when they

however they do not produce flowers nor are their

drop, rots to a slimy rancid mass with the nauseating

seeds are enclosed in fruits, unlike the flowering

odour of vomit. So it is only the males which are used

plants in the remainder of this book.

for street planting although there are well documented cases of older males developing female branches.

The maidenhair tree has no close living relatives but is

Male trees are created for the trade by grafting male

very similar to fossils dating back 270 million years.

twigs onto seedling root stock. The Physic Garden

Its origin is in eastern China and it has long been

has a tree of each sex. In autumn the males tend to

grown in temple enclosures there and in Japan, first

drop their leaves, which by then have turned a rich

being noticed in a Japanese temple in 1690 by the

buttery yellow, earlier than the females.

botanist Engelbert Kaempfer. Linnaeus named the species in 1771 based on Kaempfer’s specimens and

The centres of the seeds are eaten in the Far East,

text which had included a slightly faulty transliteration

sometimes after being roasted and removal of the hard

of the Japanese name giving us ‘ginkgo.’ Kaempfer’s

inner wall, sometimes cooked in soups and desserts,

illustration is partly incorrect and is also incomplete so

but they may be toxic if consumed in too great

that Linnaeus was not certain of the ginkgo’s

quantity. The flesh of the part eaten has a distinct

relationships to the plants he knew. Kaempfer’s

umami (‘savoury’) flavour which is quite persistent and

specimen material still exists in the Hans Sloane

not pleasant to all western tastes. The fatty outer layer

herbarium at the Natural History Museum. Some

can cause contact dermatitis in some people so care

cultivated specimens in China are estimated to be

is necessary in preparing the seeds for food.

one thousand years old, whilst groups of trees in some apparently truly wild populations may be as old

Ginkgo leaf extracts contain a mix of potentially useful

as three thousand years. Ginkgo is widely planted in

pharmacological agents. There is well-documented

the west as an amenity tree. It exists as separate

evidence that ginkgo extracts slow the progress of

male and female plants whose sex is controlled, as in

dementia in patients who already have it, but do not

mammals, by sex chromosomes in the cell nuclei.

prevent dementia in healthy patients. In addition, fairly

Reproduction involves sperm cells actively swimming

large doses of extract seem to improve attention in

down a pollen tube formed after the pollen lands on

healthy patients almost immediately after administration.

the female ovules. This primitive mechanism was not

However, some analyses contradict these findings.

6

photoshop these details up to here to enable top pic to be bigger

Plate 5

Ephedra distachya L. Family – Ephedraceae Barbara McLean

This strange plant, the joint-pine, has its sexes on

cultivated commercially in China for the extraction of

separate plants. It is found from Portugal to the

these compounds which appear most commonly in

Balkans and grows to an altitude of 1100 metres. Its

over-the-counter decongestants (for instance the

form is a low shrub looking a little like broom (Cytisus)

brand ‘Sudafed’) and with other components in

though it will climb over other vegetation in the right

remedies for relieving symptoms of the common cold.

conditions. The painting shows a male plant. The

Because they increase blood pressure and open

female produces seeds covered by a juicy, dull

bronchial pathways these alkaloids have been used in

pinkish-red coat and is very attractive as a result.

attempts to boost athletic performance but without

Four species of Ephedra are found in Europe and the

scientific evidence of any beneficial effects. Their use

genus is found as far east as China where it has been

in a sporting context is banned.

used medicinally for the past 5000 years. E.

gerardiana is used in Nepal to treat asthma and

It has been thought that preparations of Ephedra were

bronchial diseases.

at least one component of the Vedic and Zoroastrian drink soma, used in a religious context to induce

In the west its pharmacological value was

alertness and awareness. Some consider other

appreciated with the discovery of the alkaloids

components to have included psycho-active fungi,

ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (which are not

but in the absence of appropriate evidence it is

present in all species). Today Ephedra species are

impossible comment further.

10

Plate 5

Ephedra distachya L. Family – Ephedraceae Barbara McLean

This strange plant, the joint-pine, has its sexes on

cultivated commercially in China for the extraction of

separate plants. It is found from Portugal to the

these compounds which appear most commonly in

Balkans and grows to an altitude of 1100 metres. Its

over-the-counter decongestants (for instance the

form is a low shrub looking a little like broom (Cytisus)

brand ‘Sudafed’) and with other components in

though it will climb over other vegetation in the right

remedies for relieving symptoms of the common cold.

conditions. The painting shows a male plant. The

Because they increase blood pressure and open

female produces seeds covered by a juicy, dull

bronchial pathways these alkaloids have been used in

pinkish-red coat and is very attractive as a result.

attempts to boost athletic performance but without

Four species of Ephedra are found in Europe and the

scientific evidence of any beneficial effects. Their use

genus is found as far east as China where it has been

in a sporting context is banned.

used medicinally for the past 5000 years. E.

gerardiana is used in Nepal to treat asthma and

It has been thought that preparations of Ephedra were

bronchial diseases.

at least one component of the Vedic and Zoroastrian drink soma, used in a religious context to induce

In the west its pharmacological value was

alertness and awareness. Some consider other

appreciated with the discovery of the alkaloids

components to have included psycho-active fungi,

ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (which are not

but in the absence of appropriate evidence it is

present in all species). Today Ephedra species are

impossible comment further.

10

Plate 34

Rhododendron fortunei Lindl.

Family – Ericaceae Maggy Fitzpatrick

The genus Rhododendron in the Ericaceae or heather

William Thiselton-Dyer. He had been appointed by

family has about 1000 species of which 650 grow in

Kew’s Director Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1875 and had

China where it is the largest genus. New Guinea has

married Hooker’s daughter Harriet.

155 endemic species.

The rhododendron introduced to Britain that has The rhododendron in this painting grows in Chinese

escaped and is familiar in many acid soil areas is R. x

forests at altitudes of 600 – 2000 metres. It was

superponticum. This is a complex hybrid swarm of

described by John Lindley (Praefectus Horti of

several species including R. ponticum. The latter is

Chelsea Physic Garden 1836 - 1853) in the

widely distributed, including in the Pontic mountains of

Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1859. He named it for Robert

northern Turkey, where it has found use in traditional

Fortune (Curator of the Garden 1846 - 1848). Fortune

medicine for relief of toothache, rheumatic pain and in

(born 1812) was sent to China in 1843 by his

the treatment of inflammatory conditions. Well

employer the Royal Horticultural Society. He

designed laboratory trials have shown extracts of this

discovered this species on a later visit in 1855 and

species to have real effects in reducing markers of

sent seed back to Glendinning’s nursery in Turnham

inflammation and pain, possibly by the mediation of

Green, near Chiswick. Plants raised from these seeds

flavones in the tissues. However, R. x superponticum is

were auctioned in 1859 and proved to be the first

toxic and ingestion of its leaves by horses can lead to

hardy rhododendron to be introduced from China.

their death. The pollen and nectar of both R. x

This species has very fragrant flowers and has been

superponticum and R. luteum, a species found in the

used as a parent in breeding of many hybrids. Two

Caucasus, N.E.Turkey and Eastern Europe, contain

produced about 1880 by John Luscombe of Lower

grayantoxins, a group of four poisonous molecules

Coombe Royal in Devon were named ‘Mrs

which can accumulate in honey. Cases of poisoning of

W.T.Thiselton-Dyer’ and ‘Frances Thiselton-Dyer’ for

humans by this ‘mad’ honey have been documented

the wife and daughter of the Deputy Director of Kew,

from classical times through to the present.

68

Plate 34

Rhododendron fortunei Lindl.

Family – Ericaceae Maggy Fitzpatrick

The genus Rhododendron in the Ericaceae or heather

William Thiselton-Dyer. He had been appointed by

family has about 1000 species of which 650 grow in

Kew’s Director Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1875 and had

China where it is the largest genus. New Guinea has

married Hooker’s daughter Harriet.

155 endemic species.

The rhododendron introduced to Britain that has The rhododendron in this painting grows in Chinese

escaped and is familiar in many acid soil areas is R. x

forests at altitudes of 600 – 2000 metres. It was

superponticum. This is a complex hybrid swarm of

described by John Lindley (Praefectus Horti of

several species including R. ponticum. The latter is

Chelsea Physic Garden 1836 - 1853) in the

widely distributed, including in the Pontic mountains of

Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1859. He named it for Robert

northern Turkey, where it has found use in traditional

Fortune (Curator of the Garden 1846 - 1848). Fortune

medicine for relief of toothache, rheumatic pain and in

(born 1812) was sent to China in 1843 by his

the treatment of inflammatory conditions. Well

employer the Royal Horticultural Society. He

designed laboratory trials have shown extracts of this

discovered this species on a later visit in 1855 and

species to have real effects in reducing markers of

sent seed back to Glendinning’s nursery in Turnham

inflammation and pain, possibly by the mediation of

Green, near Chiswick. Plants raised from these seeds

flavones in the tissues. However, R. x superponticum is

were auctioned in 1859 and proved to be the first

toxic and ingestion of its leaves by horses can lead to

hardy rhododendron to be introduced from China.

their death. The pollen and nectar of both R. x

This species has very fragrant flowers and has been

superponticum and R. luteum, a species found in the

used as a parent in breeding of many hybrids. Two

Caucasus, N.E.Turkey and Eastern Europe, contain

produced about 1880 by John Luscombe of Lower

grayantoxins, a group of four poisonous molecules

Coombe Royal in Devon were named ‘Mrs

which can accumulate in honey. Cases of poisoning of

W.T.Thiselton-Dyer’ and ‘Frances Thiselton-Dyer’ for

humans by this ‘mad’ honey have been documented

the wife and daughter of the Deputy Director of Kew,

from classical times through to the present.

68