The Story of Flora Danica - læseprøve

HENNING KNUDSEN The story of Flora Danica is the tale of the most com­prehensive and ambitious flora ever published.

By the middle of the 18th Century, the enlightenment was at its peak. Philosophy and natural sciences had favourable conditions during the reign of Frederik V, who decided, that all the plants in the king’s realm and the use of them were to be described in one large work: Flora Danica. A thorough knowledge of the flora would help to exploit the local resources for the general benefit of the country.

The idea was both ambitious and expensive. The Danish realm was huge. Collections would come from the dukedoms Schleswig and Holstein in the south, the double monarchy Denmark-Norway to the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland in the north. The first fascicle was published in 1761, but the project faced numerous obstacles during the making. It ended up taking more than 120 years and the patience of six kings until the last fascicle was printed in 1883. The result was 3240 plates in 17 volumes making Flora Danica the largest coloured flora ever.

Henning Knudsen from the Danish Natural History Museum (University of Copenhagen) vividly tells the story of the botanists, artists and engravers, who created the work, of the dramas involved – and naturally about the fascinating Danish flora.

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The story behind

by Henning Knudsen Translated by Søren Svagin English editor: Dr. Olwen M. Grace, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Illustrated with 250 original Flora Danica-plates Lindhardt og Ringhof in co-operation with Natural History Museum of Denmark Copenhagen MMXVI

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Contents

7 Preface

41 How to use the plates

9 The story behind Flora Danica

43 Plates from Flora Danica

9 Prehistory 13 Peder Kylling – The first Danish field botanist 15 Carl von Linné – Nature put into a system 17 Georg Christian Oeder – Flora Danica gets under way 23 Otto Friedrich Müller – The greatest Danish naturalist 26 Martin Vahl – The esteemed teacher 30 Jens Wilken Hornemann – The largest contributor 31 Joachim Frederik Schouw – The reformer 35 Drejer, Vahl og Liebmann – The publication is delayed 36 Johan Lange – The conclusion of the work 38 Flora Danica – A milestone in natural history 39 Flora Danica – The royal china set

45 The beautiful flora 103 “From all our realms” 153 The dynamic flora 239 Economic plants 347 Plants for aquavit 371 Medicinal plants 399 Poisonous plants 419 Weeds 451 The diverse flora 587 Bibliographical and other data 588 Flora Danica in short 590 The publishers, publication dates and printers 592 The florists

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595 Selected literature 598 Index to English names

604 Index to scientific, Latin names

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Preface Most people relate Flora Danica to the exquisite set of porcelain used at special occasions at the Royal Danish Court. The publication behind the floral motives of the set, however, is much less known. This book is about the iconic work behind the set. It deals with the background for the creation of the work, with the botanists who collected the plants, with the kings who paid for the work, and with the work in itself.

Flora Danica is the largest flora in the world. No other floras contain as many coloured plates, all coloured by hand. It is the result of the generosity of six kings and the comprehensive knowledge of six publishers in combination with the exquisite craft of the artists.

The Age of Enlightenment significantly widened our knowledge of the world. Philosophy and natural sciences benefited from favourable socio-political conditions, and curious scientists put themselves in danger in their attempts to collect new knowledge. The ambitious Danish king Frederik V and not least, his visionary cabinet did not wish to be inferior to others. He started expeditions abroad, called in competent people to Denmark and decided that all the plants of the kingdom and their possible uses were to be described in one work: Flora Danica. The goal was to be able to use the local resources optimally for the benefit of the economy of the kingdom.

Flora Danica was published in the period 1761–1883. The work consists of 18 volumes divided into 54 fascicles containing 3,240 plates—in other words, an endeavour spanning a period of 122 years. It is the longest work in progress in Danish history. It was published with the support of six kings, survived the Struensee Cabinet and his fall in 1771, the Bombardment of Copenhagen in 1807, the State Bankruptcy in 1813, the Cession of Norway in 1814, The Schleswig Wars in 1848–1851, the Abolition of Absolutism in 1849 and the Cession of Schleswig-Holstein in 1864. Moreover, most of the more than 3,000 irreplaceable copper plates were saved from the burning Christiansborg in 1884.

Today, we find it difficult to understand the dependency on plants in earlier times. For the population in the 18th century, most of the time was spent acquiring food and obtaining medicine, which often had no effect. Flora Danica brings us on a journey back to the times when life was simple, but at the same time very cumbersome.

I have chosen 253 plates, which together show important aspects of the flora. “The Beautiful Flora” shows some of the most impressive plates of Flora Danica. In “The Diverse Flora”, examples can be found from all corners of what once went under the collective term ‘the plant kingdom’, but which is now divided in at least four kingdoms.

“From All Our Realms” shows examples of species found on expeditions in Denmark and travels to the remotest parts of Greenland, Iceland, the Faeroe Islands, Norway and Schleswig-Holstein. Economic plants were especially important in Flora Danica, and I have chosen examples of edible plants, poisonous plants, medicinal herbs, herbs for aquavit and plants for dyeing, timber trees and herbs for honey. In “The Dynamic Flora” examples are shown of rare species from a nature which does not exist anymore or are at least threatened by extinction. Others have been introduced, voluntarily for gardens or other purposes or by mistake and are now common or even annoyingly invasive.

My fascination of Flora Danica goes back to my student days when I acquired a couple of the fungal plates for decoration and inspiration. As head of the Botanical Museum, I was also for a time in charge of the Central Botanical Library. This was founded in 1752 to establish a collection of literature to be used in the work with Flora Danica.

The Botanical Museum has recently merged with the Zoological Museum and the Geological Museum into the library at the Natural History Museum of Denmark. This is where I spend my working days surrounded by beautiful old works, which cover botany, zoology, and geology – and of course, two complete sets of Flora Danica.

From all my heart I want to thank associate professor emeritus Peter Wagner for placing his inexhaustible knowledge of Flora Danica at my disposal, and associate professor emeritus Hans Tybjerg for his inspiration concerning historical botany. Furthermore, to thank Jesper Ratjen and Henrik F. Götzsche for correcting errors in the Danish edition on pages 78 and 460, respectively.

If there are any errors in the text in spite of this, I take full responsibility.

Henning Knudsen

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The story behind Flora Danica

How to use the plates The selected 253 plates on the following pages are gathered into nine sections. Each section begins with an explanation of what the plants in the section have in common: they may be medicinal plants, weeds, plants from different climatic zones, economically valuable plants, poisonous or simply beautiful plants.

Each species is illustrated by a scan of the original muster sheet, which was made from the artist’s aquarelle. The muster sheet was then engraved on a copperplate, printed in black and white, then painted in the gouache technique with a mixture of dye, lime and egg white. When ready, it was approved by the publisher (a botanist), and then copied by the so-called illuminists. Almost all the original muster sheets still exist, but some have been remade to replace lost originals. On some of them, the publisher has made notes to the artist, to change a colour or a shape, and some have been discoloured by people eating or drinking while they were working with the sheets. Of the original aquarelles, very few have survived (see an example on page 22).

Opposite the plate, there is a text describing the figure on the plate, usually seen in the context of the relevant section. The heading for each species includes a constant set of information:

Seaside Centaury

The vernacular name in English, sometimes with alternatives. The names of plants, their spelling and typography are taken from www.thewildflowersociety.uk. Names of plants missing in the list are from Wikipedia or various other sources. Names of fungi are from www.britmycolsoc.org.uk, English names for fungi 2014.

(Centaurium littorale)

The current scientific name in Latin, italicized in accordance with international practice.

Erythraea littoralis.

The scientific name used in Flora Danica. The system of scientific naming was not generally accepted in the first years of Flora Danica, and sometimes the “name” is there­ fore a full sentence, as was the custom before the era of Linné.

Plate 1814, 1825.

The plate number in Flora Danica (from 1 to 3240), followed by the year it was printed. In some cases, especially for mosses, algae, lichens and fungi, more than one species may occur on a plate.

J. W. Hornemann.

The publisher’s name.

Gentianaceae. Three Danish species.

The scientific name of the family to which the species belongs. Only some of these family names have corresponding vernacular names, and if so, they are given.

After the family name some additional information is given: the number of species in the genus (not the family) occurring in Denmark. For species included from other parts of the Danish Realms, the number is also given for that particular part. For species in the Dynamic Flora, their status in the Danish Red List of threatened and extinct plants is given if relevant.

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The story behind Flora Danica

The story behind Flora Danica Prehistory

A flora is a name with a double meaning. It means both the plants growing in a certain area and a book that deals with plants in the same area. A small book by Johann Feyerabend from 1588 describes the plants in the forests of the Harz. This is one of the first books, which qualifies for the term flora. The name flora stems from the Roman goddess for flowers, Flora, who was worshipped for her own beauty and the beauty of flowers. In 1633, the Italian botanist Battista Ferrari in his work Flora sive florum cultura, “Flora, or the cultivation of flowers” personified her. It deals with the cultivation of flowers, their decorative effect and describes new garden plants. The concept was reused by the Danish physician, anatomist and botanist, Simon Paulli, when, in 1648, he published his Flora Danica, and by the Swedish natural scientist and physician, Carl von Linné, when he published Flora Lapponica (The Flora of Lapland, 1737) and Flora Suecica (The Flora of Sweden, 1745). There is a parallel word for the animal species of an area, the fauna, and recently Danish mycologists have adopted the word ‘funga’, as a parallel word for the fungal species of an area.

One of the oldest Danish handwritten manuscripts is a book of herbs by Henrik Harpestreng. Not much is known about him, but we know that he was a canon in Roskilde and Erik Plovpenning’s physician. He died April 2, 1244.

His original handwritten manuscript no longer exists, but a number of copies are known, which according to custom circulated in monasteries and among princes. A copy from around 1300 exists in the Royal Library in Copenhagen.

The text is in Danish and not Latin, which was highly un­usual for a time when the norm was Latin. The intention was clearly to write a book that could be read and used by everybody. Most of the text is a transcript from older books on herbs, especially Macer Floridus by Odo Magdunensis from before 1100 and the writings of Constantinus Africanus, De Gradibus Liber from the middle of the 11th century. Constantinus was one of the leading scholars behind the famous medical school in Salerno in Southern Italy, which was the medical epicenter of the Middle Ages.

Their work was based on translations of the manuscripts with a medical content that had been acquired from the Arab countries—which again were translations of Greek manuscripts. It is not known whether Harpestreng visited

Salerno or any other southern Italian medical school. Perhaps he only had access to one or a few of the early books on medicine, but it is the first time a number of plants are mentioned in a Danish context. There are no descriptions of the plants, but their medical effects are mentioned. For instance, Harpestreng writes about chives: “He has excellent healing powers. Chives is also beneficial for those who spit blood or lose blood in the night” (dysentery).

Harpestreng was an early bird. The following Danish books on plants and their medical use were not written until several hundred years later by a canon in Malmoe, Christiern Pedersen. In 1533, he published the first printed manual of medicine, En nøttelig Legebog (A Useful Medical Manual), in which about 250 herbs are recommended for various diseases. Pedersen mainly got his knowledge from Bartolomaeus’ work from 1532, which he again had borrowed from Hortus Sanitatis (1491).

At that time, the level of the medical science was modest. In the new 1539 charter for Copenhagen University after the upheaval of the Reformation, the professors were ordered to study medicine according to the writings of Hippocrates and Galen. They were texts from the fourth and the second century B.C., respectively, as little had changed during the preceding 1300 years.

In Malmoe Henrik Smid (sometimes Smith or Smed) continued Christiern Pedersen’s efforts by publishing new books on medicine and herbs. In Een skøn loestig ny vrtegaardt (A Lovely and Merry New Herbal Garden) from 1546 there are no descriptions of the plants, but Smid states the Latin, German and Danish names. That was an indirect reference to the first wave of herbal books, which had begun half a century earlier. The first and most renowned of these books was Gart der Gesundheit (1485) by Johann Wonnecke von Kaub. The book was written as a tour of a fictitious garden, including a description of all the healthy and curative herbs that could be found there. The publication was a tremendous success and was published in numerous editions. The woodcuts shown are so stylized that you actually have to know the plants in advance to be able to recognize them, but the book became the important starting point for the wave of herbal books, which flooded learned Europe throughout the next centuries.

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The beautiful flora

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The beautiful flora

The beautiful flora This chapter is a collection of charming, characteristic, funny or beautiful plants. They are plants which people use only sporadically or not at all, but are so common or charismatic that they belong in this grouping of the Danish flora.

More than 250,000 plants exist of which man uses less than 10,000. That does not mean that the remaining are useless.

They are eaten by other animals and constitute the habitat for many animals and fungi.

The Danish plants represents 109 families, comprising one or more genera, which in their turn consist of one or more species. In spite of the modest size of the country, the overwhelming majority of plant families are found in Denmark, with the obvious exception of families only found in the tropics.

The number of plants given for the country varies somewhat depending on which groups you choose to include. A number of genera like dandelions, hawkweeds and brambles are termed micro species. They propagate vegetatively—without fertilization—and the differences between the species are therefore often quite small. That is one main reason behind the different calculations. The other decisive difference depends on the number of introduced (by man or naturally) species. There is a constant migration and extinction of plants, but if a species manages to naturalize and combine with the natural Danish ecosystems, it will eventually be absorbed in the flora. Depending on how strictly the line between naturalized and non-naturalized is drawn, the number of species in the flora varies. In the most recent flora from 2012, close to 1,400 species are included. A reasonable estimate of the entire Danish flora, excepting the micro species mentioned above.

The beautiful plants, trees and flowers constitute nature’s floral blanket. It produces a feeling of wellbeing in us. Spending time in nature makes us feel part of nature. We easily get the feeling that something was here before us (nature), and probably something will remain here after us (nature).

This feeling of infinity, which is also felt when looking at stars, mountains or the sea, is soothing and probably also the motive behind going for a walk in the woods. Of course, nature might sting, burn or be poisonous, but it has no ulterior motive. It forms a sanctuary in our human existence, a neutral place for pacifying our thoughts in order to return to our everyday life with new energy. A walk in nature is balm for the soul, and for centuries nature has been an object of poetic praise and celebration, even though our modern times have shown a decline in this respect.

The beautiful plants were always put first in the Flora Danica fascicles. Then, as now, it was important to catch the attention of the reader, and this was done through the immediate appeal of the beautiful plants. After the inviting plants came the grasses, and then the small and much less known algae, mosses, lichens and fungi, which were put at the end of the fascicles.

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The beautiful flora

Dog Rose (Rosa canina)

Rosa canina.

Plate 1695, 1821.

J. W. Hornemann.

The Rose family (Rosaceae).

Twelve Danish species.

The wild roses are difficult to tell apart. The Dog Rose has a round hip, strongly bent thorns and five to seven leaflets.

Other roses are similar, but none is as common.

The rose is probably the most used plant metaphor in Danish poetry, signifying something wonderful, a loved one or the Saviour. Kingo saw “a rose shooting”, Ambrosius Stub saw “Ye wonderful rosebud”, and to Grundtvig it was the most used plant in his poetry – apart from the grape vine. Chresten Raunkiaer (1860 – 1938), who was a Professor of Botany at Copenhagen University, investigated this in detail.

At first, he became world famous for the way in which he made sociological descriptions of plant communities. By using a bent knitting pin 17.8 centimetres long, thrown at random into the plant community under investigation, he delimited a circle-shaped area of 0.1 square meters. The other arm was pushed into the ground. All the species in the circle were registered, no matter how much or how little of the plant existed. After this, he could begin calculating “dominants”, “subdominants” and other concepts, for which he became famous. He was also renowned for the categorization of plants according to their form of life, and for demonstrating that in different areas influenced by different climates, different dominating life forms existed. For example, if a plant grows on a plain where it only rains in the spring, bulbs and other forms of hibernating organs are an advantage, because the plant will be able to rapidly shoot up when the rains arrive, whereas plants in a swamp with a constant access to water, have other modes of adaptation.

After his retirement, Raunkiaer began studying Danish poets and their relationship to plants. He transferred his botanical concepts to poetry and operated with dominants, subdominants and plant density in the poetry of verses written by four of the greatest Danish hymn writers, Kingo, Brorson, Ingemann and Grundtvig. The highest botanical diversity was recorded by the poet Aakjær, renowned for his daily association with nature, who recorded 172 species, and the hymn writer Grundvig.

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The dynamic flora

Pyramidal Orchid

(Anacamptis pyramidalis) Orchis pyramidalis.

Plate 2113, 1834.

J. W. Hornemann.

The Orchid family (Orchidaceae).

Two Danish species. Protected. Vulnerable.

Pyramidal Orchid can be distinguished from other similar orchids by its short inflorescence. It is triangular, not round like those of many similar orchids, and the flowers have long spurs. Besides, the lower leaves are often withered when it is in full bloom. Butterflies that stick their proboscises into the spurs do not find anything: the orchid does not produce nectar, but in the quest, the anther rubs off on the insect’s proboscis and pollen is carried on to the next flower. Pollination occurs because the stem of the anthers quickly bend forwards and thereby hit the stigma of the next flower.

The specimen on the plate was found in 1831 by the botanist Kamphövener in Allindelille Fredskov, where it disappeared in 1958. It is now only found as a viable population on a common on Møn, where it was saved from near-extinction by the forest authorities who set up a nursery scheme. A few years ago it was also found in a gravel pit on Zealand. Hopefully, it will make it there, getting two chances of survival.

From his youth, Bernhard Casper Kamphövener (1813–1846) was interested in botany. He was trained as a pharmacist in his hometown, Køge, then moved to Viborg and finally to Copenhagen, where he started studies in botany. After his exam, he became a lecturer of forest botany, and in the following years, he travelled round Denmark and Scandinavia to collect plants. After an attack of tuberculosis, he received a state grant to go to southern Europe, to recuperate and also to collect plants. He succeeded in both respects, at least for a time.

He returned to Denmark, and in 1845, he was appointed botanist on board the first Galathea expedition, which he

accompanied to Pulau Penang (Georgetown), where he signed off dissatisfied with the conditions on board and a worsening of his disease. In his book on the everyday life on board the Galathea, Koustrup has given a vivid description of Kamphövener’s dissatisfaction. After exchanging blows, he and the artist Thornam ended their disagreement in a duel. The duel took place February 5, late in the afternoon, when “Kamphövener, Lieutenant Ravn and the physician Matthiessen with dressing apparatus” sailed ashore in one vessel, and “Lieutenant Ravn and I (Thornam) in another”.

“First, we picked out a suitable place in the forest” (on Pulo Milu). “It was decided that we were to stand back to back at a distance of 25 paces and then move forward another five paces at a countdown. At “5”, we had to turn around and shoot at once, that is simultaneously, and without taking aim. Finally, the moment arrived. I thought it was better to be shot than shooting another person. I thought it would be the worst thing imaginable. Therefore, I shot the moment I turned around, practically without taking aim. Kamphövener, however, thought differently. After I had fired, I looked at him, and was highly surprised to see him taking aim. I looked directly into the pistol barrel. Really, it was an abominable moment. In my thoughts, I bade farewell to all of you and did not expect to see you anymore. Finally, he pulled the trigger, and how easy my heart felt, when I only heard the copper cap. Kamphövener got furious, threw the pistol to the ground and heaped a load of abuse onto poor Lieutenant Ravn, which he had to call back, however, and make excuses for.” Shortly afterwards, the ailing and perhaps irritable Kamphövener returned to Denmark, where he arrived at his hometown, Køge, June 26, only to die three weeks later.

Later on Thornam illustrated parts of Flora Danica.

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Economic plants

Wood Blewit (Lepista nuda)

Agaricus violaceus.

Plate 1133, 1794.

M. Vahl.

The Knight family (Tricholomataceae).

Eight Danish species.

Wood Blewit is common in both deciduous and coniferous forests. It often appears in fairy rings or large groups. It is a saprotrophic fungus which lives by decomposing dead leaves and needles. It fruits primarily in October when it is one of this month’s excellent edible fungi. The other Danish Lepista species are different, with the exception of the edible Sordid Blewit (L. sordida), which is similar, albeit smaller and with a finely striate cap margin. Some rare, blue Web-caps might look similar, but they have a bulbous base. The gills become brown when mature, have a veil when young, some of them have an unpleasant smell (of goat) and they do not grow in fairy rings.

The depiction on the plate, like many fungi depicted in Flora Danica, is rather poor. In the 18th century, mycology was a very new field of study and knowledge of fungi was limited. The number of species was not known, and botanists did not know how to tell them apart. Consequently, it was more difficult to identify and depict the essential diagnostic ­charac­teristics than it was with the plants, which were far better known.

Previously Wood Blewit was referred to as the Knigths (Tri­ chol­­oma), but the two genera are now well separated. Blewits have warty, pink spores and are saprotrophic, whereas Knigths have white, smooth spores and forms a symbiosis with trees (mycorrhizae).

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HENNING KNUDSEN The story of Flora Danica is the tale of the most com­prehensive and ambitious flora ever published.

By the middle of the 18th Century, the enlightenment was at its peak. Philosophy and natural sciences had favourable conditions during the reign of Frederik V, who decided, that all the plants in the king’s realm and the use of them were to be described in one large work: Flora Danica. A thorough knowledge of the flora would help to exploit the local resources for the general benefit of the country.

The idea was both ambitious and expensive. The Danish realm was huge. Collections would come from the dukedoms Schleswig and Holstein in the south, the double monarchy Denmark-Norway to the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Greenland in the north. The first fascicle was published in 1761, but the project faced numerous obstacles during the making. It ended up taking more than 120 years and the patience of six kings until the last fascicle was printed in 1883. The result was 3240 plates in 17 volumes making Flora Danica the largest coloured flora ever.

Henning Knudsen from the Danish Natural History Museum (University of Copenhagen) vividly tells the story of the botanists, artists and engravers, who created the work, of the dramas involved – and naturally about the fascinating Danish flora.

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