Read Online 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names by Diana Wells - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Diana Wells
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popular garden plant in North America in colonial times and soon escaped to grow along roadsides. They are now bred enthusiastically and there are hundreds of varieties available. The mammoth tetraploid daylilies, much prized by collectors, are created with the help of colchicine, a substance used for manipulating plant genes. Colchicine is an extract first isolated in the 1820s from the autumn crocus, or colchicum, by two French scientists. It prevents cell division by inhibiting elongation of microtubules (the threads that pull chromosomes apart into opposite corners of a cell), so the cell does not divide and will contain twice as many chromosomes as a normal cell. Mammoth plants and flowers with these new large cells develop. Recently, however, there has been a trend toward more modest and fragile blooms, as well as new colors.
Purists might disapprove, but daylilies are as much a part of America now as that other immigrant, apple pie.
Although they are not native American flowers, daylilies are so much a part of the wild landscape, so easy to grow, and so rewarding that they are often used in fashionable modern âwildâ gardens. Purists might disapprove, but daylilies are as much a part of America now as that other immigrant, apple pie. Both, thank goodness, are here to stay.
DEUTZIA
BOTANICAL NAME :
Deutzia
. FAMILY :
Hydrangeaceae
.
Although deutzia was first described in 1712, it was not imported to Europe until the end of the nineteenth century. Its stems are hollow but they do not seem to have been used for flutes or pipes as other hollowstemmed plants were. In fact, the deutzia doesnât seem to have any poetical associations at all. Itâs reliable, handsome, and a pleasure to have around, like many respectable lawyers with whom we are acquainted and who make good neighbors.
It is, in fact, called after a lawyer, Johann van der Deutz of Amsterdam. He seems to have been reliable, and maybe he was handsome as well. He was a town superintendent, an alderman, and a councilor. Together with David ten Hove and Jan van de Poll he provided money for Carl Peter Thunberg to investigate the natural history of South Africa, Java, and Japan (see âJaponicaâ). In gratitude Thunberg dedicated his
Flora Japonica
to them and named the genera
Deutzia, Hovenia
, and
Pollia
after them.
Deutz corresponded with the long-lived botanist and explorerJoseph Banks, who, like Deutz, was born in 1743 (see âEverlasting Flowerâ). The banksias, which bear his name, however, are far less commonly grown than deutzias, and Johann van der Deutz, who was carried off in his forties, has in a sense outlived Banks in gardens, for many gardeners know him by growing his namesake.
Kaempfer taught the islandâs Japanese interpreters astronomy and mathematics, in exchange for botanical specimens.
Deutzias are native to China but long cultivated in Japan, where their wood was used for bodkins and cabinets and their leaves as furniture polish. Englebert Kaempfer, who first saw and described the Japanese deutzia, was employed by the Dutch East India Company as a doctor at their Deshima Island base. He taught the islandâs Japanese interpreters astronomy and mathematics in exchange for botanical specimens (although he knew they risked their lives by giving them), and he started a botanical garden on Deshima (see âJaponicaâ). He accompanied the Dutch embassy to Tokyo to pay respects to the emperor and, although closely guarded, managed to collect plant specimens along the way.
Deutzias have curving branched stems, covered with double white blossoms in June. They need very cold winters or they will flower prematurely, so they do better in the northern United States than in Britain. They are extremely beautiful and really should have poetry written about them, like other no more lovely plants. But that happens, doesnât it? Sometimes the most unworthy subjects can inspire extraordinary art, while the
Purists might disapprove, but daylilies are as much a part of America now as that other immigrant, apple pie.
Although they are not native American flowers, daylilies are so much a part of the wild landscape, so easy to grow, and so rewarding that they are often used in fashionable modern âwildâ gardens. Purists might disapprove, but daylilies are as much a part of America now as that other immigrant, apple pie. Both, thank goodness, are here to stay.
DEUTZIA
BOTANICAL NAME :
Deutzia
. FAMILY :
Hydrangeaceae
.
Although deutzia was first described in 1712, it was not imported to Europe until the end of the nineteenth century. Its stems are hollow but they do not seem to have been used for flutes or pipes as other hollowstemmed plants were. In fact, the deutzia doesnât seem to have any poetical associations at all. Itâs reliable, handsome, and a pleasure to have around, like many respectable lawyers with whom we are acquainted and who make good neighbors.
It is, in fact, called after a lawyer, Johann van der Deutz of Amsterdam. He seems to have been reliable, and maybe he was handsome as well. He was a town superintendent, an alderman, and a councilor. Together with David ten Hove and Jan van de Poll he provided money for Carl Peter Thunberg to investigate the natural history of South Africa, Java, and Japan (see âJaponicaâ). In gratitude Thunberg dedicated his
Flora Japonica
to them and named the genera
Deutzia, Hovenia
, and
Pollia
after them.
Deutz corresponded with the long-lived botanist and explorerJoseph Banks, who, like Deutz, was born in 1743 (see âEverlasting Flowerâ). The banksias, which bear his name, however, are far less commonly grown than deutzias, and Johann van der Deutz, who was carried off in his forties, has in a sense outlived Banks in gardens, for many gardeners know him by growing his namesake.
Kaempfer taught the islandâs Japanese interpreters astronomy and mathematics, in exchange for botanical specimens.
Deutzias are native to China but long cultivated in Japan, where their wood was used for bodkins and cabinets and their leaves as furniture polish. Englebert Kaempfer, who first saw and described the Japanese deutzia, was employed by the Dutch East India Company as a doctor at their Deshima Island base. He taught the islandâs Japanese interpreters astronomy and mathematics in exchange for botanical specimens (although he knew they risked their lives by giving them), and he started a botanical garden on Deshima (see âJaponicaâ). He accompanied the Dutch embassy to Tokyo to pay respects to the emperor and, although closely guarded, managed to collect plant specimens along the way.
Deutzias have curving branched stems, covered with double white blossoms in June. They need very cold winters or they will flower prematurely, so they do better in the northern United States than in Britain. They are extremely beautiful and really should have poetry written about them, like other no more lovely plants. But that happens, doesnât it? Sometimes the most unworthy subjects can inspire extraordinary art, while the
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