Mr Hartweg's collections', plants received at Chiswick Gardens from Karl Theodor Hartweg
Information
Title - Mr Hartweg's collections', plants received at Chiswick Gardens from Karl Theodor Hartweg
Record type - Archive
Original Reference - RHS/Col/7/1/3/1
Date - 2 Jul 1842-29 Jul 1843
Scope & content - Plant accessions book. Lists of plants received from Karl Theodor Hartweg at the Horticultural Society garden at Chiswick, London from Ecuador, Colombia and Jamaica. The plants are numbered consecutively, with information about the name, location of collection [from Hartweg's notes], condition [on arrival to England] ('good', 'bad', 'dead' etc) and results ('flowering', 'dead', 'failed', 'growing' etc). The latter are often added in a different ink or different hand, and sometimes with several notes, often with the gardeners' initials and occasionally with dates
Overview of contents:
Pages 1-16: Loxa [Loja, Ecuador], 2 Jul 1842
Pages 16-32: Quito [Ecuador], 30 May 1843
Pages 32-54: Columbia [Colombia], 29 Jul 1843
Pages 55-65: Duplicates from Loxa, 29 Jul 1843
Pages 66-68: Seeds from Jamaica, 29 Jul 1843
Pages 68-75: Bulbs, roots and plants from Jamaica and Columbia [Colombia], 29 Jul 1843
Physical description: Bound in quarter green leather with marbled paper sides in brown large spot pattern with blue veins. Labelled 'Mr Hartweg's Collections'. Dimensions: 32 (h) x 20.5 (w) x 1.5 (d) cm. Conserved in 2017: the binding and pages were cleaned and repairs were carried out to both
Paginated during cataloguing on upper right-hand corners of rectos
The volume had a loose enclosure at pages 14-15. This enclosure was removed for preservation purposes during cataloguing and stored with the volume in a separate folder.
Enclosure 1, originally enclosed between pages 14-15: Unidentified dried plant specimen
Summary of contents:
Pages 1-16: Loxa [Loja, Ecuador], 2 Jul 1842. Boxes 92-107 (numbers 1166-1272). Includes an extract from a letter by Hartweg with information about the location of collection and advice on growing, and a note copied from R. Fortune [Robert Fortune, gardener at the Horticultural Society garden at Chiswick, London and a Horticultural Society plant collector in China; for the papers of Robert Fortune, 1842-1846, see RHS/Col/8]: 'All the other plants mentioned in Mr Hartweg's letter are dead. This is doubtless owing to the long time which the boxes have been on the way to England. The numbers being also detached, it as [has] been impossible to mark the locality of each as has been done in Mr Hartweg's letter. I have therefore only done so in those instances, in which I could not be mistaken'
Includes a species of Maxillaria ('mountains near Loxa. Bad. Dead'), a species of Catasetum ('Rio Grande de Melacatos [Rio Malacatos, Ecuador]. Good. 1 died. Loddiges [George Loddiges, nursery owner in London and council member of the Horticultural Society] has one'), 'bulbs from a garden in Loxa' ('good. Growing / 44 [1844]. Flowered June 1845'), a species of Tropaeolum ('a hardy annual. In fields near Loxa (see the dried specimen). Good. Failed') and a species of Solanum ('shrubby, greenhouse. Mountains near Loxa. Bad. In flower Aug 7th/43 [1843]. Potted Aug 25. Planted out, worthless') [here the list includes 101 more plants]
Pages 16-32: Quito [Ecuador] ['Pichincha' crossed out and replaced with 'Quito'], 30 May 1843. Boxes 109-111 (numbers 1273-1354)
Includes a species of Gaultheria ('a half-hardy shrub, 3ft high. From the declivity of Pichincha towards Quito. Prob [probably] good. Failed'), Ribes frigidum [identification unresolved as at Jun 2019] ('Kth [Carl Sigismund Kunth, German botanist]. Next in beauty to sanguineium [Ribes sanguineum]. A hardy shrub, 3-5ft high. On Guagua-Pichincha, 14,000 feet high. Also near the farmhouse of Antisana, but scarce. In bad cond. Failed'), a species of Opuntia ('from the valley of San Antonio [Ecuador], under the very line [the Equator]. Prob. good. Failed'), a species of Lupinus ('description not legible, paper was rotten. Prob. dead. Failed') and 'bulbs from the ravines near Quito, may be cultivated in any place where frost cannot enter' ('174 bulbs in good cond. Growing /44 [1844]') [here the list includes 76 more plants]
Pages 32-54: Columbia [Colombia], 29 Jul 1843. Box 124 (numbers 1355-1474)
Includes palm ('chontaduro [peach palm], with a slender, prickly stem, 40-60 feet high. Cultivated on the western declivity of the western Cordillera of the Andes of Popayan [Popayan, Colombia]. The outer rind of the nut is eaten boiled & resembles a Spanish chestnut. In good cond [condition]. Stove [stove plant, greenhouse plant]. failed'), Lupinus interruptus ('a half-hardy shrub, 6-8 feet high. Along rivulets on the paramo [paramo, alpine tundra ecosystem] de San Fortunato [Colombia] in the province of Bogota [Bogota, Colombia], at an elevation of 9,500 feet. In good cond. One plant potted March /44 [1844]. Potted. A large-leaved kind'), a species of Berberis ('scarce. A half-hardy shrub, 5-6 feet high. Mountains of Marivina near Cuenca [Ecuador]. In good cond. Failed'), a species of Convolvulaceae ('very pretty. A woody greenhouse or stove climber. From the woods near the village of Fusagasuga [Fusagasuga, Colombia] in the province of Bogota. In good cond. Potted 3 plants Apr 1844. In flower Aug 22/46 [1846]'), a species of Alstroemeria ('in woods near Riobamba [Ecuador]. In good cond. Failed') and a species of '?Nicotiana' ('a greenhouse perennial. From the arid plains of Yunguilla near Cuenca [Ecuador]. In good cond. Growing') [here the list includes 114 more plants]
Pages 55-65: Duplicates from Loxa [Loja, Ecuador], 29 Jul 1843. Numbers 1475-1553
Includes a species of Juglans ('not nigra [Juglans nigra]. A large, hardy tree. Mountains of Saraguro [Ecuador] and Huancabamba [Ecuador]. ?Dead'), 'a greenhouse shrub' ('5-6 feet high. From the Cordillera near Loxa. ?In bad cond. Failed'), a species of Solanum ('a greenhouse perennial. Fruit eatable. Mountains near Loxa. In good cond. Failed'), a species of Lupinum ([annotated: 'larvensis [?Lupinus lariversianus]'] 'a hardy biennial (?perennial). In fields near Loxa. In good cond. Failed. 1 plant potted March /44 [1844]. Planted out') and a species of Salvia ('a dwarf greenhouse shrub. Mountains of Loxa. ?In good cond. Failed') [here the list includes 73 more plants]
Pages 66-68: Seeds from Jamaica, 29 Jul 1843. Numbers 1554-1569. Includes 'seeds from Dr McNab [Gilbert McNab, botanist and physician in Jamaica], by Mr T. Hartweg, from near the Blue Mountain peak, Jamaica'
Includes Garrya macfadyenii [Garrya fadyenii] ('a greenhouse shrub, from 12-15 feet high. From the Port Royal Mountains, Jamaica. In good cond. One plant potted March /44 [1844]. Potted & distributed. Growing'), a species of Malvaceae ('?in good cond., potted Nov /43 [1843]'), Passiflora viridiflora ('Parish of St Mary's [Saint Mary Parish, Jamaica], In good cond.'), divi-divi [Libidibia coriaria] ('in good cond. Failed'), Chamaerops ('wilderness, St Mary's. In bad cond. Failed') and a species of Citrus ('limon, common in the warmer parts of tropical America. In good cond. Potted 5 plants Dec 5 1843. Growing, in good cond.') [here the list includes 10 more plants]
Pages 68-75: Bulbs, roots and plants from Jamaica and Columbia [Colombia], 29 Jul 1843. Numbers 1570-1620
Includes 'bulbs from old walls in the town of Pasto, New Granada [Colombia]' ('growing. Given to Dist. [distribution] Growing'), a species of Catasetum ('new. Near the Hacienda del Hospicis in the province of Bogota [Bogota, Colombia]. Growing. Flowered /44 [1844]'), a species of Musa ('under this number there are two kinds of plantains from Jamaica, one called the 'black plantain', readily distinguished by its black foot stalks, the other the 'French plantain'. These two species I met for the first time in Jamaica. Dead when received'), Calanthe veratrifolia [Calanthe triplicata] ('Jamaica. Growing'), an unnamed plant ('pretty, rose-coloured. From the banks of the Magdalena [Magdalena River, Colombia]. Growing. In flower, Aug 47 [1847]') and 'three sorts of bulbs from Jamaica ('growing') [here the list includes 45 more plants]
The remainder of the volume [67 pages] is blank
Extent - 1 volume
Repository - Royal Horticultural Society Lindley Library
Copyright - Royal Horticultural Society
Credit Line - RHS Lindley Collections
Usage terms - Non-commercial use with attribution permitted (CC BY-NC 4.0)