|
Fragaria vesca fructu-hispida, now F. v. muricata
In November 1627 John Tradescant arrived in Plymouth when he was in the service of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, who had put into Pymouth following the failure of his
expedition to take La Rochelle from the French. John stayed at a house in Plymouth where the daughter had been out collecting wild strawberries for her mother's garden. Amongst the plants she found was one that was observably odd and presumably bewitched. So, she was
going to burn it when John Tradescant saw it and rescued it. He took the plant back to his
garden in Lambeth and listed it in his catalogue for 1634. However, John Parkinson had
already described the plant in his Paradisus of 1629; a book that was the first volume to
describe plants in English. For the next century or so the plant recieved various mentions in the literature but then seems to have become lost. It was not until 1880 that it appeared in print again, in the Flora of Plymouth by Briggs. However, he noted that it had not been seen for 150 years. By enormous good fortune nevertheless, it was found again around this time by Dr Masters growing in Canon Ellacombe's garden in Bristol. Dr Masters gave a piece to
E.A.Bowles who promptly put into a special bed called "The Lunatic Asylum" at his own
famous garden at Myddleton House.
The plant is indeed of a mad appearance. John Parkinson describes it as follows, - " (it) is in leaf much like unto the ordinary, but differeth in that the flower, if it have any, is green or rather it beareth a small head of greene leaves, many set thicke together like a double ruff, in the midst whereof standeth the fruit, which when it is ripe, showeth to be soft and somewhat reddish, like unto a strawberry, but with many small prickles on them, which may be eaten and chewed in the mouth without any manner of offence, and is somewhat pleasant like a strawberry, it is no great bearer but those it doth bear, are set at the toppes of the stalks close together, pleasant to behold, and fit for a gentlewoman to weare on her arm etc as a raritie
instead of a flower".
BACK
|
|
