FLOKA OF BEKKSHIRE 



Parkin- 

 son. 



BoBART, 



time in Britain. Only one is new to our flora, namely ' Cirsium 

 An'jlic'um, Lob., Single-lieaded Thistle, on Early Heath, a mile from 

 Reading.' A second part, appearing in 1641, contained an additional 

 record, * Gramen ariindinaceiim acerosa gluma, Park., Reede Grass with 

 whitish tops,' as a jDrobable Berkshire plant ; it is said to grow ' ubique 

 ad Thamesis ripas,' and may be supposed to be Phalaris arunclinacea. 

 In 1643 the degree ofM.D. was conferred upon him at Oxford. In 

 the Parliamentary wars he became Lieutenant-Colonel to Sir Marma- 

 duke Rawdon, and at the siege of Basing House received a shot in 

 the shoulder, from which wound he died shortly after in 1644. 



The next botanical writer to be noticed is John Parkinson, who 

 was born probably in Nottinghamshire in 1567. He, like Johnson, 

 was brought up to be an apothecary, and lived in London. He was 

 a contemporary of Gerard and de I'Obel during the latter part of 

 their lives, and survived Johnson several years. In 1629 he published 

 his ParacUsi in Sole ParacUsus Terrestris, and dedicated it to Queen 

 Henrietta. This work, as its punning title implies, treats of cultivated 

 plants, so that nothing is added by it to our list of native species. In 

 1640 Parkinson issued his Theatrum Botanicum, a herbal of 1,746 pages, 

 in which are described nearly 3,800 plants, so that not only is it much 

 larger than either of the herbals previously noticed, but the subject- 

 matter is dealt with in a more original manner. The plates used 

 were cut expressly for the work, but are inferior in execution to those 

 of Gerard and others. Parkinson gave a precise locality for Parnassia 

 in Berkshii'e on p. 429 ; he says that ' Gramen Parnassi vulgare ' grows 

 ' on the other side of Oxford in the pasture next unto Botley in the 

 highway' ; and on p. 558 for Anagallis femina, which he terms * Anagallis 

 ienuifolia /lore coervleo,' and says that ' it is found growing neere Battle 

 by Oxford.' On p. 145 1 Myrica Gale is noticed under the name of Rhus 

 sylvestris sive Myrtus Brahantica aut Anglica, and is said to occur ' by old 

 Windsor Parke corner.* The record of ^Asplenium sive Ceierach on Beckens- 

 field Church in Barkeshire ' is not correct ; it should be Beaconsfield 

 in Buckinghamshire. Parkinson was made apothecary to King James, 

 and also King's Herbarist. He had a garden in Long Acre. He died 

 in 1650, and was buried in St. Martin's in the Fields. The genus 

 Parkinsonia was named by Plumier after him. 



In 1632 the Oxford Botanic Garden was founded by Henry Earl 

 of Danby. A piece of ground belonging to Magdalen College, which 

 had in former times been used as a burying-ground by the Jews, 

 was leased by the College to Lord Danby, and on it were built 

 greenhouses and a gardener's dwelling-house. The garden, about five 

 acres in extent, was surrounded by a goodly wall at a cost of £5,000. 

 The Earl also endowed the garden, which was placed under the care 



In i6a.8 Jacob Bob art 



THE ELDER, ^f Jacob Bobart, a native of Brunswick 



