CHAPTER I 



INTRODUCTION. HISTORICAL NOTES. 



IT has long been the custom to attribute to the Romans the introduction 

 to Britain of certain common trees and shrubs. From the fact that 

 remains of the seeds of Pinus Pinea, the stone pine of Italy, have lately 

 been found in the refuse heaps of Roman encampments in Britain, it is 

 evident that edible seeds and possibly fruits were imported from Italy for 

 the soldiers' use, and in that way the sweet chestnut, the walnut, the 

 mulberry, and other trees with edible fruits or seeds may, as has often 

 been stated, have been first brought to this country. Probably, also, 

 some of the most popular ornamental exotic trees and shrubs, like the 

 common lime, were brought over by them too. As for the common elm 

 and box, often attributed to the Romans, there appears no reason for 

 disputing their genuineness as natives of Southern England. 



After the withdrawal of the Roman legions in the fourth and fifth 

 centuries, the country relapsed into comparative barbarism, but subsequent 

 to the establishment of Christianity, the introduction of plants from the 

 Continent was, no doubt, carried on by religious houses, especially after 

 the Norman Conquest. Most attention was given to the scented and 

 medicinal plants, like rosemary and thyme, and to fruit-trees. It is also 

 likely that a number of ornamental as well as useful trees, shrubs, and 

 herbs were first introduced during the Dark Ages by mariners and others 

 touching at continental and Mediterranean ports, or by travellers inland. 

 But the fact is, what they, the Romans, or the monks accomplished, must 

 to us remain largely mere guesswork. 



We only touch certain ground in this matter in the year 1548, when 

 Wm. Turner published his Names of Herbes. Turner, sometimes called 

 the " Father of English Botany," was born at Morpeth early in the six- 

 teenth century and, after becoming Dean of Wells, died in 1568. At one 

 time he lived and had a garden at Kew, and his Names of Herbes was 

 dated from the neighbouring Syon House, then the residence of the 

 Duke of Somerset, Lord Protector, to whom Turner was physician. In 



