xiv HIS INTRODUCTIONS OF PLANTS 203 



to Europe the plants of other continents was of course well 

 known to Linnaeus, though their direct intercourse was but 

 slight. Fothergill sent to the great naturalist in 1758 a case 

 of medical remedies received from a Chinese seaport town 

 (" Limpum," perhaps Linpao) which stimulated his curiosity. 

 About 1774, Linnaeus gave the name of Fothergilla to a genus 

 of hardy deciduous shrubs with scented flowers which Fother- 

 gill had obtained from the southern provinces of America ; 

 it is closely allied to Hamamelis the witch-hazel. The species 

 are often found in our gardens. Fothergill thus acknowledges 

 the compliment : "I tender my thanks that thou hast chosen 

 to number me also among the Lovers of Plants. But I blush, 

 when I consider my short and slender pursuit of the science. 

 Thy kindness however will always have from me the honour it 

 deserves, with a grateful record of thy act. I have ordered 

 the plant in question to be sent to thee as soon as possible." * 



APPENDIX TO CHAPTER XIV 

 LIST OF PLANTS INTRODUCED BY DR. JOHN FOTHERGILL 



P Introduced jointly with Dr. W. Pitcairn in 1775, from the Alps of Central 

 Europe, or from Southern Europe. 



* Still in cultivation in the British Islands. 



* Clematis florida Thunb. Circa 1776. Japan. "Virgin's 



Bower." The parent of a popular race of garden varieties 

 of clematis. 



* Thalictrum rugosum Ait. 1774. North America. 

 Knowltonia vigida Salisb. (Adonis.) Before 1780. Cape of 



Good Hope. 



*P Ranunculus glacialis L. High Swiss Alps, near the snow. 

 Rare in gardens. 



1 The naming is thus recorded by Linnaeus fils in his Supplementum 

 Plantarum, 1781, p. 43. "In memoriam Jo. Fothergill, Angli, medici & 

 indagatoris Historiae naturalis inclitissimi,cui plurima in Botanicis & Zoologicis 

 debuit b.m. [beatus meus] parens & ego." Hence the official reference for 

 the name is to Linnasus fils, although Linnanis ptre named the genus, and the 

 specimen in his Herbarium at the Linnean Society is marked Fothergilla in 

 Linnaeus' own handwriting. A specimen of F. Gardeni from Fothergill's 

 garden, and with the name in the latter's hand, is in the British Museum 

 Herbarium. See also Murray's edition of the Systema Vegetab., 1774, p. 418 ; 

 Bot. Mag. 1341, 1342 ; MS. Letters from Fothergill to Linnaeus, 1758 and 1774, 

 Linnean Society. These are written in Latin, Fothergill excusing himself 

 by want of time and practice for its halting construction. Miconia Fothergilla 

 Naud. is a myrtle-like stove plant from Mexico. 



