236 A HISTORY OF GARDENING IN ENGLAND 



for more tender exotics, then by " flowers for the pleasure- 

 gardens," and also a part devoted to fruits. The great value 

 of the part published is that it mentions all the synonyms, and 

 refers to many previous writers to identify each plant, and 

 gives the history of the introduction of some of the new 

 varieties ; their monograph on the honeysuckle, which occupies 

 several pages, is of great worth. They also refer to good 

 specimens of trees in some well-Kuown London gardens. The 

 following is an instance ; the Service tree ( = Pyrus sorbus) , 

 " In the garden which was formerly in the possession of John 

 Tradescant at South Lambeth, as also at Mr. Marsh's at 

 Hammersmith, a curious collector of rare and uncommon trees, 

 in both which places these Trees annually produce large 

 quantities of Fruits which ripen perfectly well." Again, there 

 is a note added to the description of the " Three Thorned 

 Acacia or Locust Tree" { = Gleditschia triacanthos), "that it 

 hath produced pods in the gardens of the Bishop of London 

 at Fulham this year 1729."^ The naturalist Catesby is often 

 referred to in these pages as the introducer of several plants. 

 The following are among the number : Bignonia Americana, 

 the Catalpa, which had not flowered in England in 1730 ; the 

 yellow-berried Hawthorn ( = CratcBgus fiava), sent from Carolina 

 in 1724 ; the Carolina Ash { = Fraxinus Caroliniana), " raised 

 from seeds sent over from South Carohna by Mr. Catesby, 

 anno 1724; Tilia Caroliniana {^T. Americana) in 1726; the 

 Carolina kidney-bean tree [ = Wistaria frutescens), 1724, which 

 had only flowered (in 1730) in Robert Furber's garden at Ken- 

 sington ; the scarlet flowering Acacia, and the " Water Acacia " 

 { = Gleditschia triacanthos inermis), both sent home in 1723. 



Mark Catesby was an eminent naturalist. He first collected 

 in Virginia, and being induced by Sir Hans Sloane and others 

 to return to America to work still further in the cause of science, 

 he went out again for some six or seven years, and during his 

 stay sent home seeds from time to time. On his return in 

 1726, he began his great work. Natural History of Carolina, 

 Florida, and the Bahama Islands, the first part of which was 

 published 1731. The genus Catesbaea, or lily-thorn, was named 

 after him by his contemporary, Gronovius, the Dutch naturalist. 

 * This tree only died in 1906. 



