126 



Thirty-years War. During his stay in Germany, Tiliander learned 

 to know and love botany and horticulture and established around 

 Viscount Horn's residence in Bremen a garden which was remark- 

 able for that period. When both returned to Sweden, Tiliander 

 brought with him the choicest plants from this garden and planted 

 them around the parsonage of Pjetteryd Parish, of which he had 

 been appointed rector. Here at Pjetteryd, Nils Linnaeus spent 

 most of his youth, studying in company with his uncle's sons. 

 Later, both as curate at Rashult and as rector at Stenbrohult, he 

 surrounded the parsonages with gardens, in which he grew many 

 rare and interesting plants. In the midst of these, Carl Lin- 

 naeus, the famous botanist, was born and reared. Later, while 



in 1732, and made a list of the plants in his father's garden. 

 This list is still to be seen in the Academy of Sciences at Stock- 

 holm. Although defective, the first four classes being unrepre- 

 sented, it enumerates 224 species. Of these, many were at that 

 time very rare in cultivation. Professor Theodore Fries in his 

 biography of Linnaeus enumerates 36 of the rarest of these. 

 Among them we notice six American plants, viz., Rhus Toxico- 

 dendron, the poison oak, Mirabilis Jalapa, four-o-clock, AscUpias 

 syriaca, milk-weed, Phytolacca dccandra, poke-weed, Antcnnaria 

 (now Anaphalis) margaritacea, pearly everlasting, and Solatium 

 tuberosum, the potato. It may be remarked that the cultivation 

 of potatoes was introduced into Sweden about twenty years later. 

 We see from this that Linnaeus had learned to know some 

 American plants even in his early childhood. 



Carl Linnaeus was born the 13th of May (old style), 1707, at 

 Rashult, an annex to the parish of Stenbrohult. His father was 

 the curate there, but two years later, at the death of his father- 



, heb 



noved to Sten- 

 -ed the school 



brohult. In the fall of 1 7 14, Carl Lir 

 of Wexi6, and graduated from the " gymnasium " in 1 727. 

 parents, especially his mother, wanted him to study for the 

 istry, but he had no love for theology, nor for metaphysic 



