Appendix 3 



Experimental Garden of the National Institute, 1844 



A further elaboration of the Patent Office greenhouse 

 is provided by an article written by a visitor to the facility 

 in 1844* 



. . . The ship Vincennes of the Exploring Expedition, ar- 

 rived home in the spring of 1842, bringing Messrs. Picker- 

 ing and Breckenridge, [sic] the botanists attached to the 

 Expedition, who brought with them, in addition to great 

 quantities of seeds, bulbs & upwards of one hundred spe- 

 cies of live plants. . . . 



We were fortunate in finding our correspondent, Mr. 

 Breckenridge, at home; and we had the pleasure of looking 

 over the plants with him. Many of the species are quite rare, 

 and now introduced for the first time. The following is a list 

 of the more prominent plants:— 



Aeschynanthus new sp., Ae. grandiflorus, Clerodendron 

 sp., C. speciosissimus, Crinum amabile, Mimosa sensitiva 

 (true,) a small shrub, Gardenia Thunbergia, Strelitzia 

 spathulata, elongata and juncea, Ruellia sp., Agati gran- 

 diflora, Casuarina indica, or spear tree, from the South Sea 

 Islands. Arduina grandiflora, Laurus sp. from California, Di- 

 osma sp., Genista sp., from the Canary Isles, Phlomis Leonu- 

 rus, California rose, single, Oxalis elongatus, Babiana rubro 

 caerulea, and many other bulbs, amaryllises & crinums. 



In addition to these, of which there were in some in- 

 stances, duplicate plants, Mr. Breckenridge had collected 

 many fine plants together, and as they were in good health, 

 the collection presented a very fine appearance. Another sea- 

 son, under his attentive care, we may look for a better de- 

 velopment of the habits and character of many of the more 

 rare and tropical species. Mr. Breckenridge will also, by that 

 time, have multiplied many of the plants, to such a degree, 

 that they may, if such is the intention of government, be dis- 

 tributed among nurserymen. 



Of the seeds brought home, a larger part, we believe, 

 lost their vegetative powers. Many of the seeds of Pines, of 



*C.M. Hovey, "Experimental garden of the National Institute," Maga- 

 zine of Horticulture, v. 10, March 1844, pp. 81-82. 



87 



