The Garden Magazine, August, 1923 
387 
erroneously taken to be natives of India and became generally known 
as Bengal Roses. In India, under a different climate, these Roses gave 
rise to other forms. These were carried to the Mauritius Islands in 
the Indian Ocean and later to Europe where they became part parents 
of our Hybrid-perpetual and Hybrid-tea Roses of the present era. 
During the latter part of the 18th century, ships plied directly be¬ 
tween Britain and Canton by way of the Cape of Good Hope and 
carried many plants to England which passed into the possession of 
the more famous gardens. Bv this means came such familiar plants 
as Gardenia florida, Koelrenteria paniculata, Lagerstroemia indica, 
Malus spectabilis, Camellia japonica, Dianthus chinensis, Lychnis cor- 
onata, Osmanthus fragrans, Celosia coccinea, Amarantus cruentus, 
Cordyline terminalis, Rbapis flabelliformis, Pteris serrulata, the Yulan 
(.Magnolia liliflora) and its purple flowered relative M. obovata. 
In those days the various nations of Europe were constantly at war 
with one another and all ships were armed. Fights at sea were of 
common occurrence. It is told of the Japanese Sago-palm ( Cycas 
revoluta ) that Richard Warner of Woodford in Essex received the 
plant from Captain Hutchinson about 1758. His ship being attacked 
by the French, the head of the plant was shot off, but the stem being 
preserved produced several heads which being taken off produced as 
many plants. 
A Tribute to John Reeves 
T HE greatest name in connection with the East India Company’s 
plant introduction work is that of John Reeves who was born on 
May 1, 1774, the youngest son of a clergyman, at Westham near 
London. Left an orphan at an early age, John Reeves was educated 
at Christ’s Hospital and afterward entered the office of a tea broker. 
In 1808 he joined the service of the East India Company and in 1812 
proceeded to China as an Assistant and subsequently became Chief 
Inspector of Tea in the Company’s establishment at Canton. John 
Reeves was a remarkable man and very keenly interested in natural 
history and the varied natural productions of China. His principal 
correspondent for some years after his arrival in China was Sir Joseph 
Banks. During the whole period of his residence in China, 1812-31, 
he contributed largely to English horticulture and to the Horticultural 
Society of London in particular; not only by his own direct shipments 
but also by collecting plants during the spring and summer, establish¬ 
ing them in pots previous to the shipping season and then commend¬ 
ing them to the care of the captains of the Company’s ships to whom 
he succeeded in communicating the enthusiasm which animated 
himself. He was indefatigable in his zeal and sent home all that he 
found most rare and beautiful among living plants in the gardens of 
Canton and the vicinity. He was either the immediate or indirect 
source from which Western gardens derived the first Chinese Azaleas, 
Camellias, Chrysanthemums, Moutan Peonies, the Chinese Primrose, 
the famed Dendrobium nobile, that most glorious hardy climber Wistaria 
sinensis, and many other treasures. 
Not a Company’s ship at that time sailed for Europe without her 
decks being decorated with the small, portable greenhouse which 
preceded the Wardian case. If we think for a moment what these 
plants have meant togardens.we can agree that John Reeves was truly 
one of the Nestors of horticulture. He died on March 22, 1856, as 
widely regretted as he was known and respected. The genus Reevesia, 
of which R. tbyrsoidea is a well-known species, was named for him by 
Lindley; in ornithology he is commemorated by the wonderful Reeves’ 
Pheasant ( Symraticus Reevesii) which had remarkably beautiful 
plumage and a tail more than five feet long. 
TWO SOUTHERN PLANTS FOR NORTHERN GARDENS 
HENRY E. 
K i TERE is a delightful plant for the flower garden, Gaura 
A' l Lindheimeri, only occasionally found listed in seed 
tel catalogues and consequently not nearly as well known 
l ,fiC in gardens as it deserves to be. In its native state of 
Texas it is a perennial plant, but for our Northern gardens 
it may well be counted as an annual, although 1 have had plants 
now and again live through the winter in Massachusetts. 
It belongs to the Evening Primrose family, of which it may 
well claim to be the most elegant and graceful looking member. 
The flowers are borne on long, slender, branching stems, tinged 
with rose in the bud and opening white. It is not a profuse 
blooming plant at any time, but rather a steady performer from 
July till frost. Planted in groups of three or more in a mixed 
border it is most effective, and I remember it as especially 
pleasing when used as a “dot” plant in a bed of pink Verbenas. 
In one of the new crop of seed catalogues the Mexican Tulip 
Poppy (Hunnemannia fumariaefolia) is figured with its near 
relative the Eschscholtzia, or California Poppy. Advice con- 
DOWNER 
cerning the sowing of the seed so as “to avoid having the plants 
too dense” is seemingly meant for both. I can well understand 
this concerning the Eschscholtzia, which has invariably given 
me a “near enough” one hundred per cent, germination, but 
not so the Hunnemannia. 1 have several times sown this out¬ 
doors about mid-May, sometimes in the same bed with the 
Eschscholtzia, but each time it has disappointed by its poor 
germination. It may have been just “luck,” but I have heard 
others complain of this too. 
The safe way, 1 find, is to raise this in the greenhouse or hot¬ 
bed, sowing three or four seeds in a two-inch pot and thinning 
out to one seedling if need be. Very few blanks have occurred 
this way. It is such a beautiful plant that it is well worth any 
extra trouble to get it started. With its finely divided glaucous 
leaves and lovely tulip-like flowers of clear yellow, it is sure to 
please in the garden and is excellent for cutting. Furthermore, 
it is one of the very last to bow before the destroying hand of 
Jack Frost. 
