In 179 
“oh 
i | ‘ Yt 
a ea ; Wy 
a | 
raid 
S! THOMAS WALL 
= SS a 
*, 
ir ‘i q ae 
SE ANN'S, HALL) —< 
= 
=. a 
os 
f 
i el nanlinced te Bie PE sobre: BE an Rardin untalented ba AE carseilie atintoerntped Ae Fie 
urchased twenty-four acres alongside the original nursery, naming the new property the Linnaean 
Botanic Garden and Nursery. In the decades to come, a cohort of nurseries would open in Flushing, including Parsons Nursery and 
Bloodgood Nursery, both mapped nearby in 1841. 
Flushing Creek, he established his Linnaean 
Botanic Garden and Nursery. He designed it as 
a showplace to educate the public on botanical 
matters, including native plants, new varieties 
bred in the United States, and plants imported 
from Europe and farther afield. 
William Jr. and his son William Robert Prince 
took up the cause of identifying and describ- 
ing plant material so that it could be offered to 
the public—and they were highly invested in 
acquiring newly introduced species. In 1804, for 
instance, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark 
embarked upon the Missouri River to explore 
the recently acquired Louisiana Purchase. The 
expedition had been commissioned at Jeffer- 
son’s request, and when the explorers returned 
east, they came bearing seeds and other botani- 
cal collections. The Princes were among the 
first nursery operators to grow and distribute 
plants from the expedition, and the Oregon 
grape holly (Mahonia aquifolium) became one 
of their most successful new products. The 
Princes were also among the first American 
nurseries to offer ornamental species from East 
Asia, like the golden rain tree (Koelreuteria 
paniculata), lacebark elm (Ulmus parvifolia), 
and Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis). 
By the mid-1830s, William Jr. had ten nurs- 
ery outbuildings, of which several were green- 
houses that contained tropical and subtropical 
plants from Africa and Asia. Visitors could pay 
an admission fee to experience the warmth 
and humidity of the greenhouse—a reward- 
ing respite to escape the dark, cold New York 
winter. The nursery catalogue listed ten tropi- 
cal hibiscuses (Hibiscus) and two gardenias 
(Gardenia) that bloomed in their greenhouses. 
Prince grew tropical fruits and flowers specifi- 
cally for winter viewing. For variety, they also 
exhibited insectivorous plants such as sun- 
dew (Drosera), pitcher plant (Sarracenia), and 
Venus flytrap (Dionaea). Moreover, in 1833, 
The New-York Annual Register reported that 
the gardens and nursery covered up to forty 
SMITH, 1841/LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, GEOGRAPHY AND MAP DIVISION 
