botantical illustration from chelsea physic garden
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If I had to give a brief account, I’d say something like this:that she worked in a north-facing studio, and that she hadextraordinary patience. Some of her most detailed picturesmust have taken four or more months each, working longhours. She always worked from life, and always insisted thatshe drew only what she saw. She worked either sitting downor standing – standing for large pictures – with the papertaped to a wooden board. At the start of each drawing,especially if it involved complicated subject matter, shewould make very light pencil marks on the paper. I assumethat these were later rubbed out after she had begun to workin ink. The pen that she used was a Rotring rapidograph,with a 0.10 mm nib – the thinnest possible. She usedproportional dividers. She had a magnifying glass to hand,but she used it only to look more closely at the plant subject;
she never drew through the magnifying glass. She had verygood eyes, and also a very steady hand, which enabled herto achieve a great lightness of touch. This lightness of touchis what admirers of her work often mention. I think – and it’snot unconnected - that she also had a strong core of innerbelief in what she was doing. She sometimes found thatcertain plants presented particular challenges, but she wasin the end immensely confident in her art. This is notparticularly evident in the three fern pictures owned by theChelsea Physic Garden, but all her later work, especiallyafter she fell ill, was informed by a vision of nature in relationto time and space. For her the work was akin to spiritualmeditation, which is why she was happy for it to take as longas it did. She never hurried. If something went wrong with adrawing, she would abandon it.
2
Ferns first evolved in the Carboniferous period
(beginning about 360 million years ago). They were
the first land plants to possess transport tissue (xylem)
and fibres strengthened with lignin and so could grow
to great size unlike the earlier land plants, the mosses
and their allies. However, although like all other land
plants the fern life cycle has two distinct phases, one
sexual involving fusion of male and female cells, and
one asexual involving the production of spores, the
fern sexual phase or prothallus consists of an
independently-living flat sheet of green tissue only few
millimetres wide and involves the active swimming of
male ‘sperm’ cells through a film of water. This
requirement limits the habitat of most ferns to places
where water is abundant during at least part of the
year or often enough in dry areas. In Europe we are
used to seeing ferns growing in damp woodlands, on
damp rock faces and clefts in rocks and old walls.
Fern specialist Thomas Moore (1821-1887), author of
Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland (1855), was Curator at
Chelsea from 1848 until his death. In 1862/3 he built a
lean-to greenhouse against the southwest wall of the
Garden which was replaced in 1907 and has since been
fully restored. This is now called the Thomas Moore
Cool Fernery and inside are grown tender ferns while in
the shaded area outside the hardy ferns are to be found.
I asked Christopher Nicholson, Catharine’s widower,
to tell us something of the way she worked to produce
her remarkable images, always accurate but never
laboured. He writes:
Plate 1
Cyrtomium fortunei J.Sm.Family – Dryopteridaceae
Catharine Nicholson
If I had to give a brief account, I’d say something like this:that she worked in a north-facing studio, and that she hadextraordinary patience. Some of her most detailed picturesmust have taken four or more months each, working longhours. She always worked from life, and always insisted thatshe drew only what she saw. She worked either sitting downor standing – standing for large pictures – with the papertaped to a wooden board. At the start of each drawing,especially if it involved complicated subject matter, shewould make very light pencil marks on the paper. I assumethat these were later rubbed out after she had begun to workin ink. The pen that she used was a Rotring rapidograph,with a 0.10 mm nib – the thinnest possible. She usedproportional dividers. She had a magnifying glass to hand,but she used it only to look more closely at the plant subject;
she never drew through the magnifying glass. She had verygood eyes, and also a very steady hand, which enabled herto achieve a great lightness of touch. This lightness of touchis what admirers of her work often mention. I think – and it’snot unconnected - that she also had a strong core of innerbelief in what she was doing. She sometimes found thatcertain plants presented particular challenges, but she wasin the end immensely confident in her art. This is notparticularly evident in the three fern pictures owned by theChelsea Physic Garden, but all her later work, especiallyafter she fell ill, was informed by a vision of nature in relationto time and space. For her the work was akin to spiritualmeditation, which is why she was happy for it to take as longas it did. She never hurried. If something went wrong with adrawing, she would abandon it.
2
Ferns first evolved in the Carboniferous period
(beginning about 360 million years ago). They were
the first land plants to possess transport tissue (xylem)
and fibres strengthened with lignin and so could grow
to great size unlike the earlier land plants, the mosses
and their allies. However, although like all other land
plants the fern life cycle has two distinct phases, one
sexual involving fusion of male and female cells, and
one asexual involving the production of spores, the
fern sexual phase or prothallus consists of an
independently-living flat sheet of green tissue only few
millimetres wide and involves the active swimming of
male ‘sperm’ cells through a film of water. This
requirement limits the habitat of most ferns to places
where water is abundant during at least part of the
year or often enough in dry areas. In Europe we are
used to seeing ferns growing in damp woodlands, on
damp rock faces and clefts in rocks and old walls.
Fern specialist Thomas Moore (1821-1887), author of
Ferns of Great Britain and Ireland (1855), was Curator at
Chelsea from 1848 until his death. In 1862/3 he built a
lean-to greenhouse against the southwest wall of the
Garden which was replaced in 1907 and has since been
fully restored. This is now called the Thomas Moore
Cool Fernery and inside are grown tender ferns while in
the shaded area outside the hardy ferns are to be found.
I asked Christopher Nicholson, Catharine’s widower,
to tell us something of the way she worked to produce
her remarkable images, always accurate but never
laboured. He writes:
Plate 1
Cyrtomium fortunei J.Sm.Family – Dryopteridaceae
Catharine Nicholson
6
Plate 3
Ginkgo biloba L.Family – Ginkgoaceae
Alister Mathews
This plant and those shown plate 4, Taxus baccata
and plate 5, Ephedra distachya, produce seeds
(unlike the ferns figured in the first two plates)
however they do not produce flowers nor are their
seeds are enclosed in fruits, unlike the flowering
plants in the remainder of this book.
The maidenhair tree has no close living relatives but is
very similar to fossils dating back 270 million years.
Its origin is in eastern China and it has long been
grown in temple enclosures there and in Japan, first
being noticed in a Japanese temple in 1690 by the
botanist Engelbert Kaempfer. Linnaeus named the
species in 1771 based on Kaempfer’s specimens and
text which had included a slightly faulty transliteration
of the Japanese name giving us ‘ginkgo.’ Kaempfer’s
illustration is partly incorrect and is also incomplete so
that Linnaeus was not certain of the ginkgo’s
relationships to the plants he knew. Kaempfer’s
specimen material still exists in the Hans Sloane
herbarium at the Natural History Museum. Some
cultivated specimens in China are estimated to be
one thousand years old, whilst groups of trees in
some apparently truly wild populations may be as old
as three thousand years. Ginkgo is widely planted in
the west as an amenity tree. It exists as separate
male and female plants whose sex is controlled, as in
mammals, by sex chromosomes in the cell nuclei.
Reproduction involves sperm cells actively swimming
down a pollen tube formed after the pollen lands on
the female ovules. This primitive mechanism was not
discovered until the late nineteenth century by a
Japanese botanist. The females produce seeds with a
fleshy outer coat rich in butyric acid which, when they
drop, rots to a slimy rancid mass with the nauseating
odour of vomit. So it is only the males which are used
for street planting although there are well documented
cases of older males developing female branches.
Male trees are created for the trade by grafting male
twigs onto seedling root stock. The Physic Garden
has a tree of each sex. In autumn the males tend to
drop their leaves, which by then have turned a rich
buttery yellow, earlier than the females.
The centres of the seeds are eaten in the Far East,
sometimes after being roasted and removal of the hard
inner wall, sometimes cooked in soups and desserts,
but they may be toxic if consumed in too great
quantity. The flesh of the part eaten has a distinct
umami (‘savoury’) flavour which is quite persistent and
not pleasant to all western tastes. The fatty outer layer
can cause contact dermatitis in some people so care
is necessary in preparing the seeds for food.
Ginkgo leaf extracts contain a mix of potentially useful
pharmacological agents. There is well-documented
evidence that ginkgo extracts slow the progress of
dementia in patients who already have it, but do not
prevent dementia in healthy patients. In addition, fairly
large doses of extract seem to improve attention in
healthy patients almost immediately after administra tion.
However, some analyses contradict these findings.
photoshop these details upto here to enable top pic tobe bigger
6
Plate 3
Ginkgo biloba L.Family – Ginkgoaceae
Alister Mathews
This plant and those shown plate 4, Taxus baccata
and plate 5, Ephedra distachya, produce seeds
(unlike the ferns figured in the first two plates)
however they do not produce flowers nor are their
seeds are enclosed in fruits, unlike the flowering
plants in the remainder of this book.
The maidenhair tree has no close living relatives but is
very similar to fossils dating back 270 million years.
Its origin is in eastern China and it has long been
grown in temple enclosures there and in Japan, first
being noticed in a Japanese temple in 1690 by the
botanist Engelbert Kaempfer. Linnaeus named the
species in 1771 based on Kaempfer’s specimens and
text which had included a slightly faulty transliteration
of the Japanese name giving us ‘ginkgo.’ Kaempfer’s
illustration is partly incorrect and is also incomplete so
that Linnaeus was not certain of the ginkgo’s
relationships to the plants he knew. Kaempfer’s
specimen material still exists in the Hans Sloane
herbarium at the Natural History Museum. Some
cultivated specimens in China are estimated to be
one thousand years old, whilst groups of trees in
some apparently truly wild populations may be as old
as three thousand years. Ginkgo is widely planted in
the west as an amenity tree. It exists as separate
male and female plants whose sex is controlled, as in
mammals, by sex chromosomes in the cell nuclei.
Reproduction involves sperm cells actively swimming
down a pollen tube formed after the pollen lands on
the female ovules. This primitive mechanism was not
discovered until the late nineteenth century by a
Japanese botanist. The females produce seeds with a
fleshy outer coat rich in butyric acid which, when they
drop, rots to a slimy rancid mass with the nauseating
odour of vomit. So it is only the males which are used
for street planting although there are well documented
cases of older males developing female branches.
Male trees are created for the trade by grafting male
twigs onto seedling root stock. The Physic Garden
has a tree of each sex. In autumn the males tend to
drop their leaves, which by then have turned a rich
buttery yellow, earlier than the females.
The centres of the seeds are eaten in the Far East,
sometimes after being roasted and removal of the hard
inner wall, sometimes cooked in soups and desserts,
but they may be toxic if consumed in too great
quantity. The flesh of the part eaten has a distinct
umami (‘savoury’) flavour which is quite persistent and
not pleasant to all western tastes. The fatty outer layer
can cause contact dermatitis in some people so care
is necessary in preparing the seeds for food.
Ginkgo leaf extracts contain a mix of potentially useful
pharmacological agents. There is well-documented
evidence that ginkgo extracts slow the progress of
dementia in patients who already have it, but do not
prevent dementia in healthy patients. In addition, fairly
large doses of extract seem to improve attention in
healthy patients almost immediately after administra tion.
However, some analyses contradict these findings.
photoshop these details upto here to enable top pic tobe bigger
10
This strange plant, the joint-pine, has its sexes on
separate plants. It is found from Portugal to the
Balkans and grows to an altitude of 1100 metres. Its
form is a low shrub looking a little like broom (Cytisus)
though it will climb over other vegetation in the right
conditions. The painting shows a male plant. The
female produces seeds covered by a juicy, dull
pinkish-red coat and is very attractive as a result.
Four species of Ephedra are found in Europe and the
genus is found as far east as China where it has been
used medicinally for the past 5000 years. E.
gerardiana is used in Nepal to treat asthma and
bronchial diseases.
In the west its pharmacological value was
appreciated with the discovery of the alkaloids
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (which are not
present in all species). Today Ephedra species are
cultivated commercially in China for the extraction of
these compounds which appear most commonly in
over-the-counter decongestants (for instance the
brand ‘Sudafed’) and with other components in
remedies for relieving symptoms of the common cold.
Because they increase blood pressure and open
bronchial pathways these alkaloids have been used in
attempts to boost athletic performance but without
scientific evidence of any beneficial effects. Their use
in a sporting context is banned.
It has been thought that preparations of Ephedra were
at least one component of the Vedic and Zoroastrian
drink soma, used in a religious context to induce
alertness and awareness. Some consider other
components to have included psycho-active fungi,
but in the absence of appropriate evidence it is
impossible comment further.
Plate 5
Ephedra distachya L.Family – Ephedraceae
Barbara McLean
10
This strange plant, the joint-pine, has its sexes on
separate plants. It is found from Portugal to the
Balkans and grows to an altitude of 1100 metres. Its
form is a low shrub looking a little like broom (Cytisus)
though it will climb over other vegetation in the right
conditions. The painting shows a male plant. The
female produces seeds covered by a juicy, dull
pinkish-red coat and is very attractive as a result.
Four species of Ephedra are found in Europe and the
genus is found as far east as China where it has been
used medicinally for the past 5000 years. E.
gerardiana is used in Nepal to treat asthma and
bronchial diseases.
In the west its pharmacological value was
appreciated with the discovery of the alkaloids
ephedrine and pseudoephedrine (which are not
present in all species). Today Ephedra species are
cultivated commercially in China for the extraction of
these compounds which appear most commonly in
over-the-counter decongestants (for instance the
brand ‘Sudafed’) and with other components in
remedies for relieving symptoms of the common cold.
Because they increase blood pressure and open
bronchial pathways these alkaloids have been used in
attempts to boost athletic performance but without
scientific evidence of any beneficial effects. Their use
in a sporting context is banned.
It has been thought that preparations of Ephedra were
at least one component of the Vedic and Zoroastrian
drink soma, used in a religious context to induce
alertness and awareness. Some consider other
components to have included psycho-active fungi,
but in the absence of appropriate evidence it is
impossible comment further.
Plate 5
Ephedra distachya L.Family – Ephedraceae
Barbara McLean
68
Plate 34
Rhododendron fortunei Lindl.Family – Ericaceae
Maggy Fitzpatrick
The genus Rhododendron in the Ericaceae or heather
family has about 1000 species of which 650 grow in
China where it is the largest genus. New Guinea has
155 endemic species.
The rhododendron in this painting grows in Chinese
forests at altitudes of 600 – 2000 metres. It was
described by John Lindley (Praefectus Horti of
Chelsea Physic Garden 1836 - 1853) in the
Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1859. He named it for Robert
Fortune (Curator of the Garden 1846 - 1848). Fortune
(born 1812) was sent to China in 1843 by his
employer the Royal Horticultural Society. He
discovered this species on a later visit in 1855 and
sent seed back to Glendinning’s nursery in Turnham
Green, near Chiswick. Plants raised from these seeds
were auctioned in 1859 and proved to be the first
hardy rhododendron to be introduced from China.
This species has very fragrant flowers and has been
used as a parent in breeding of many hybrids. Two
produced about 1880 by John Luscombe of Lower
Coombe Royal in Devon were named ‘Mrs
W.T.Thiselton-Dyer’ and ‘Frances Thiselton-Dyer’ for
the wife and daughter of the Deputy Director of Kew,
William Thiselton-Dyer. He had been appointed by
Kew’s Director Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1875 and had
married Hooker’s daughter Harriet.
The rhododendron introduced to Britain that has
escaped and is familiar in many acid soil areas is R. x
superponticum. This is a complex hybrid swarm of
several species including R. ponticum. The latter is
widely distributed, including in the Pontic mountains of
northern Turkey, where it has found use in traditional
medicine for relief of toothache, rheumatic pain and in
the treatment of inflammatory conditions. Well
designed laboratory trials have shown extracts of this
species to have real effects in reducing markers of
inflammation and pain, possibly by the mediation of
flavones in the tissues. However, R. x superponticum is
toxic and ingestion of its leaves by horses can lead to
their death. The pollen and nectar of both R. x
superponticum and R. luteum, a species found in the
Caucasus, N.E.Turkey and Eastern Europe, contain
grayantoxins, a group of four poisonous molecules
which can accumulate in honey. Cases of poisoning of
humans by this ‘mad’ honey have been documented
from classical times through to the present.
68
Plate 34
Rhododendron fortunei Lindl.Family – Ericaceae
Maggy Fitzpatrick
The genus Rhododendron in the Ericaceae or heather
family has about 1000 species of which 650 grow in
China where it is the largest genus. New Guinea has
155 endemic species.
The rhododendron in this painting grows in Chinese
forests at altitudes of 600 – 2000 metres. It was
described by John Lindley (Praefectus Horti of
Chelsea Physic Garden 1836 - 1853) in the
Gardeners’ Chronicle of 1859. He named it for Robert
Fortune (Curator of the Garden 1846 - 1848). Fortune
(born 1812) was sent to China in 1843 by his
employer the Royal Horticultural Society. He
discovered this species on a later visit in 1855 and
sent seed back to Glendinning’s nursery in Turnham
Green, near Chiswick. Plants raised from these seeds
were auctioned in 1859 and proved to be the first
hardy rhododendron to be introduced from China.
This species has very fragrant flowers and has been
used as a parent in breeding of many hybrids. Two
produced about 1880 by John Luscombe of Lower
Coombe Royal in Devon were named ‘Mrs
W.T.Thiselton-Dyer’ and ‘Frances Thiselton-Dyer’ for
the wife and daughter of the Deputy Director of Kew,
William Thiselton-Dyer. He had been appointed by
Kew’s Director Joseph Dalton Hooker in 1875 and had
married Hooker’s daughter Harriet.
The rhododendron introduced to Britain that has
escaped and is familiar in many acid soil areas is R. x
superponticum. This is a complex hybrid swarm of
several species including R. ponticum. The latter is
widely distributed, including in the Pontic mountains of
northern Turkey, where it has found use in traditional
medicine for relief of toothache, rheumatic pain and in
the treatment of inflammatory conditions. Well
designed laboratory trials have shown extracts of this
species to have real effects in reducing markers of
inflammation and pain, possibly by the mediation of
flavones in the tissues. However, R. x superponticum is
toxic and ingestion of its leaves by horses can lead to
their death. The pollen and nectar of both R. x
superponticum and R. luteum, a species found in the
Caucasus, N.E.Turkey and Eastern Europe, contain
grayantoxins, a group of four poisonous molecules
which can accumulate in honey. Cases of poisoning of
humans by this ‘mad’ honey have been documented
from classical times through to the present.
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