Sons of Veitches, Part 1

Regular Flora Wonder Blog readers know that I'm fascinated with botanical and horticultural history, especially with the English Veitch Nursery firm who played a monumental role in the discovery, introduction and dissemination of exotic species. I highly recommend Sue Shephard's Seeds of Fortune (2003) where she chronicles the Veitch Dynasty's directors and plant collectors, and also Caradoc Doy's Hortus Veitchii, a reprint of the 1906 limited-edition publication from over 100 years ago. Grab these publications if you can, if you care at all about plants and plant history.

Buchholz in Scriptorium

Most evenings I descend the stairs into my scriptorium, and in my retirement hovel I enjoy perusing the botanical writings from Aristotle/Theophrastus, to those in the Veitch era, then to today's zealous collectors. While researching the Charles Maries blog of a few weeks ago I pulled from the shelf Veitch's A Manual of the Coniferae (1881), “A general review of the order; a synopsis of the hardy kinds cultivated in Great Britain; their place and use in horticulture, etc., etc. James Veitch & Sons, Royal Exotic Nursery, 544 King's Road, Chelsea, S.W.” I'm amused by the “etc. etc.” but the introduction promises that the contents will “render the Manual acceptable to every class...while avoiding the technical terms, as far as it could be done...” Mr. Veitch alludes to the recent, numerous acquisitions of species and varieties, “many of which we ourselves have been instrumental in introducing...”

Hortus Veitchii Cover

So, the Manual is an exhaustive summation of what was then known – or assumed known – about conifers prior to 1881. I don't think the Manual, and the aforementioned Hortus Veitchii, were published with the intention of drumming up more sales for the firm, but rather as an obligation in a sense, a duty to provide, along with their exotic plants, as much practical and historical information as possible. Years later Hillier Nurseries also did great service with their iconic The Hillier Manual of Trees and Shrubs where the original project morphed from (just) Hillier's plant offerings to a comprehensive survey of all hardy trees and shrubs, whether or not Hillier ever grew them. To a lesser degree, my Flora Wonder Blog plus our massive photo library are also gifts given freely to whomever may care. I think Veitch, Hillier and myself all went the extra kilometer as a public service, but of course there was a good amount of ego that so compelled us.

Map of Hindostan

Welwitschia mirabilis

The very first sentence in the Veitch Manual intrigued me: “Coniferae, or Cone bearing, is the name given to a Natural Order of Plants consisting of trees and shrubs represented in nearly all parts of the world where arborescent vegetation exists...”* The asterisk goes on to explain: “Hindostan is an exception. Sir J.D. Hooker observes that 'It is a very remarkable fact that no Gymnospermous tree inhabits the peninsula of India...Central Africa is also a probable exception, but even there the curious and anomalous Welwitschia mirabilis has its home.'” By the “peninsula of India” I guess that doesn't include the northern portions of the country that are loaded with conifers. Concerning Central Africa's Welwitschia, it's a valid genus, but not one I was familiar with, so naturally I entered into that rabbit hole...which is the fun part of the Flora Wonder Blog research. The genus was named for the Austrian botanist Friedrich Welwitsch (1806-1872) who described the plant in Angola in 1859. He was apparently so overwhelmed that he “could do nothing but kneel down and gaze at it, half in fear lest a touch should prove it a figment of the imagination.” It looks like a pile of green crap to me, or like some species of kelp on a Japanese beach – certainly not like a conifer – but then many plant people also find it difficult to accept Ginkgo as being coniferous.

Buchholz, Plant Hunter in Asia

What fun I have with these old books, though! I'd love to reverse time and enter the milieu of the cognoscenti of yore, and I imagine myself – a much younger and vigorous version of Talon Buchholz – as an employee of Veitch Nurseries, and even possibly one of their chosen plant collectors. The timing was perfect for Veitch, what with the vastness of yet botanically unexplored regions and a well-to-do European market ready and able to collect their exotic treasures.

Pinus cembra var. cembra

Pinus cembra var. siberica

The Manual goes into great detail about the similarities and differences with various species, but I can't imagine the gardening public in 1881 was able to digest most of it. All the trivia is fascinating for this tree geek, however, and I'm impressed with how much – pre-internet – was known by the Veitches. Some observations seem obvious now, and as an example: “Some species of Pinus and Abies...having the slopes of mountains for their habitat, near the base grow from 60 to 100 feet high, or even more; but this height is found to diminish in proportion to the elevation at which they grow, so that at the highest point, often at the limits of perpetual snow, they are dwarfed to a more scrubby bush over which a man may step.” I know that personally, as I've spent decades hiking in our nearby Cascade Mountains and its foothills. Veitch continues: “A similar change is observed in species whose habitat extends over many degrees of latitude; thus the Cembra Pine on the Swiss Alps, and under cultivation in our own country, grows from 50 to 70 feet high; at its northern limit, in the Siberian Plains and Kamtschatka, it is dwarfed to a low bush whose height ranges between 50 and 70 inches.” That I also know because Buchholz Nursery has grown both Pinus cembra var. cembra, and also Pinus cembra var. siberica.

Picea glauca

Conrad Moench

Otto von Munchhausen

The botanical categorization of the coniferous species in 1881 was of course different from what is common today, so in many cases the modern reader must sleuth out exactly what tree is being described. An example: “The American White Spruce (Abies alba), which in Canada and the adjoining States, at about lat. 45 degrees N., attains a height of 50 feet; at its northern limit...blah blah blah.” But wait a minute, Abies alba in America? Abies alba is the “European Silver fir,” and I've never heard of an American fir referred to as Abies alba, so it must be a Picea, which was previously lumped under Abies. So, probably Picea glauca is what I concluded by the description, but to double check I cracked open the Hillier Manual and under Picea glauca is the naming botanist Moench, while a previous botanist Munchh listed it as Picea alba. Naturally I wondered about these similarly-named intellectuals, and I discovered that Conrad Moench was a German botanist (1744-1805) who had a genus named in his honor, Moenchia, and M. erecta is commonly known as the “Upright chickweed.” The German professor is also credited with naming the plant genus Echinacea in 1794. Meanwhile the botanical abbreviation Munchh refers to another German botanist, Freiherr von Munchhausen (1716-1774), a correspondent of Linnaeus; he named a few species of oaks (Quercus) by the Linnaean system. Readers must focus to keep your Munchhes and Moenches straight.

The Veitch Manual continues with the age of some coniferous trees, and a table of species' sizes contains three cute lines of ditto marks. I'll copy that from the book so you can also see some of the tree names that predate what we use now:

The tree ages are reasonably close to what are scientifically known today, but with Veitch somewhat underestimating. The paragraph preceding the tree-age table humorously presents a caveat: “The following estimate, given by various authorities, of the ages attained by some of the largest Coniferous trees must be accepted only with a degree of reservation corresponding to the difficulty experienced in ascertaining anything like an approximation to the truth.” I find it funny because that comes across as an excuse, like declaring, “Here are the Facts!...unless they're not accurate.”

Pinus strobus

Taxodium ascendens

Flora Dispensing her Favours

Sections in the Manual are given to various characteristics of the Coniferae, such as their Branches, Timber, Stems, Structure of Wood, Strength, Elasticity, Flowers, Fruit etc. I enjoyed a poetic paragraph under the Leaves chapter: “The colour of the foliage is not less varied than the forms of the leaves. From the deep sombre hues of the Austrian Pine and Common Yew to the light and airy deciduous Cypress and Maiden-Hair Tree, the silvery lines of the Weymouth Pine, and the greyish foliage of Retinospora squarrosa, there is found in the different tribes an endless variety of tints which the green of Nature alone displays.” With that acknowledgement, I can picture Flora herself presenting favours upon the Veitch enterprises, just as she did 140 years later with the Flora Wonder Arboretum.

Pinus sylvestris

Juniperus communis

Taxus baccata

Concerning conifer distribution I find the following paragraph interesting: “It is worthy of note that there is probably no country in the world of the same limited extent as England in which so many exotic species of Conifers thrive and so few are indigenous. The only native existing species are Pinus sylvestris, Juniperus communis, and Taxus baccata.” Because of that fact the Veitches could cater to conifer-starved customers with their introductions.

Pinus pinea

Another conifer distribution* insight also caught my eye: “Perhaps no country in Europe has more native species than Italy, as many as twenty being included in its Flora. But although Italy contains so many species and Europe north of the Alps has but six, the number of individual trees is by no means apportioned in the same way. The Conifers in the north of Europe form immense forests, and consequently play an important part in the general aspect of the country. In Italy, on the contrary, with the exception of the Alps...these trees constitute but small scattered woods, which give no important feature to the landscape.”

*In this regard the reader might find a previous Flora Wonder Blog to be of interest: A Coniferous Contest, California vs. Japan, March 16, 2012, but finish this blog first.

After the foregoing observations and generalizations, the bulk of the Veitch Manual consists of coniferous sketches, or portraits rather(since some descriptions go into deep detail), so I'll discuss some of my favorite species:

Dr. Elbert Luther Little, Jr.

Pseudotsuga menziesii

Pseudotsuga menziesii

"Abies" menziesii

The tree we know today as Pseudotsuga menziesii has endured a number of name changes in Western botanical history, with the current generic name meaning “false hemlock,” and the specific epithet honoring botanist Archibald Menzies who accompanied Captain Vancouver on his West-coast America voyage of HMS Discovery in 1791-1792. But not so fast, my friends, for the Native Americans obviously had coined their own names prior. Cebidac was the Lushootseed name, and another Coast Salish name in the Halkomelem language is la:yelhp. Later, English conifer expert Alymer Bourke Lambert assigned the name Pinus taxifolia, as the needles resembled the Taxus genus. It was also known as Abies taxifolia in 1805 according to French clergyman and botanist Jean Louis Marie Poiret, and was Abies taxifolia when David Douglas finally introduced the West-coast native in 1832. The English botanist and librarian for Lambert and the Linnean Society, David Don, named it Pinus douglasii. And so on...with even different, subsequent monikers. However, previously in 1825 the famed French taxonomist Charles Mirbel, had proposed Abies Menziesii in an obscure Spanish journal, so that name took precedence over the previous. Eventually the American forester and taxonomist Elbert Luther Little, Jr. argued in the American Journal of Botany that the correct citation should be Pseudotsuga menziesii, and since that assertion in 1953 it has not been challenged. But at the time of James Veitch's Manual publication in 1881, Abies Menziesii was in vogue, and by then there were sizable specimens already thriving in Britain. Since “Douglas fir” is so ubiquitous in western North America, it seems odd that it took so long for squabbling botanists to finally arrive at a consensus. Then, after all that drama, imagine my surprise to discover the Pseudotsuga genus is also present in Mexico, China and Japan, and of course this Oregon tree-guy had to add them into the Flora Wonder Arboretum.

Picea torano

Picea torano

Picea torano

Another conifer I added to my Collection is Picea polita, which name has recently been changed to Picea torano. In the Veitch Manual it was then Abies polita, a species that Philipp von Siebold called “a remarkable tree.” James Veitch's publication notes, “As seen in its young state in this country it is one of the most distinct of Firs.” The specific epithet polita, according to Veitch, refers to “polished” or “adorned,” probably due to “the lustrous smoothness of the foliage, and especially of the scales that protect the buds before they start into growth.” The leaves (needles) are spirally arranged around the stems and are “very sharp-pointed.” Handling young shoots – as in for propagation – is not a pleasant task, and I incorrectly assumed that the prickly experience was analogous to grabbing a fierce tiger by its tail...then face the consequences! But not so, for Veitch notes that “the leaves of old trees are a little longer, less robust, and more appressed to the branches than those in the young plants. It has thence acquired the name of 'Torano-no momi', or the Tiger's-tail Fir, among the Japanese.” Veitch informs the reader that its habitat is “the mountains in the north of the island of Nippon [Honshu]. Introduced in 1861 by Mr. J.G. Veitch.” Picea torano, then, to be currently correct nomenclaturally, is one of my favorite of all Japanese conifers, and we propagate it easily by grafting onto “Norway spruce” (Picea abies). I admit, despite its unique appearance and exotic origin, that it never achieved much commercial success for Buchholz Nursery, but I can report that we experienced repeat sales for a number of years with a customer in Michigan, so if it can survive their frigid winters, then the package of P. torano grafted onto P. abies should be adequately hardy in most American gardens.

Picea smithiana

Picea smithiana 'Pakistan'

Picea smithiana (nee Abies Smithiana) is another spruce that we used to grow...but discontinued due to its susceptibility to the dreaded top-killing Pissodes strobi. But, even if it didn't suffer from bug troubles, there was still a sparse market for the obscure – though beautiful – species. Veitch, like me, considers it a “very handsome Fir” and mentions the obvious: “Its pyramidal habit is rendered strikingly beautiful by the terminal and lateral branchlets being as pendulous as those of a Weeping Willow.” Dwarf or compact forms, which do exist, are of botanical interest only, as with dwarves of the somewhat similar Picea breweriana (“Brewer's Weeping spruce”), since both species require the lax luxuriousness of the straight species to appeal ornamentally. The Abies Smithiana name, according to Veitch, “was given in compliment to Mr. James Smith, a gardener to the Earl of Hopetown, by whom the first plants...were raised.” He scoots a little closer to us (readers) by suggesting: “From the many Christian and barbarous names by which this Fir is known I select the native one. 'Morinda' in the native dialect, means 'Nectar drops,' or 'Honey tears,' from the resinous drops or tears upon the cones and bark resembling honey.” Veitch advances even further: “It is also named Khutrow, which is, doubtless, a misnomer of the Silma [sic] vernacular 'Khudrow,' or 'Noodrow,' for weeping.” Hmm – the “Silma vernacular” is perhaps a misspelling of Simla (or Shimla), a region in the northern India Himalaya where I observed the tall, spire-like species in the wild about 25 years ago. Mature specimens in their native haunts weren't particularly “weeping,” while younger trees in Western arboreta collections are most certainly so. Veitch informs us that the habitat (range) of P. smithiana is the Himalayan Mountains from Bhotan [Bhutan] to Cashmere [Kashmir]...at elevations ranging from 6,000 to 12,000 feet (1,828 to 3,657 meters). In the relatively low-latitude Himalaya, 6-to-12 thousand feet elevation is usually not sufficient to produce a tree hardy enough to withstand anything lower than a 0 F rating, or USDA zone 7. Veitch and I both consider smithiana to be a wonderful species, but one with very limited horticultural use.

Sciadopitys verticillata

Ginkgo biloba

I won't indulge the reader further with individual plant portraits, though my floral sketches have been described as a great cure for insomnia, but hopefully I can continue in a future blog because there are numerous taxa of great interest such as Sciadopitys, Sequoia, Retinospora, Ginkgo and others. These are all well-known with today's avid gardeners, but how they were classified and understood in 1881 – 143 years ago – is a fascinating chapter in the history of my chosen profession.

John Veitch

The Veitch Nursery dynasty began with John Veitch (1752-1839) who was born in Jedburgh, Scotland. His progeny – the Sons of Veitches – successfully, yeah supersuccessfully, continued with the enterprise until the Great War, and though the firm hobbled on for a time afterward, it would never regain its prominence.

To be continued...