Plant List - 1736 William Byrd II (1674-1744)

1724 William Byrd II by Hans Hysing (1678-!752) Virginia Historical Society

William Byrd II (1674-1744) Like his father, Colonel William Byrd, Byrd was a wealthy Virginia planter on his inherited plantation Westover, on the James River in Charles City County, Virginia. He served as a member, and later president, of the Governor's Council, as did his father. His library was one of the finest of his time in America. He recorded his observations on natural history as well as life in colonial Virginia. William Byrd's Natural History of Virginia is available in a translation by Richard Croom Beatty and William J. Mulloy from a German edition printed in 1737 (Dietz Press, Richmond, 1940). The following are the plants Byrd listed c.1736  Southern Garden History Plant Lists

CROPS

Flax
Cotton
Silk grass
Turkish or Indian Corn
Maize
Wheat
Rye
Barley
Oats
Corn
Summer
Winter
Rice
White
Red
Buckwheat
Guinea corn
Broad beans
French beans (small beans)
Indian beans (dwarf beans)
Peas, European
Heartpeas (Ronceval)
Bonaveria (Calavance-'Nanticokes')

POT HERBS

Cabbage
White
Red
Turnips
Carrots
Beets
Cabbage
Savoy
Curled red
Cauliflower
Chives
Artichokes
Radish
Horseradish
Potatoes
Truffles
Parsnips
Shumack
chapacour
puccons
musquaspen
“Tockawaigh”
Garlic
White
Red
Spinach
Round
Prickly
Fennel
Sea fennel
Rhubarb
Cultivated
Wild
Sorrel
Cress
Mustard
Parsley
Asparagus
White
Red
Melons
Watermelons
Fragrant melons
Guinea
Golden
Orange
Green
Cucumbers
Pumpkins
Cashaws
Burmillions
Simnals
Horns
Squash

FIELD AND POT-HERBS

Marjoram
Rosemary
Camomiles
Melissa
Wormwood
Ox-tongue
Angelica
Borage
Burnet
Clary
Marigold
Columbine
Savory
Bachelor's buttons
Cat-thyme
Poplars
Yarrow
Dragonwort
Hyssop
Lavender
Brazil cabbage
Cardo bennet spoonwort
Tobacco
Dill
Coriander, anise
Plantain
Elemampane
Nettles
Wood mint
Asters
Poppy seed
Worm seed
Mother-wort
Beyment
Jamestown grass
Houseleek
Vervain
Hart's tongue
Nightshade
Yarrow
Mullen
Agrimony
Centaury
Scabiosa
John's wort
Maiden hair
Juniper
Soldanella
Dillany
Terbil
Mechoacan
Sarsaparilla

FLOWERS IN VIRGINIA

Carnations
Roses
Violets
Tricolor
Princess feather
Fritillary
Cardinal flowers
Sunflowers
Tulips
Moccasin flower
Tulip tree
Jasmine
Yellow
White
Locusts
Laurel tree
Wild apple tree

TREES, WHICH GROW IN THE WOODS

Chestnut oak
Red oak
Spanish oak
White oak
Black oak
Bastard oak
White iron-oak
Indian chicken-oak
Willow oak
Water oak
Green liveoak
Ash
Elms, two species
Tulip tree
Birches
Sassafras
Laurel trees
Dogwood
Wild apple tree
Sweet gun tree
White gum tree
Black gum tree
Scarletcolored snakewood
Bay tree
Red cedar
White cedar
Cypress tree
Hollow tree
Locust tree
Sorrel tree
Fir tree
Pitch pine
Almond tree
Hickory tree
White hickory
Red hickory
Brown hickory
Chincapin
Common maple tree
Willow
Egyptian fig tree
Glass wort tree
Prickly ash
Chestnut tree
Poison vine
Bamboo
Palmetto
Grape vines
Cluster grapes
Red cluster grapes
Fox grapes
winter
summer
Summer grapes
Winter grapes
Persimmon
Cherry tree
Hazel nuts
Mulberry, Common Red
Mulberry, red
Mulberry, white
Sugar maple
Spanish pepper tree
Papaw tree
Wild figs
Wild plums
Raspberry bushes
Blackberries
Huckle-berries
Winter currant tree
Bermuda curants
Bilberries
Cranberries
Strawberries
Myrtle berries
Eglantine berries
Jamestown plant
Fragrant tulip-bearing
laurel tree
Wild fragrant apple tree
Gall apple
Camellia tree
Red hawthorn
Black hawthorn
Safflower
Fragrant laurel tree
Indigo
Hops

TREES, WHICH ARE CULTIVATED, AND GROW IN THE ORCHARDS, WHICH ONE HAS BROUGHT THERE FROM ENGLAND AND OTHER PLACES IN EUROPE

Apples
Golden russet
Summer pearmain
Winter pearmain
Fall harvest apple
Winter queening
Lader-goller
Juntin' apple
Golden pippin
Carpendich
Red streaks
Jungferen
Long-stem apple
Red apple
Kabapffel
Green apple
French rennets

PEARS AND QUINCES

Pears
Sugar
Bergamont
Catherine
Warden
Summer bon chretien
Egg-shaped pear
Herren-Bieren
Grass-Bieren
Pomerantzen-Bieren
Feigen-Bieren
Winter Bon chretien
Citronen-Bieren
Roth-Bieren
Frauen Bieren
Gold-Bieren
Madeira pear
Pond pears
Musk pear
Quince
Indian
Spanish
Portuguese
Barbary
Brunswickian

ALL SORTS OF STONE FRUITS

Peaches
Plum peach
Nectarine peach
Apricot tree
Plums
Wild plums
Fig trees
Cherry trees
White
Red
Black
Mulberry trees
Currants
Raspberries
European
Indian
Cowberries
European
Indian
Red
White
Black
Strawberries
Nut trees
English
French
Italian
Spanish
Madeiran
Indian nut tree
Hazel nut
Grape vines
Almonds
Pomegranates
Coffee trees
Tea trees

Blooming Today - Along the Trail at Monticello

Virginia Bluebell

Julie Roller, Trail Manager at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, took these photos of native plants on that trail today.

 Chickasaw Plum

Spring Beauty

Trout Lily or Dog-tooth Violet  Recognized by its brown-mottled leaves, this is one of our most common spring ephemeral wildflowers, & it is found in sizable colonies. The common name (Dogtooth Violet) refers to the tooth-like shape of the white underground bulb. The name Trout Lily (a more suitable name since the flower is not a Violet) refers to the similarity between the leaf markings & those of the brown or brook trout. The White Dog-tooth Violet (E. albidum) has narrow, mottled leaves & white, bell-shaped flowers, often tinged with lavender on the outside.

Plants in Early American Gardens - Lemon Bergamot

Lemon Bergamot (Monarda citriodora)

Native to the southern United States and northern Mexico, the self-seeding, annual Lemon Bergamot was used by the Hopi tribe as a seasoning for wild hare. The lemon-scented leaves can also be rubbed on the skin as an insect repellant and the showy, pink to white, summer-blooming flowers are very attractive to bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

1700s Colonial American portraits with Garden Fountains

1767 John Singleton Copley (Colonial American artist, 1738-1815). Portrait of Rebecca Boylston.  Unfortunately, Copley often used English prints as the format for his portraits, so it is impossible to know if this fountain, or even the lady's dress were actually in Colonial America.

Blooming Today in the Mid-Atlantic - Harbinger-of-Spring or Pepper-and-Salt.

Article & Photos by Capital Naturalist by Alonso Abugattas

One of the earliest of our native native wildflowers to bloom is the tiny spring ephemeral called Harbinger-of-Spring, or Pepper-and-Salt (Erigenia bulbosa). It sometimes blooms as early as February, sending up a small umbel of white flowers with red anthers that soon turn black (and giving the pepper & salt appearance)...This fleeting wildflower is actually in the carrot family & its bulbous minuscule root is edible. The Cherokee also used the plant as a treatment for toothaches. Although it is easy to overlook, it is none-the-less not considered common in most locations, & since eating its root kills the plant, that is strongly discouraged. A certain mining bee, &rena erigeniae, was said to need this plant's pollen in order to reproduce (an oligilectic relationship) & includes the plant's name in its own due to thie perceived relationship, but now many believe that though this bee likes to visit visit its flowers, it actually requires Spring Beauty (Claytonia spp.) pollen in order to reproduce.  Enjoy this early spring wildflower, knowing that it is among the first of many other spring ephemeral flowers soon to appear in our rich, dark, often moist, woods, a true Harbinger of Spring.

Harbinger of Spring is one of the first flowers available to early pollinators like this solitary bee

Plants in Early American Gardens - Balsam Pear

Balsam Pear (Momordica charantia)

Balsam Pear, also known as Bitter Melon, is an unusual vine from the Old World tropics that has been cultivated since the early 1700s for its curiously lumpy fruits, bitter yet edible when green, which then ripen to orange and burst open to reveal bright red seeds.

For more information & the possible availability
Contact The Tho Jefferson Center for Historic Plants or The Shop at Monticello 

 Balsam Pear (Momordica charantia)

1700s Colonial American portraits with Garden Fountains

1763 John Singleton Copley (Colonial American artist, 1738-1815).  Alice Hooper. Unfortunately, Copley often used English prints as the format for his portraits, so it is impossible to know if this fountain, or even the lady's dress were actually in Colonial America.