Bibliography

Conservation Projects Development Unit (CPDU)

Conservation and Horticulture : A Bibliography of Dracaena umbraculifera Jacq.

Botanic Gardens hold individuals of threatened species. Often these species are held within extensive collections, and their value and history unrecognized. The Bibliographies produced here illustrate the horticultural histories of some threatened plant species. It is hoped that these examples will illustrate the horticultural heritage of botanic gardens, promote interest in threatened plant species, and be utilised for botanic garden education programmes.

Dracaena umbraculifera
This plant is another of suspect origin.  Originally it was thought to be part of the Mauritina flora, but it has also been suggested as originating from Java.  However, the first description of it in 1797 stated it was found on the island of Mauritius.  From then on it started to appear in a number of prominent collections in Europe, and was introduced to Britain through the west London nursery of Loddiges in 1818, who claimed to have the only plant in England at that time.

In 1842, the first elements of doubt regarding its origin were created when Monza Botanic Garden recorded it as coming from both Mauritius and Java. It is now only grown in a handful of botanic gardens and has not been recorded in the wild since its first description.
 

CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS

1797 First described by Jacquin as growing on the Island of Mauritius. 25
1804 A specimen documented at the Natural History Museum, Paris. 14
1815 Referred to as the umbrella Dragon tree at the School of Horticulture in Paris. 15
1816 At Schoenbrunn Castle, Vienna. 8
1817 Growing at Leipzig Botanic Garden, but recorded as coming from Martinique. 9
1818 The nursery Loddiges claims to have the only plant in England at the time. The original plant came in from France in 1802, but had not been multiplied from due to the difficulty in propagation. States that the species originates from Mauritius. 29
1822 Growing at Düsseldorf Botanic Garden. 38
1823 Dracaena umbraculifera growing at Cambridge Botanic Gardens. 18
1824 At Berlin Botanic Garden. 28
1824 At Croome Court, described as umbel-flowered. 13
1825 At the University of Louvain. 30
1829 At München Botanic Garden. 40
1829 At Paris Botanic Garden. 16
1834 At Düsseldorf Botanic Garden. 39
1837 Bojer writes of the species as believed to be in the forests in the center of the island, and that it flowers very rarely. 7
1842 At Monza Botanic Garden, but described as coming from both Mauritius and Java. 31
1844 At Bogor Botanic Garden. 24
1845 At Cambridge Botanic Garden. 17
1854 Recorded at the Herbarium of the Agricultural ministry in Bogor. 42
1858 At Botanic Garden, recorded as coming from tropical Asia. 36
1860 At St. Petersburg Botanic Garden. 37
1863 At Curepipe Botanic Garden, Mauritius. 19
1867 At Napoli Botanic Garden. 35
1880 At Curepipe Botanic Garden, Mauritius. 11
1893 Described in Bois's Dictionary of Horticulture. 6
1894 Described in Nicholson's Dictionary of Horticulture and Gardening. 34
1896 Mentioned in The Marvels of nature: The world of plants. 12
1906 Growing at Fairmount park, Philadelphia. 2
1906 At Borromee Botanic Garden, Italy. 1
1907 At Bruxelles Botanic Garden. 22
1908 Mentioned in a German journal 'Gartenflora' in reference to root development in monocotyledons. 24
1908 As above, but a truncated version. 27
1914 The genus is revised and D. umbraculifera becomes Pleomele umbraculifera. 10
1938 At Berlin Botanic Gardens. 3
1954 Recorded as growing or having been grown in Egypt. 41
1959 At Lucknow National Botanic Gardens, India. 4
1965 At Villa Taranto, Italy. 32
1998 At National Tropical Botanical Garden, Hawaii. 33
 

Bibliography

  1. Anon (1906a) Catalogo delle plante dei Giardini D'Acclimazione delle Isole Borromee, p. 48.
  2. Anon (1906b) Catalogue of Tender Plants Grown at Horticultural hall, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia, p. 59.
  3. Anon (1938) Dahlemer Handliste: Verzeichnis der im Botanischen Garten zu Berlin-Dahlem kultivierten Pflanzen mit Nachweis ihrer Standorte im Garten, pp. 100-1.
  4. Anon (1959) 'Cordylines and Dracaenas' National Botanic Gardens, Lucknow. Bull. 42, pp. 2-3 and 12.
  5. Antoine, R., Brenan, J.P.M. and Mangenot, G. (1978) Flore Des Mascareignes, La Réunion, Maurice, Rodrigues, part 183, p. 20.
  6. Bois, D. (1893) Dictionaire d'Horticulture, Vol. I, p. 455.
  7. Bojer, W. (1837) Hortus Mauritianus, p. 349.
  8. Boos, J. (1816) Schönbrunn's Flora, oder sytematisch geordnetes verzeichniss der im kais. königl. Holländisch-botanischen hofgarten zu Schönbrunn cultivirten gewäsche p. 115.
  9. Breiter, C.A. (1817) Breiter - Hortus Breiterianus, p. 128.
  10. Brown, N.E. (1914) 'Notes on the genera Cordyline, Dracaena, Pleomele, Sanseveria and Taetsia'. Kew Bulletin, p. 279.
  11. Cantley, N. (1880) Catalogue of plants in the Royal Botanic Garden, Mauritius, p. 133.
  12. Constatin, P. (1894) Les Merveilles de la nature: Le Monde des plantes, p. 590.
  13. Dean, W. (1824) An historical and descriptive account of Croome D'Abititot, pp. 46-7.
  14. Desfontaines, M. (1804) Tableau de l'ecole de Botanique du Muséum d'Histoire Naturelle, p. 20.
  15. Desfontaines, M. (1815) Tableau de l'ecole de Botanique du jardin du Roi, p. 23.
  16. Desfontaines, R. (1829) Catalogus Plantarum - Horti Regii Parisiensis, p. 31.
  17. Donn, J. (1845) Hortus Cantabriensis, Vol.13, p. 206.
  18. Donn, J. (1823) Donn's Catalogue of Plants, part 10, p. 123.
  19. Duncan, J. (1863) Catalogue of plants in the Royal Botanic Garden, Mauritius, p. 33.
  20. Encke, F. (1958) Pareys Blumengärtnerei, Vol I , p. 310.
  21. Fournet, J (1978) Flore illustree des phanerogames de Guadeloupe et de Martinique, p. 227.
  22. Gentil, L. (1907) Ulistes des plantes cultivées dans les serres chaudes et coloniales du Jardin Botanique de L'État a Bruxelles, p. 99.
  23. Griffiths, M. (ed) (1992) Royal Horticultural Society Dictionary of Gardening, Vol 2, p. 96.
  24. Hasskarl, J.K. (1844) Catalogus Plantarum in Horto Bogoriensi, p. 31.
  25. Jacquin, J.F. (1797) Plantarum rariorum horti Caeseri Schoenbrunnensis, p. 50, t.35.
  26. Lindinger, L. (1908a) 'Die Bewurzelungsverhältnisse großer Monokotylenformen und ihre Bedeutung für den Gärtner', Gartenflora, Vol 46, pp. 281-91.
  27. Lindinger, L. (1908b) 'Die sekundären Aventivwurzeln von Dracaena und der morphologische Wert der Stigmaren', Jahrbuch der Hamburgischen W.S.S. Anstalten, Vol 26, part 3, pp. 65 and pp. 75.
  28. Link, Dr. H.F. (1824) Enumerato plantarum Horti regii botanici Berolinensis altera, p. 341.
  29. Loddiges, Conrad and Sons (1818) Catalogue of Plants in the collection of C. L. and Sons, Hackney, Vol 3, t.289
  30. Louvain (1825) Elencus Plantarum quae in Horto Botanico Lovaniensi coluntur adjectis speciebus sponte crescentibus, p. 25.
  31. Manetti, J. (1842) Catalogus Plantarum caesarei regii Horti prope Modiciam, pp. 36-7.
  32. McEacharn, N. (1965) Catalogue of plants in the Villa Taranto at Pallandra, Lake Maggiore, p. 112.
  33. National Tropical Botanical Garden (1998) Living Collections Database - contact David H. Lorence.
  34. Nicholson, G. and Moffet, S. (1893) Dictionaire practique d'horticulture et de jardinage, Vol. II, p. 238.
  35. Pasquale, G. A. (1867) Catalogo del Real Orto Botanico di Napoli, p. 41.
  36. Planchon, J.E. (1858) Hortus Donatensis. Catalogue des plantes cultivées dans les serre de s. ex. le Prince A. de Démidoff a San Donato près Florence, p. 17.
  37. Regel, E. (1860) Catalogus plantarum quae in Horto Arsakoviano coluntur autore, p. 51.
  38. Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck, J.F. (1822) Index Plantarum Succulentarum in Horto Dyckensi cultarum, p. 22.
  39. Salm-Reifferscheid-Dyck, J.F. (1834) Hortus Dyckensis, p. 95.
  40. Schrank, F. P, Martius, K.F.P, (1829) Hortus Regius Monacensis : Verzeichniss der im koeniglichen Botanischen Garten zu Muenchen wachsenden nach der natuerlichen Methode geordnet, mit auf das Linneische System und summarischer des Vaterlands, der Cultur und Benutzungsweise auch als Schlussel und Uebersicht in deutschen Garten fur Herbarien zu gebrauchen, p. 26.
  41. Tackholm, V. and Drar, M. (1954) Flora of Egypt, Vol 3, pp. 205-6.
  42. Teysmann, J.E. and Binnendijk, S. (1854) Catalogus van Lands Plantetuin te Buitenzorg, p. 27.

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