Who was John Tradescant?
By Chelsie Vandaveer
December 13, 2002
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John Tradescant was born around 1570 into the yeomanry. A family of English freeholders, they owned and cultivated land, but were not of the gentry. Yeoman often served in special capacities to the gentry and noble classes. Tradescant became a gardener and was considered "the greatest gardener" of his day.
The New World had been 'discovered' almost a century earlier. Tradescant was fascinated with new plants found and brought back to England. In 1609, Tradescant gave money to Captain Samuel Argall. Argall was searching for the best sailing route to Virginia. Over the years, Argall made a number of trips to the colonies; Tradescant received plants and 'curiosities' in return.
In 1616, Tradescant received a shipment of plants and seeds among which was one that produced sky-blue flowers. The plant caught the interest of John Parkinson, physician to King James I (the king who had the Bible translated into English). Parkinson was the first to call the plant a Phalangium, a 'cure' for spider bites, even though it was nothing like the European spiderworts. (See What's in a Name, December 6, 2002) Parkinson gave some of the plants to Thomas Johnson.
In the 1633 edition of Gerard's Herbal, Thomas Johnson added two species to the chapter called Of Spiderwort; one was an asphodel (a European spiderwort), the other he called Phalangium Virginianum Tradescanti or Tradescant's Virginian Spiderwort. Johnson noted the sky-blue flowers were short lived and that Parkinson's original name for the plants was Phalangium Ephemerum Virginianum, the Soone-fading Spiderwort of Virginia.
Of the five spiderworts listed in The Herbal, only one, Tradescant's, retained the common name. Today, there are twenty or so known species of spiderworts. All are native to North and South America. Linnaeus recognized the many contributions of John Tradescant by naming the genus in his honor, Tradescantia.
The Connecticut Botanical Society has posted a photograph taken by Arieh Tal of the Virginia spiderwort. To view the first species of American spiderwort introduced to European gardeners by Tradescant, click on the link:
http://www.ct-botanical-society.org/galleries/tradescantiavirg.html
Series: | 1 | | 2 |
killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~
Suggested Reading:
Purple Heart (Tradescantia pallida) Plant of the Week - December 16, 2002
What plant is a natural Geiger-counter? Weird Plants - December 19, 2002
Hester Tradescant found dead in garden pool What's in a Name? - April 4, 2003
Why did Linnaeus name the dayflower, Commelina? What's in a Name? - May 17, 2002
What was spiderwort? What's in a Name? - December 6, 2002
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