CHAPTER I
 

                 Introduction.   Historical  Notes.



It has long been the custom to attribute to the Romans the introduction

to Britain  of  certain common trees  and shrubs.  From  the fact that

remains of the seeds of Pinus Pinea, the stone  pine  of Italy, have lately

been found in  the refuse  heaps of Roman encampments  in Britain, it is

evident that edible seeds  and possibly fruits were imported  from Italy for

the soldiers' use, and  in  that way the  sweet chestnut, the walnut,  the

mulberry, and  other trees with edible fruits or seeds may, as has often

been  stated, have  been  first  brought to  this country.   Probably, also,

some of the most popular ornamental exotic trees and shrubs, like  the

lilac and lime,  were brought over by them too.   As for the  common elm

and box, often attributed  to  the  Romans, there appears no reason for

disputing their genuineness as natives  of Southern England.

    After the withdrawal of the Roman legions in the fourth and fifth

centuries, the country relapsed into comparative barbarism, but subsequent

to the establishment of Christianity, the  introduction of plants from  the

Continent was, no doubt, carried  on by religious houses, especially after

the  Norman Conquest.  Most attention was given to the scented and

medicinal plants, like rosemary and thyme, and  to fruit-trees.  It is also

likely that  a number of ornamental as  well  as  useful trees, shrubs, and

herbs were first introduced during the Dark Ages by mariners and others

touching at continental and Mediterranean ports, or by travellers  inland.

But the fact is, what they, the Romans, or the monks accomplished, must

to us remain largely mere guesswork.

    We only touch certain  ground in  this matter in the year  1548, when

Wm. Turner published his Names of Herbes.   Turner, sometimes called

the " Father of English Botany," was born at Morpeth early in  the  six¬

teenth century and, after becoming Dean of Wells, died in 1568.   At one

time he lived  and had a garden at Kew,  and his Names of Herbes  was

dated from the neighbouring Syon  House,  then the residence  of the

Duke of Somerset,  Lord Protector, to whom  Turner was physician.   In

         8