98
THE ESSEX NATURALIST.
how the "sagacious & benevolent Fothergill, 'the friend of
" 'mankind & of merit' " tried to dissuade William Curtis from
neglecting a promising practice as an apothecary to publish the
luxurious Flora Londoniensis.
The tea plant was the pride of Fothergill's garden. In botani-
cal correspondence of the period there are many references to
the attempt to obtain the true tea plant and many reports of
success; a Captain Gott had two fine trees in his garden at
Enfield, one of which bore a single white flower annually—
they were seen by Collinson in 1742, but afterwards died.
Linnaeus had a specimen which did not flower; John Ellis,
after many efforts, raised one from seed in 1768 and presented it
to Kew Garden. Fothergill's plants arrived from China in 1769.
The Queen's duenna wrote to Dr. W. Hunter, "Mrs. Schwellen-
"berg's Compliments to Doctor Hunter and she heard yesterday
"that Doctr. Forthergyll had got several Tea Trees Come from
"the Indieas in the Last Ships and the Queen wishes that Doctr.
"Hunter Could make Interest with Doctr. Forthergyll to get
"Her only one of them for Her Majestys Own Garden."
The most noteworthy plant, however, was Arbutus Andrachne,
of which Russell sent seeds home from Aleppo in 1754. The
tree flowered for the first time in this country in 1766 at Upton.
It was drawn and described by Ehret; the drawing is in the
Department of Botany. After Fothergill's death the plant was
sold to a nurseryman for £53 11s. to make scions for grafting.
Aiton's Hortus Kewensis gives ninety-six species as having
been introduced to this country by Fothergill. After his death
"the contents of his garden were all sold, with the frames and
"glass of the hothouses, and collections of seeds from Siberia,
"the East Indies and the South Seas. There were large aloes,
"orange and lemon trees, the tea tree and many others."
Lettsom wrote to Marshall (28.2.1784) "The major part of
''Dr. Fothergill's hot and green house plants I purchased22;
"but I had no Americans,—which were in general in his ground."
Lettsom published a list of the hothouse plants with the title
Hortus Uptonensis; it contains sixty-eight species of Mesem-
bryanthemum.
22 Some of these plants are figured in a collection of drawings made by James Sowerby, now
in the Department of Botany.