Cretan and Greek plants in Italian Renaissance gardens cited in archives

Abstract

Cretan endemic and native Greek plants quoted in Italian archives, were being cultivated in botanic gardens from 15th to 17th century, when Crete was then under Venetian rule. A list that includes endemic, herbaceous, medicinal and aromatic plants, geophytes and ornamentals is presented. Conception of this influx of plants into renaissance botanic gardens and information about a rarely presented network of botanical exchange reveal regional and rational aspects of historical botany.

Keywords:

• Archives
• Crete
• flora
• Greece
• Italy
• plant lore
• Renaissance gardens
• wild plants

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Candia was the official name of Crete during the island’s period as an overseas colony of the Republic of Venice.

2 In Manuale de’ giardinieri by Francesco Mandirola (-1661), four varieties of Muscari are cited: «Quattro son li Muschi greci più stimati, cioè il Giallo primaticcio, il Giallo tardivo, il binaco e l’Avvinacciato (“Four are the most esteemed Greek Muskari, namely early yellow, late yellow, white and reddish”). Muscari of Mediterranean origin with yellow flowers and can be quite confidently identified as Muscari macrocarpum, native to Greece and Turkey, which was cultivated in Central and Southern Italy (Garbari 1966).

3 In Istoria e coltura delle piante per ornare un giardino by Bartolomeo Clarici (1664–1725) is quoted: “Non sono però questi Gladioli campestri quelli che ne’ Giardini meritano d’essere coltivati, questa fatica vi s’impiega per quegli altri, che venuti da paesi stranieri, si distinguono nel numero e grandezza de’ fiori, nel singolare o doppio numero de’ medesimi e della vaghezza del colorito” (“However, these rural Gladioli are not the ones that deserve to be cultivated in the gardens, this effort is employed for those that come from foreign countries and are distinguished in the number and size of flowers, in the singular or double number of petals and the vagueness of colours”); among the introduced to Italy Gladiolus’ species was included “…e quello di Candia d’un rosso scintillante di rara bellezza…” (“… and that of Crete in sparkling red of rare beauty…”).

4 “A Ranoncolo di Candia di larga foglia” (“a Cretan buttercup with large leaves”) was cited by F. Pona (1622). Belli collected “Ranunculus echinatus di Candia” (“thorny Ranunculus of Crete”). In De plantis exoticis P. Alpino was also mentioning “Ranunculus creticus echinatus latifolius” (“Cretan thorn buttercup with large leaves”); this species known as Ranunculus muricatus L. is widely distributed in the Mediterranean Basin and beyond.

5 Thymbra capitata and Satureja thymbra were cited by the curator of the botanical garden of Padua Luigi Anguillara (1512–1570) in Semplici: “È notissimo il Thymo in Grecia, ma nasce ancor in Puglia, questo però è più nero, che il Candioto. In Vinegia è conosciuto da quelli, che vendono l’herbe di Levante nella calle delle acque” (“Thyme is well known in Greece, it also grows in Puglia, but this is darker than that of Crete. In Venice it is known from those who sell spices of the Levant”); also, “Nasce in Grecia, e massimamente nell’isola di Scio, ove hoggi si chiama θρούμβι. È questa un sotto frutice simile al Thimo: ma le sue foglie sono più nere e meno dure, fa una spica di fiori di color porporeo e sempre sta verde” (“It grows in Greece, and especially on Chios island, where it is called thrumbi; this is a small shrub, similar to thyme, but its leaves are darker and softer, it consists of an umbel inflorescence with purple flowers and is evergreen”).

6 Thymbra capitata was mentioned by Belon (1517–1564) and Belli (1550–1604), who visited Crete.

7 Belli observed Aspalathus grown on the island of Crete and sent his description for this plant to Carolus Clusius (16^th century); this information is quoted in letters that had been published in Clusius’ Rariorum Plantarum Historia (1601). Belli identified the Cretan aspalathos to be the same plant as Dioscorides’ aspalathos. Giovanni Pona (1617) mentioned: “Questo è il secondo Aspalatho di Dioscoride. La materia del legno è bianca durissima et pesante. Fa i fiori gialli et odorati. A questi succedono picciol silique nelle quali sono rinchiusi tre, quattro e più semi. Tutta la pianta manda fuori spine” (“This is the second Aspalatho described by Dioscorides. The wood is white, hard and heavy. The flowers are yellow and fragrant. The fruits are small siliques in which three, four or many seeds are enclosed. The whole plant possesses thorns”).

8 The name is derived from the Greek word anemos (άνεμος): wind; delicate flowers of anemones open in a spring breeze and the wind facilitates the abscission of the short-lived petals.

9 http://www.vasaribooks.com/Antique-Prints/Antique-Prints-Botany/Antique-Prints-Botany-16thCentury/Antique-Prints-Botany-16thCentury/antique-botany-prints-and-engravings-mattioli-gallery.html

10 Cultura di Anemoni, p. 327–336.