The Veitch Nurseries were the largest group of family-run plant nurseries in Europe during the 19th century. Started by John Veitch sometime before 1808, the original nursery grew substantially over several decades and was eventually split into two separate businesses—based at Chelsea and

Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal c ...

—as it became unfeasible to run the whole operation from one location. Famous plant hunters in the Victorian period employed by the Veitch family include the brothers Thomas Lobb and

William Lobb William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

from Cornwall and David Bowman. The Veitch's ability to grow exotic plants is noted in William Jackson Hooker's description of ''

Verticordia nitens ''Verticordia nitens'', commonly known as Christmas Morrison and other names, is a flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. The Noongar peoples know the plant as kotyeningara. It is ...

'', and they were able to supply a specimen for its illustration. The firm had, by the outbreak of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fig ...

, introduced 1281 plants into cultivation, which were either previously unknown or newly-bred varieties (see

cultivars A cultivar is a type of cultivated plant that people have selected for desired traits and when propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and stem cuttings, offsets, grafting, tissue culture ...

). These included 498

greenhouse A greenhouse (also called a glasshouse, or, if with sufficient heating, a hothouse) is a structure with walls and roof made chiefly of transparent material, such as glass, in which plants requiring regulated climatic conditions are grown.These ...

plants, 232

orchids Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering ...

, 153

deciduous In the fields of horticulture and Botany, the term ''deciduous'' () means "falling off at maturity" and "tending to fall off", in reference to trees and shrubs that seasonally shed leaves, usually in the autumn; to the shedding of petals, a ...

trees,

shrubs A shrub (often also called a bush) is a small-to-medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees ...

and

climbing plant A vine (Latin ''vīnea'' "grapevine", "vineyard", from ''vīnum'' "wine") is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themse ...

s, 122

herbaceous Herbaceous plants are vascular plants that have no persistent woody stems above ground. This broad category of plants includes many perennials, and nearly all annuals and biennials. Definitions of "herb" and "herbaceous" The fourth edition ...

plants, 118 exotic

fern A fern (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta ) is a member of a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. The polypodiophytes include all living pteridophytes except ...

s, 72

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has foliage that remains green and functional through more than one growing season. This also pertains to plants that retain their foliage only in warm climates, and contrasts with deciduous plants, which ...

and climbing plants, 49 conifers, and 37

ornamental bulbous plant Ornamental bulbous plants, often called ornamental bulbs or just bulbs in gardening and horticulture, are herbaceous perennials grown for ornamental purposes, which have underground or near ground storage organs. Botanists distinguish between ...

s. In the years to come, more plants followed. The nurseries were most famous for their orchids, although they also introduced several famous plants from other families, such as ''

Nepenthes rajah ''Nepenthes rajah'' is a carnivorous pitcher plant species of the family Nepenthaceae. It is endemic to Mount Kinabalu and neighbouring Mount Tambuyukon in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo.Clarke 1997, p. 123. ''Nepenthes rajah'' grows exclusively on s ...

'' and '' Nepenthes northiana''. The

pitcher plant Pitcher plants are several different carnivorous plants which have modified leaves known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of what are considered to be "true" pitcher p ...

species '' N. veitchii'' is named in honour of the Veitch dynasty. The Chelsea business ceased to trade in 1914, whilst the Exeter business continued under Peter Veitch and later his daughter Mildred. She in turn sold the firm in 1969, when it was bought by St Bridget Nurseries. The business was run as a separate business for a further 20 years, but is now a subsidiary of St Bridget. John Veitch,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

and Corinthian footballer, was a member of the Veitch family and joined the family firm as company secretary.

Veitch collectors

The house of Veitch employed twenty-two recognised plant hunters, including three members of the Veitch family. Most prominent of these were brothers

William William is a masculine given name of Norman French origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conq ...

and Thomas Lobb, Ernest Wilson and Charles Maries. The others were: * Richard Pearce: Visited Chile, Peru and Bolivia from 1859 to 1866 *

John Gould Veitch John Gould Veitch (April 1839 – 13 August 1870) was a British horticulturist and traveller, one of the first Victorian plant hunters to visit Japan. A great-grandson of John Veitch, the founder of the Veitch horticulture dynasty, he also ...

: Visited Japan, South Sea Islands and Australia from 1860 to 1870 * David Bowman: Visited Brazil in 1866 *

Henry Hutton Henry Hutton (26 August 1878 – 13 August 1968) was an Australian cricketer. He played in one first-class match for South Australia in 1905/06. See also * List of South Australian representative cricketers This is a list of cricketers ...

: Visited Java and the Malay Archipelago from 1866 to 1868 * Carl Kramer: Visited Japan and Costa Rica from 1867 to 1868 *

Gottlieb Zahn Gottlieb (formerly D. Gottlieb & Co.) was an American arcade game corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. History The main office and plant was located at 1140-50 N. Kostner Avenue until the early 1970s when a new modern plant and office was ...

: Visited Central America from 1869 to 1870 *George Downton: Visited Central and South America from 1870 to 1873 *

Henry Chesterton Joseph Henry Chesterton (1837 – 26 January 1883) was a British plant collector who was sent by James Veitch & Sons to search for orchids in South America with much success. James Veitch & Sons Chesterton was born in Sandy, Bedfordshire ...

: Visited South America from 1870 to 1878 *

A. R. Endres A is the first letter of the Latin and English alphabet. A may also refer to: Science and technology Quantities and units * ''a'', a measure for the attraction between particles in the Van der Waals equation * ''A'' value, a measure of ...

: Visited Costa Rica from 1871 to 1873 *

Gustav Wallis Gustav Wallis (1 May 1830 – 20 June 1878) was a German plant collector who introduced over 1,000 plant species to Europe, many of which were named after him. He was particularly focused on orchid hunting during the Victorian orchid craze, but ...

: Visited Brazil, New Granada, South America from 1872 to 1874 * Walter Davis: Visited South America from 1873 to 1876 * Peter Veitch: Visited Australia, South Sea Islands and Borneo from 1875 to 1878 * Guillermo Kalbreyer: Visited West Coast of Africa and Colombia from 1876 to 1881 *

Christopher Mudd Christopher is the English version of a Europe-wide name derived from the Greek name Χριστόφορος (''Christophoros'' or '' Christoforos''). The constituent parts are Χριστός (''Christós''), "Christ" or "Anointed", and φέρει ...

: Visited South Africa in 1877 * F. W. Burbridge: Visited Borneo from 1877 to 1878 * Charles Curtis: Visited Madagascar, Borneo, Sumatra, Java and the Moluccas from 1878 to 1884 * David Burke: Visited East Indies, Burma and Columbia from 1881 to 1897 * James H. Veitch: Visited India, Malaysia, Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand from 1891 to 1893

Notes

References

External links

Veitch Heritage (Garden) in Exeter

Veitch Nurseries on www.caradocdoy.co.uk

The House of Veitch
{{Veitch family Horticultural companies of the United Kingdom Landscape design history Plant collectors