During my trip to Switzerland I had a fantastic day together with Mountain Gardener Joe Hollis in Zurich, first in the new (larger) Botanical Garden of the University of Zurich where some 7,000 plant species can be seen and later in the old botanical garden which is still maintained as a public park!
Joe is incredibly knowledgeable about useful plants and we spoke mostly latin!
Thanks to Matthias Brück and Kala Serafim for bringing us together!
More about Joe here: https://www.mountaingardensherbs.com
Joe Hollis botanising
Camassia leichtlinii
Malva (Lavatera) olbia
Umbilicus horizontalis (horizontal navelwort)
Joe and I were surprised to find liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) planted and spreading in dry soil under a pine tree
Crocus sativus (saffran)
Muscari comosum bulbs are commonly sold on markets in the Meditteranean countries at this time of year
Yucca filamentosa
Allium ampeloprasum
Not one to eat, Mandragora officinarum, Mandrake
Peltaria alliacea
Butcher’s broom, Ruscus aculeatus
I hadn’t heard of this species before, but it’s a synonym for Hosta rectifolia
Zanthoxylum simulans
Cornus mas
Centranthus ruber
There was a great display of native Swiss Cardamine kitaibelii in the woodland rock garden
Cardamine kitaibelii
In the company of ramsons (Allium ursinum), this was labelled Cardamine x killiasii, a natural hybrid between C. pentaphyllos and C. kitaibelii
I don’t know of any uses of this one, but a nice plant, Valeriana triptera
Joe Hollis
Caltha palustris
Bunium bulbocastanum (Great pignut)…I wonder if this is the real thing, most often it’s wrong!
There was a good display of Allium victorialis from the high Alps, confirmation that it can also be grown in the lowlands as a forest garden edible
Allium victorialis
Primula veris / elatior / vulgaris and hybrids
Primula veris
The only reference to this species, Lactuca uralensis, when I google it is from the Zurich Botanical Garden
Aster (Kalimeris) mongolicus may wel be used in Mongolia
Hemerocallis middendorfii
Pachyphragma macrophylla is a beautiful edible woodlander in the cabbage family
Pachyphragma macrophylla is a beautiful edible woodlander in the cabbage family
There was also a cone display, Pinus pinea, one one of the pine nut trees
..and another, Pinus cembra
Pine cone display
A familiar one from Joe Hollis’ neck of the woods, Trillium sessile
Ramsons (Allium ursinum) is everywhere in Zurich, loved to eat and hated as a weed…
Ramsons (Allium ursinum)
We didn’t get time to visit the domes
Equisetum telmateia is a native…also found in the Pacific North West in North America where I saw it on Vancouver Island on the coast
These were collected to eat at the symposium. However, it wasn’t Equisetum arvense (too large) and knowing there are poisonous species in the genus, I persuaded them not to use them and they were thrown out. I now know it was E. telmateia which I know was used by native americans in Western North America
Gunnera tinctoria from Chile, one of my Around the World plants
Another Around the World plant is Apium nodiflorum
Yet another Around the World plant, Polygonum bistorta
We also visited the interesting library…ethnobotany is important at the University. This is a Goji (Lycium) display
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