The hortus siccus (1566) of Petrus Cadé: a description of the oldest known collection of dried plants made in the Low Countries

Christenhusz, Maarten J. M.

doi:10.3366/anh.2004.31.1.30

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

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“…Although he mentions the tomato in his De plantis Libri XVI ( Cesalpino, 1583 ), there is no tomato among his vouchers ( Caruel, 1858 ). The first herbaria made in France (by Jehan Girault in 1558) and the Low Countries (by Petrus Cadé in 1566, see Christenhusz, 2004 ) do not have a tomato specimen either. The second herbarium produced in France, that of the German botanist Leonhard Rauwolf, contains a tomato ( Fig.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sixteenth-century tomatoes in Europe: who saw them, what they looked like, and where they came from

Andel

Vos

Michels

et al. 2022

PeerJ

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Background Soon after the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the first tomatoes were presented as curiosities to the European elite and drew the attention of sixteenth-century Italian naturalists. Despite of their scientific interest in this New World crop, most Renaissance botanists did not specify where these ‘golden apples’ or ‘pomi d’oro’ came from. The debate on the first European tomatoes and their origin is often hindered by erroneous dating, botanical misidentifications and inaccessible historical sources. The discovery of a tomato specimen in the sixteenth-century ‘En Tibi herbarium’ kept at Leiden, the Netherlands, triggered research on its geographical provenance and morphological comparison to other tomato specimens and illustrations from the same time period. Methods Recent digitization efforts greatly facilitate research on historic botanical sources. Here we provide an overview of the ten remaining sixteenth-century tomato specimens, early descriptions and 13 illustrations. Several were never published before, revealing what these tomatoes looked like, who saw them, and where they came from. We compare our historical findings with recent molecular research on the chloroplast and nuclear DNA of the ‘En Tibi’ specimen. Results Our survey shows that the earliest tomatoes in Europe came in a much wider variety of colors, shapes and sizes than previously thought, with both simple and fasciated flowers, round and segmented fruits. Pietro Andrea Matthioli gave the first description of a tomato in 1544, and the oldest specimens were collected by Ulisse Aldrovandi and Francesco Petrollini in c. 1551, possibly from plants grown in the Pisa botanical garden by their teacher Luca Ghini. The oldest tomato illustrations were made in Germany and Switzerland in the early 1550s, but the Flemish Rembert Dodoens published the first image in 1553. The names of early tomatoes in contemporary manuscripts suggest both a Mexican and a Peruvian origin. The ‘En Tibi’ specimen was collected by Petrollini around 1558 and thus is not the oldest extant tomato. Recent molecular research on the ancient nuclear and chloroplast DNA of the En Tibi specimen clearly shows that it was a fully domesticated tomato, and genetically close to three Mexican landraces and two Peruvian specimens that probably also had a Mesoamerican origin. Molecular research on the other sixteenth-century tomato specimens may reveal other patterns of genetic similarity, past selection processes, and geographic origin. Clues on the ‘historic’ taste and pest resistance of the sixteenth-century tomatoes will be difficult to predict from their degraded DNA, but should be rather sought in those landraces in Central and South America that are genetically close to them. The indigenous farmers growing these traditional varieties should be supported to conserve these heirloom varieties in-situ.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sixteenth-century tomatoes in Europe: who saw them, what they looked like, and where they came from

Andel

Vos

Michels

et al. 2022

PeerJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although he mentions the tomato in his De plantis Libri XVI (Cesalpino, 1583), there is no tomato among his vouchers (Caruel, 1858). The rst herbaria made in France (by Jehan Girault in 1558) and the Low Countries (by Petrus Cadé in 1566, see Christenhusz, 2004) do not have a tomato specimen either. The second herbarium produced in France, that of the German botanist Leonhard Rauwolf, contains a tomato (Fig.…”

Section: The Rst Tomato Specimen (1551)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Sixteenth-century tomatoes in Europe: who saw them, what did they look like, and where did they come from?

Andel

Vos

Michels

et al. 2021

Preprint

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BackgroundSoon after the Spanish conquest of the Americas, the first tomatoes were presented as curiosities to the European royals and drew the attention of sixteenth-century Italian naturalists. Despite of their scientific interest in this New World crop, most Renaissance botanists did not specify where these ‘golden apples’ or ‘pomi d’oro’ came from. The debate on the first European tomatoes and their origin is often hindered by erroneous dating, botanical misidentifications and inaccessible historical sources. The discovery of a tomato specimen in the sixteenth-century ‘En Tibi herbarium’ kept at Leiden, the Netherlands led to claims that its DNA would reveal the ‘original’ taste and pest resistance of early tomatoes.MethodsRecent digitization efforts greatly facilitate research on historic botanical sources. Here we provide an overview of the ten remaining sixteenth-century tomato specimens, early descriptions and 13 illustrations. Several were never published before, revealing what these tomatoes looked like, who saw them, and where they came from.ResultsOur survey shows that the earliest tomatoes in Europe came in a much wider variety of colors, shapes and sizes than previously thought, with both simple and fasciated flowers, round and segmented fruits. Pietro Andrea Matthioli gave the first description of a tomato in 1544, and the oldest specimens were collected by Ulisse Aldrovandi and Francesco Petrollini in c. 1551 from plants grown in the Pisa botanical garden by their teacher Luca Ghini. The oldest illustrations were made in Germany in the early 1550s, but the Flemish Rembert Dodoens published the first image in 1553. The names of early tomatoes in contemporary manuscripts suggest both a Mexican and a Peruvian origin. The ‘En Tibi’ specimen was collected by Petrollini around Bologna in 1558 and thus is not the oldest extant tomato. Although only 1.2% of its DNA was readable, recent molecular research shows that the En Tibi tomato was a fully domesticated, but quite heterozygous individual and genetically close to three Mexican and two Peruvian tomato landraces. Molecular research on the other sixteenth-century tomato specimens may reveal other patterns of genetic similarity and geographic origin. Clues on the ‘historic’ taste and pest resistance of the sixteenth-century tomatoes should not be searched in their degraded DNA, but rather in those landraces in Central and South America that are genetically close to them. The indigenous farmers growing these traditional varieties should be supported to conserve these heirloom varieties in-situ.

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Exotic species in the Erbario Estense: new plants from the world to sixteenth-century Italy

Vicentini,

Buldrini,

Romagnoli

et al. 2024

Rend. Fis. Acc. Lincei

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Renaissance herbaria may provide precious information on exotic plants known or even introduced in Italy during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries AD. In the Erbario Estense, preserved in the Archivio di Stato di Modena (northern Italy), there are 14 species considered as allochthonous neophytes or not present in the Italian flora. First, we accurately verified the taxa identification; then, we searched for the same species in the other coeval Italian Renaissance herbaria and collected the information present in the written sources of the second half of the 1500s (concerning, above all, the use of these species as medicinal plants); finally, we paid attention to their current uses in ethnobotanical tradition and their market value. For 12 taxa, we could confirm the former identification; whereas for 2, we came to a different conclusion; the comparison with other Renaissance herbaria, particularly Aldrovandi’s, greatly helped this evaluation process. The species treated here are not placed according to a precise order nor do they have particular medicinal values in common: probably, the specimens were simply added to the existing nucleus, as the species were known or were proven to be rather useful. We shall be able to gain further knowledge when it shall be possible to study all the remaining species. In any case, the Erbario Estense is an important testimony for sixteenth-century botany, that contains some of the most ancient specimens of exotic species that are of common use in large parts of the world today. Graphical abstract

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The hortus siccus (1566) of Petrus Cadé: a description of the oldest known collection of dried plants made in the Low Countries

Abstract: A sixteenth century Dutch hortus siccus of Brabantian origin has been rediscovered and is described here. The plants preserved in it are identified and most of its history is revealed.

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

Sixteenth-century tomatoes in Europe: who saw them, what they looked like, and where they came from

Sixteenth-century tomatoes in Europe: who saw them, what they looked like, and where they came from

Sixteenth-century tomatoes in Europe: who saw them, what did they look like, and where did they come from?

Exotic species in the Erbario Estense: new plants from the world to sixteenth-century Italy

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