The World Foliage Plant Industry - Acta Horticulturae

Figure 4. Wardian case invented by Dr.
Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward in 1833 used for
shipping collected tropical plants to
Britain.
Figure 5. Dieffenbachia x Bausei was a hybrid selected from a cross between D. maculata
and D. weirii in 1870 (A) and D. x Memoria-corsii was a hybrid developed from a cross of D.
maculata and D. wallisii made in 1881 (B).
to 4,000 years ago. However, there is no
known record as to precisely when humans first
started to use foliage plants for interior decoration.
A likely scenario for the early use of foliage
plants could be that these plants were initially
collected as curiosities due to their varied
forms, styles, colors, and textures; when used
to esthetically enhance building interiors, they
actually survived for extended time periods.
Although the definitive beginnings of interior
plant use is not clear, it is known that during
the Renaissance, plant collectors in Holland and
Belgium imported plants from Asia Minor and
the East Indies, and wealthy merchants of
Florence, Genoa, and Venice introduced plants
from the East into Europe in the late 15th century
(Smith and Scarborough, 1981). A desire
for exotic plants developed among the aristocracy
of France and England by the middle of
the 16th century, and orangeries and conservatories
became commonplace on the estates of
the nobility and wealthy class by the 17th century.
By the following century, an estimated
5,000 species of exotic plants had been
brought into Europe from the world’s tropics.
The number of plants brought to Europe from
the tropics increased after the invention of the
Wardian case in 1833 (Fig. 4). The protected
environment of the Wardian case dramatically
increased the number of living specimens that
survived the long sailing voyage from the
tropics to Europe. The availability of diverse and
exotic plants that could tolerate the environment
typical of Victorian homes promoted the
use of living plants indoors and gave birth to
the modern foliage plant industry. During the
second half of the 19th century, foliage plants
became a symbol of social status, and the
grand drawing rooms of Victorian houses all
had their fill of palms and ferns. Plants from
conservatories, botanical gardens, and private
estates were brought into commercial production,
and bought for use in middle- and upperclass
households. Hybridization of Dieffenbachia
species dates to almost the same time
period as hybridization of peas by Gregor
Mendel. The oldest known Dieffenbachia
hybrid is ‘Bausei’, a cross between D. maculata
and D. weirii made in 1870 in the greenhouses
of the Royal Horticultural Society of London at
Chriswick, while ‘Memoria-corsii’ is a cross
between D. maculata and D. wallisii made in
1881. Both are still in cultivation in the industry
(Fig. 5). Within a decade, shiploads of foliage
plants from greenhouses in England and mainland
Europe were sold to greenhouse growers
in the Northeast U.S. for either immediate
resale or for “growing on” and subsequent
resale. These shipments may be considered as
the beginning of globalization of foliage plant
production.
PROPAGATIVE MATERIALS
The majority of propagative materials used in
the industry are cuttings and tissue culture
Figure 6. Tissue culture facilities in Sunshine Horticulture LLC., Quanzhou, Fujian Province,
China: (A) culture room, (B) employees transferring culture, (C) tissue culture plantlets shipped
to the U.S., (D) liners grown in shaded greenhouses.
CHRONICA HORTICULTURAE •VOL 45 • NUMBER 4 • 2005 • 11