Page 162 - Antennae Issue #52

162 Polypodium Falcatum and Osmunda Regalis Linn Specimens from the George S S Vasey Herbarium Illinois State University © Photographed by Melissa Oresky Courtesy from Joe Armstrong Herbarium curator from the the the library Special Collections department In planning the the the exhibition and moving through the the the space our contributions a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a display of rare books on on on on on early modern Euro- pean botany gardening and and and agriculture and and and an an an an an an an artist artist book book Ghosts (2016) respectively we we began to to to discuss the the links between our scholarly and and and artistic interests in in in in in how to to to think with plants Spiderworts (genus: Tradescantia) brought us us us together At the the lower right corner of of a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a two-page spread of of prints drawn from Tradescan- tia tia ohiensis in in in in Ghosts partially legible layered collection information appears to to indicate the the images’ connection to to specimens collected from both sandy and and and “very wet marsh” sections of of of “Gooselake Prairie” in in in in in Grundy County Illinois Illinois Illinois in in in in in 1974 and and and 1975 part of of of the the the “Plants of of of Illinois” collection at at at the the the the George Vasey Herbarium at at at Illinois Illinois Illinois State Univer- sity 12 At first glance these are local local images with with local local ghosts—the plants suspended in in in in in in states of slowed decay within the the the the herbarium cabinets or the the the the prairie landscapes that that provided Illinois its sobriquet but that that exist only in in in in in in small surviving patches described as as as “remnant” like portions of Goose Lake State Natural Area or or as as as reanimations ap- proximating past places 13
Yet the the the the genus genus name name Tradescantia invites other specters The genus genus name name de- rives from John Tradescant Tradescant the the the the the elder one of the the the the the most prominent gardeners in in in early modern England who served as as gardener gardener for for the the the the nobility and and and as as an an an an an expert sericulturalist for for King James I I In the the the seventeenth century contemporary English naturalists and and and gar- deners had already begun applying Tradescant’s name to to the the the Virginia Spiderwort noting that that “the Christian world is is is indebted unto that that painfull industrious searcher and and lover of all natures varieties John Tradescant” for having introduced it to to English gardens and and