Henry Phillips (horticulturist)

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“{{w|Leonhard Rauwolf|Rauwolfus}},who was in the {{w|Levant}} in 1573, was the first European author who made any mention of coffee.”

“Theophrastus, who wrote about 300 years before Christ, mentions the {{w|almond}} as the only tree in Greece that produced the blossoms before the leaves. ...The almond-tree was not cultivated in Italy in the time of Cato, who calls the fruit, nucces græcæ, or greek nuts.”

“In {{w|Robert Dodsley|Dodsley}}'s {{w|The Annual Register|Annual Register}} for 1758, p. 116, mention is made of an {{w|oak}} in {{w|Langley Wood and Homan's Copse|Langley-wood}}, near {{w|Downton, Wiltshire|Downton, Wilts}}, the property of the {{w|Bishop of Salisbury}}, supposed to be of near one thousand years growth. It was six feet two inches in diameter, contained about ten tons of timber, and was sold for forty pounds.”

“Potatoe is the English name of the tuberose-rooted esculent Lycopersicon, or {{w|Solanum}}, of botanical writers. It was evidently so called on account of its similarity to the batata, the {{w|Taíno language|Indian}} name of the {{w|sweet potato}}, which was known in Europe at least thirty-three years before this country was blessed with the potatoe, which now forms alike the rich man's luxury and the poor man's bread!”

“The Chinese hold some particular kinds of flowers in great veneration, especially the {{w|Enkianthus}}, which they call Too Chong Fa: its flowers are deemed grateful to the gods; and, accordingly. at the commencement of the {{w|Chinese New Year|Chinese new year}},when the plant is generally in blossom, large branches with flowers are placed in all the temples as an acceptable new year's offering.”