California Dreamin’
By Jason Edmonds
Named for the 16th century Italian naturalist and physician, Pietro Andrea Matthioli (1500 to 1577) who first identified Matthiola incana. Imported into England immediately after its discovery and identification, Matthiola incana was bred extensively and soon became a favorite in English gardens. One of today’s most popular cultivars, the Brompton, was bred in the Brompton Gardens in London, site of the present day South Kensington museums William Townsend Aiton identified it as a member of the Brassicaceae, the mustard family in the 19th century, making note of its distribution in the Eastern United States at that time.
Many old English names were given to Matthiola incana including stocks, sea stocks, wallflowers and wall or gillyflowers. Gillyflower is thought to have originated from “gillofloure”, the name English herbalist John Gerard gave it in 1597.
Used extensively by the commercial floral industry because of its spicy scent and long lasting blooms, Matthiola incana–stock–may have been commercially cultivated as far back as the Roman Empire. An English garden favorite since Elizabethan times, Matthiola incana produces both single and double flowers and long grayish-green leaves. White is the most common color, but Matthiola incana also grows in pink, red, yellow, lilac and purple.
