Paper short abstract:

The cultural history of the Horse chestnut is often connected to prestigious landscapes. In the presentation I will compare Finnish newspaper data with garden literature, and ponder how digital methods can help to enlarge the historical knowledge about a species.

Paper long abstract:

The goal of the Fauna et Flora Fennica project is to widen the understanding of the history of biodiversity in Finland, using digitised newspapers as a source material. In the presentation I will focus on trees, especially noble deciduous trees. As a case study I will concentrate on Horse chestnut (Aesculus hippocastanum), of which the first mention can be found in in 1891. The cultural history of the Horse chestnut is connected to gardens and prestigious landscapes, but it has also spread into surrounding environments. I the presentation I will compare the findings in the newspapers with garden literature, and ponder how digital methods can help to enlarge the historical knowledge about a species previously studied in the context of gardening.