Wardian case
nounEtymology Named after its inventor, Nathaniel B. Ward, + -ian.
1
An early kind of protective container for transporting plants etc.
- We had brought with us from the Botanical Gardens in Queensland several Wardian cases filled with banana suckers, mangoes, and other varieties of fruit trees, as well as a supply of vegetable seeds - melons, pumpkins, and cucumbers, all of which, in due time, partially supplied the want experienced by every member of the community of a supply of kitchen garden produce.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 121: