191-)j WILSON, PHYTOGEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF KOREA 43 



dendron Schlippenhachii Maxim, and Viburnum Carlesii Ilems!. The last 

 named, probably the best known and most popular of Korean shrubs, 



was introduced from Japan into England in 1902. 



By roundabout ways plants from China have, intermittently, found their 

 way to western lands from the 16th cent, if not earlier, and from Japan 

 since the 17th cent,, though in each case often wnth long breaks in the 

 periods. Yet, the 20th cent, had almost dawned before any seeds or living 

 plants direct from Korea reached the Occident. In 1897, a Russian Bot- 

 anist, Vladimir L, Komarov, made a trip through north Korea, collected 

 herbarium material and i)robably some seeds, for in the Gardener^s Chron- 

 icle (ser. 3, XLiv, 210 [l908]), there is a figure, and note about Rodgersia 

 tahularis Kom., a typical Korean herbaceous plant, flowering in Kew gar- 

 dens from seeds received from the Imperial Botanic Garden, Petrograd, in 

 1905. In December, 1904, the Arnold Arboretum received, through the 

 Imperial Botanic Gardens, Tokyo, some seeds collected in Korea by T. 

 Uchiyama which resulted in the introduction of Abies holophylla Maxim, 

 and Hemiptelea Davidii Planch. In 1905, Mr. J. G. Jack, of the Arnold 

 Arboretum staff, was in the Orient and visited Korea. The Russo-Japan- 

 ese war was still in progress and it was impossible for any one to travel 

 freely in Korea. Moreover, Mr, Jack's main purpose was not botanical 

 collecting, nevertheless he sent back to this institution seeds and living 

 material of quite a number of i>lants which have proved to be of excep- 

 tional interest and value. To Mr. Jack we owe such Korean plants of 

 merit and hardiness as Rhododendron poiikhanense Lev., Diervilla florula 

 var. ^?enu6'/a Rehd., Tripterygium Regelii Sprague ScTskeda, Malusbaccata 

 f. Jackii Rehd., Rosa Jackii Rehd., Evodia Daniellii Hemsl., an Oak 

 (Quercus alienaBl.) and the plants in this Arboretum of the lovely Indigo- 

 fera Kirilowii Maxim. This list makes no pretense of being complete 

 but their value was a sufficient incentive to further work in Korea and 

 culminated in the Expedition, undertaken by the Arnold x\rboretum, which 

 lasted from 1917 to February, 1919. Among other things this expedition 

 secured seeds and living plants of about two hundred species and varie- 

 ties of woody plants. Of the behavior of these here it is too early to 

 write and it would be unwise to enlarge upon their qualities. As they 

 grow in Korea many are decidedly handsome and we may hope that they 

 will successfully adapt themselves to the climates and soils of western 



lands. 



Compared with the floras of China and of Japan that of Korea is a fairly 

 simple study but it cannot be properly understood unless its relationship 

 with that of contiguous and adjacent regions be given due consideration. 

 It is not without its own peculiar problems and contains much of interest 

 to the botanist and gardener. 



