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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  194 
  3 
  

  

  door 
  of 
  China 
  from 
  Burma 
  and 
  to 
  scour 
  the 
  far 
  distant 
  borderland 
  

   and 
  even 
  the 
  still 
  largely 
  forbidden 
  land 
  of 
  Tibet. 
  Now 
  the 
  eastern 
  

   part 
  of 
  China 
  is 
  closed 
  to 
  all 
  outsiders 
  except 
  the 
  Japanese, 
  and 
  the 
  

   westerners 
  can 
  enter 
  only 
  by 
  the 
  back 
  door. 
  

  

  Of 
  course 
  the 
  first 
  westerner 
  to 
  observe 
  the 
  plants 
  of 
  China 
  was 
  the 
  

   Italian 
  merchant 
  Marco 
  Polo. 
  His 
  written 
  accounts 
  of 
  what 
  he 
  saw 
  

   contain 
  many 
  references 
  to 
  the 
  plants 
  and 
  vegetation 
  and 
  are 
  of 
  some 
  

   use 
  in 
  reconstructing 
  a 
  picture 
  of 
  the 
  vegetation 
  in 
  the 
  thirteenth 
  

   century, 
  so 
  different 
  in 
  many 
  places 
  from 
  that 
  found 
  today. 
  But 
  to 
  

   scientific 
  knowledge 
  Marco 
  Polo 
  made 
  almost 
  no 
  contribution. 
  

  

  From 
  the 
  rediscovery 
  of 
  China 
  by 
  the 
  Portuguese 
  in 
  1516 
  to 
  the 
  ex- 
  

   clusion 
  of 
  the 
  western 
  botanists 
  from 
  eastern 
  China 
  after 
  "Pearl 
  

   Harbor," 
  there 
  has 
  been 
  a 
  steady 
  accumulation 
  of 
  knowledge 
  of 
  

   Chinese 
  botany 
  by 
  the 
  west. 
  Following 
  on 
  the 
  heels 
  of 
  the 
  Portuguese 
  

   traders 
  came 
  Jesuit 
  missionaries, 
  who, 
  unlike 
  the 
  merchants, 
  pene- 
  

   trated 
  far 
  into 
  the 
  interior. 
  In 
  1601 
  the 
  Dutch 
  arrived 
  but 
  their 
  pred- 
  

   ecessors, 
  the 
  Portuguese, 
  were 
  too 
  well 
  established 
  to 
  permit 
  these 
  

   newcomers 
  to 
  do 
  much 
  in 
  China, 
  so 
  the 
  Dutch 
  concentrated 
  their 
  efforts 
  

   on 
  Japan 
  and 
  were 
  more 
  important 
  in 
  the 
  botanical 
  history 
  of 
  that 
  

   country. 
  They 
  introduced 
  tea 
  into 
  Europe 
  soon 
  after 
  their 
  first 
  ar- 
  

   rival. 
  The 
  English 
  came 
  in 
  1637 
  and 
  the 
  French 
  at 
  a 
  somewhat 
  later 
  

   date. 
  When 
  the 
  Swedish 
  botanist 
  Linnaeus 
  wrote 
  his 
  epoch-making 
  

   Species 
  Plantarum, 
  published 
  in 
  1753, 
  he 
  had 
  access 
  to 
  a 
  surprising 
  

   number 
  of 
  Chinese 
  plants 
  brought 
  by 
  the 
  Swedish 
  sea 
  captains 
  or 
  sent 
  

   by 
  various 
  traders 
  established 
  in 
  the 
  few 
  coastal 
  ports 
  then 
  available, 
  

   especially 
  by 
  the 
  enterprising 
  chaplain 
  Peter 
  Osbeck 
  at 
  Canton. 
  As 
  

   these 
  treasures 
  from 
  the 
  east 
  and 
  other 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  reached 
  

   Europe, 
  gardens 
  were 
  established 
  for 
  their 
  cultivation 
  and 
  herbaria 
  

   were 
  built 
  for 
  their 
  preservation. 
  Scientific 
  societies 
  were 
  formed 
  to 
  

   promote 
  world 
  exploration 
  and 
  to 
  study 
  the 
  accumulated 
  specimens. 
  

   Thus 
  grew 
  the 
  famous 
  Chelsea 
  Physic 
  Garden 
  in 
  London 
  and 
  the 
  

   Royal 
  Gardens, 
  the 
  latter 
  now 
  the 
  world-famous 
  Royal 
  Botanic 
  Gardens 
  

   at 
  Kew, 
  almost 
  universally 
  known 
  simply 
  as 
  Kew. 
  Likewise 
  there 
  were 
  

   established 
  the 
  Jardin 
  des 
  Plantes 
  in 
  Paris, 
  and 
  botanical 
  gardens 
  in 
  

   Leiden, 
  Geneva, 
  Vienna, 
  St. 
  Petersburg, 
  and 
  elsewhere. 
  After 
  1800 
  

   there 
  was 
  developed 
  the 
  Royal 
  Botanic 
  Garden 
  in 
  Calcutta 
  with 
  its 
  

   eminent 
  botanists, 
  especially 
  Wallich 
  and 
  Roxburgh. 
  The 
  Royal 
  

   Horticultural 
  Society, 
  the 
  Linnaean 
  Society 
  of 
  London, 
  and 
  other 
  

   scientific 
  organizations 
  were 
  founded, 
  and 
  botany 
  thrived 
  throughout 
  

   Europe. 
  Governments 
  became 
  interested 
  in 
  the 
  subject, 
  and 
  botanists 
  

   accompanied 
  many 
  of 
  the 
  world 
  exploring 
  expeditions 
  that 
  were 
  so 
  

   popular 
  during 
  the 
  eighteenth 
  century 
  and 
  the 
  first 
  half 
  of 
  the 
  nine- 
  

   teenth. 
  All 
  these 
  foreigners 
  except 
  the 
  Russians 
  began 
  their 
  activities 
  

   in 
  China 
  at 
  coastal 
  cities. 
  The 
  Russians, 
  however, 
  pushed 
  overland 
  and 
  

  

  