﻿PLANTS 
  OF 
  CHINA 
  — 
  WALKER 
  329 
  

  

  entered 
  China 
  from 
  the 
  north 
  as 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  exploration 
  of 
  Siberia 
  

   and 
  adjacent 
  lands, 
  and 
  today 
  the 
  basic 
  botanical 
  collections 
  from 
  

   northern 
  and 
  northwestern 
  China 
  are 
  to 
  be 
  found 
  in 
  Leningrad. 
  

  

  The 
  first 
  real 
  American 
  botanical 
  interest 
  in 
  China 
  came 
  with 
  the 
  

   famous 
  Perry 
  expedition, 
  which 
  forced 
  Japan 
  to 
  open 
  her 
  doors 
  to 
  

   foreign 
  trade 
  in 
  1854. 
  Charles 
  Wright, 
  the 
  botanist 
  of 
  the 
  expedition, 
  

   collected 
  in 
  China 
  only 
  about 
  Hong 
  Kong 
  and 
  Canton. 
  His 
  collec- 
  

   tions 
  were 
  studied 
  by 
  our 
  own 
  famous 
  Asa 
  Gray, 
  working 
  closely 
  with 
  

   European 
  botanists. 
  Sets 
  of 
  duplicates 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  London, 
  St. 
  

   Petersburg, 
  and 
  probably 
  Paris 
  or 
  Berlin. 
  The 
  famous 
  Russian 
  

   botanist, 
  C. 
  J. 
  Maximowicz, 
  founded 
  several 
  new 
  species 
  on 
  Wright's 
  

   collections. 
  

  

  Numerous 
  famous 
  botanists 
  were 
  associated 
  with 
  various 
  aspects 
  of 
  

   this 
  increasing 
  interest 
  in 
  botanical 
  exploration. 
  Robert 
  Fortune 
  ex- 
  

   plored 
  the 
  coastal 
  regions 
  of 
  eastern 
  China 
  from 
  1843 
  to 
  1861, 
  largely 
  

   for 
  the 
  Royal 
  Horticultural 
  Society 
  of 
  London, 
  and 
  practically 
  ex- 
  

   hausted 
  the 
  possibilities 
  of 
  Chinese 
  gardens 
  as 
  sources 
  of 
  material 
  for 
  

   cultivation 
  in 
  Europe. 
  He 
  wrote 
  several 
  very 
  readable 
  books 
  on 
  his 
  

   explorations, 
  and 
  from 
  Chekiang 
  and 
  Fukien 
  he 
  obtained 
  tea 
  plants 
  

   from 
  which 
  were 
  developed 
  the 
  now 
  extensive 
  and 
  important 
  tea 
  

   plantations 
  in 
  northern 
  India. 
  He 
  was 
  unable, 
  however, 
  because 
  of 
  

   restrictions 
  on 
  travel, 
  to 
  penetrate 
  very 
  far 
  into 
  the 
  back 
  country. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  learned 
  botanical 
  scholar 
  in 
  China 
  in 
  the 
  nineteenth 
  cen- 
  

   tury 
  was 
  probably 
  H. 
  F. 
  Hance, 
  a 
  consular 
  officer 
  established 
  in 
  Hong 
  

   Kong 
  and 
  Whampoa 
  below 
  Canton. 
  He 
  accumulated 
  there 
  a 
  fine 
  

   herbarium, 
  wrote 
  scholarly 
  botanical 
  papers, 
  and 
  corresponded 
  ex- 
  

   tensively 
  with 
  other 
  botanists 
  and 
  collectors 
  in 
  the 
  east. 
  His 
  herbar- 
  

   ium 
  eventually 
  reached 
  the 
  British 
  Museum. 
  Charles 
  Ford 
  and 
  

   various 
  others 
  were 
  in 
  charge 
  of 
  the 
  Hong 
  Kong 
  Botanical 
  Garden 
  and 
  

   enriched 
  these 
  collections 
  by 
  exploring 
  southern 
  and 
  southeastern 
  

   China. 
  Augustine 
  Henry 
  was 
  a 
  medical 
  officer 
  and 
  assistant 
  in 
  the 
  

   Chinese 
  Maritime 
  Customs, 
  who 
  was 
  stationed 
  at 
  various 
  times 
  in 
  

   Formosa 
  and 
  Hainan, 
  and 
  at 
  Ichang 
  in 
  Hupeh, 
  and 
  Mengtze 
  and 
  

   Szemao 
  in 
  Yunnan. 
  He 
  was 
  much 
  interested 
  in 
  studying 
  the 
  economic 
  

   botany 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  and 
  collected, 
  with 
  the 
  aid 
  of 
  Chinese 
  assistants, 
  

   thousands 
  of 
  herbarium 
  specimens, 
  which 
  were 
  sent 
  to 
  Kew, 
  whence 
  

   duplicates 
  were 
  distributed 
  to 
  various 
  herbaria 
  throughout 
  the 
  world. 
  

   They 
  are 
  now 
  considered 
  among 
  the 
  best 
  and 
  most 
  important 
  of 
  all 
  

   botanical 
  collections 
  from 
  China. 
  Besides 
  collecting 
  herbarium 
  ma- 
  

   terial, 
  Henry 
  observed 
  the 
  uses 
  made 
  of 
  these 
  plants 
  and 
  wrote 
  an 
  

   important 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  economic 
  plants 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  

  

  Among 
  prosperous 
  businessmen 
  in 
  Shanghai 
  around 
  1870 
  was 
  an 
  

   energetic 
  American, 
  F. 
  B. 
  Forbes, 
  who 
  delighted 
  in 
  collecting 
  plants 
  

   on 
  his 
  week-end 
  houseboat 
  trips 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity. 
  Having 
  need 
  for 
  a 
  

  

  