Introduction 



high on Mount Apoi as a result of a lowered summer tem- 

 peramre brought on by heavy fog during the growing months 

 of summer. The flora of Rebun Island, adjacent to Hokkaido, 

 is known for the occurrence of floristic elements from Sakhalin 

 as a result of a lowered summer temperature brought on by 

 the cold current that flows southward through the Mamiya 

 Channel. 



HISTORICAL RfiSUMfi OF FLORISTIC 

 WORK IN JAPAN 



When Linnaeus wrote the first edition of his "Species Plan- 

 tarum" in 1753, he knew only a few of the plants of Japan, 

 all taken from the "Amoenitatum Exoticarum" (1712) of 

 Engelbert Kaempfer (1651-1716). Kaempfer was a German 

 naturalist who lived in Japan from 1690 to 1692 as a medical 

 officer of the Dutch East India Company. The plants listed by 

 Kaempfer were: Chenopodium scoparia, Rhus vernix, Laurus 

 camphora, Thea sinensis, Uvaria japonica. Camellia japonica, 

 Morus papyrifera, Xanthium strumarium, Ficus pumila, Smilax 

 china, Taxus nucifera, Epidendrum moniliforme, Azalea in- 

 dica, etc., all well known among the indigenous plants of 

 Japan. 



In volume I of Linnaeus's "Mantissa Plantarum" (1767), 

 Sophpra japonica, Prenanthes japonica, and Tussilago japonica 

 were described on the basis of actual specimens collected in 

 1759 by Christiaan KleynhofiF, a Hollander of German birth. 

 The next year Kleynhoff's collection was reported upon by N. 

 L. Burman (1734-1793), also of Holland, in his "Flora Indica" 

 (1768). In Burman's work Azalea rosmarinifolia, Basella 

 japonica. Arnica tussilaginea, and Ficus pyrifolia are described 

 from Japan as new taxa based upon Kleynhoff's original speci- 

 mens. 



C. P. Thunberg (1743-1828), a Swedish naturalist, phys- 

 ician, and disciple of Linnaeus, came to Japan in August of 

 1775 at the age of 32 years, as a medical officer of the Dutch 

 East India Company. Thunberg traveled from Nagasaki to 

 Yedo (Tokyo) and back before his return home via Java in 

 December of 1776. Thunberg's Japanese collections amounted 

 to approximately 1,000 species. The best of his collection was 

 from Hakone. The major work of Thunberg culminated in 

 his now classic work "Flora Japonica," published in 1784, the 

 cornerstone of taxonomic botany in Japan. Thunberg pub- 

 lished separately on parts of his Japanese collections in 

 "Kaempferus Illustratus," 1-2 (1780, 1783); "Nova Genera 

 Plantarum," 1 and 3 (1781, 1783), and several other works. 

 Several novelties from his collection were published in "Sup- 

 plementum Plantarum Systematis Vegetabilium" (1781) by 

 the son of Linnaeus and in part 2, volumes 8-14, of the 

 "Natuurlyke Historie" (1773-83) of Martinus Houttuyn. 

 Nearly all of Thunberg's collections are now preserved in the 

 University of Uppsala in Sweden. 



Through the Dutch East India Company, established in 

 Nagasaki in 1609, Japanese plants found their way to Europe 

 via Dejima Island, the only Japanese port opened to foreigners 

 at that time. Only ships of Dutch nationality were permitted 

 entry until restrictions were removed in 1859. Floristic studies 

 on the Japanese flora during this period, although of a rela- 

 tively limited scope, were carried on under Dutch sponsorship. 

 Botanical collecting by the Dutch was greatly accelerated after 

 the beginning of the 19th century by the opening of a botanical 

 garden at Buitenzorg (now Bogor) in Java and by the ex- 



ploits of Siebold and others. Japanese plants from various col- 

 lectors were studied by K. L. von Blume (1796-1862) at Bui- 

 tenzorg. We find that publication on some of Siebold's early 

 collections began to appear in volume 2 of Blume's "Bijdran- 

 gen tot de Flora van Nederlandsch Indie" (1825-26). 



P. F. von Siebold (1796-1866), of German birth, came to 

 Japan in 1823 when he was 27 years of age as a medical officer 

 of the Dutch East India Company. He remained in Japan until 

 1829. During his residence of six years he collected assiduously 

 at Nagasaki and vicinity, and in 1826 he traveled to Yedo 

 (Tokyo) and back. Siebold was assisted at various times by the 

 able Japanese naturalists Keiske ltd (1803-1901), Yoan Uda- 

 gawa (1798-1846), and Hobun Mizutani (1779-1833). Upon 

 his return to Europe in 1830, Siebold lived at Leiden and con- 

 tinued to receive plants from Japan sent through his Japanese 

 acquaintances, from H. Buerger who had earlier collected 

 plants with Siebold, and from Jacques Pierot (1812-41) who 

 visited Japan in 1840. Plants also came from Otto Gotdieb 

 Johan Mohnike (1814-87). For a time Siebold operated the 

 commercial nursery of Siebold & Co. at Leiden and sold many 

 Japanese plants widely over Europe. This undertaking was the 

 most important effort up to this time to introduce Japanese 

 plants into Europe. Ch. F. A. Mooren (1807-58), Joseph De- 

 caisne (1807-82), and Justus Karl Hasskarl (1811-94) made 

 studies on the living plants brought from Japan by Siebold. 



The principal works published by Siebold on the Japanese 

 flora are his "Plantarum, quas in Japonia Collegit Dr. Ph. Fr. 

 de Siebold, Genera Nova, Notis Characteristicis Delineationi- 

 busque lUustrata Proponunt" (1843) and his "Florae Japonicae 

 Familiae Naturales" (1845-46) both published jointly with J. 

 G. Zuccarini, and his "Flora Japonica" (1826-70) published 

 also under joint authorship with Zuccarini, except for the sec- 

 ond volume, of which F. A. W. Miquel was joint author. Most 

 of the herbarium specimens collected by Siebold are preserved 

 in the Rijksherbarium at Leiden. A somewhat smaller set, pur- 

 chased by Maximowicz, is in Leningrad along with Siebold's 

 unpublished drawings prepared for the "Flora Japonica." 



Siebold's Japanese collections were cited in several works by 

 other authors, especially by K. L. Blume in the "Museum 

 Botanicum Lugduno-Batavum," 1-2 (1849-56) and in his 

 "Flora Javae et Insularum Adjacentium Nova Series" (Orchi- 

 daceae), 1858, and by E. G. Steudel in his "Synopsis Plantarum 

 Glumacearum," (1854-55) . F. A. W. Miquel published the most 

 amplified account of Siebold's collection in his "Prolusio Florae 

 Japonicae" (1865-67) issued in his serial "Annales Musei 

 Botanici Lugduno-Batavi." 



Heinrich Zollinger, a Swiss botanist who worked in the 

 herbarium at Buitenzorg from 1841 to 1848, published on the 

 Japanese plants he found deposited in the Buitenzorg herba- 

 rium. This work, entitled "Systematisches Verzeichnis der im 

 Indischen Archipel in den Jahren 1842-48 gesammelten, sowie 

 der aus Japan empfangenen Pflanzen" published in Zurich in 

 1854-55, included an account of the Japanese collections of 

 P. F. W. Goring. 



Philip Friedrich Wilhelm Goring (1809-79) was a bot- 

 anist of German birth who collected under Dutch auspices at 

 Nagasaki. Goring's collections were studied by various special- 

 ists, but principally by Zuccarini, who published on them in 

 the periodical "Flora," volume 29 (1846). Steudel reported on 

 die grasses and sedges, also in volume 29 of "Flora." The Ger- 

 man botanist H. G. Reichenbach /. published on the orchids 

 in the "Botanische Zeitung," volume 3 (1845). Some new 

 species based on Goring's collections were described by N. S. 



