112 



FLORA AND SYLVA, 



Pelargoniums ! The Japanese were but little 

 more sympathetic, probably because they had 

 so many lovely flowers of their own, and, what 

 is more, so much of sentiment and conven- 

 tional or legendary lore bound up with them 

 and the seasons at which they naturally bloom. 

 Their love of flowering trees and shrubs is well 

 known, and the introduction of their Crabs, 

 Cherries, Magnolias, Wistarias, Plums, and 

 Vines, to say naught of many other choice 

 garden flowers, has given a greater impetus 

 to the planting of flowering trees, shrubs, and 

 climbers in British gardens than any other 

 event of our time. Even Japanese fruits, such 

 as the Plum and the Kaki, are already becom- 

 ing of much economic interest in California 

 and elsewhere in the warmer United States, in 

 South Africa, Italy, and the South of France. 

 The introduction of the Japanese Chrysan- 

 themum by Fortune, as we all know, led to a 

 great change in the cultivation of that popular 

 flower in our home gardens. 



To-day the Bamboo garden affords an- 

 other instance of how Japan has helped us in 

 our gardens, and there is reason to believe that 

 these woody-stemmed grasses have been hy- 

 bridised in that country, but whether as wild, 

 or as cultivated in gardens we do not at 

 present know. Take, again, the varieties and 

 forms of the Japanese Maple, and one or two 

 other species, their variation is surprisingly 

 rich, and, so far, we are at a loss to know 

 whether their origin is mainly from seed as 

 wind-fertilised, or whether the custom of 

 grafting, or rather inarching, has not helped 

 in their production. 



As to Cherries and Plums, their name is 

 legion, and the beautiful double-flowered 

 kinds of these are probably of garden origin. 

 The same remark applies to many Lilies, tree 

 Paeonies, and especially to the artificial rear- 

 ing of seedling Iris Kcempferi so-called, which 

 are believed to have all come from the pur- 

 ple I. laevigata of Siberia. Siebold's Primrose, 

 again, is no doubt a garden development of 

 the Siberian and Chinese Primula cortusoides, 

 both having reached Japan, via China, long 

 ago. 



Kasmpfer was a German physician, who 

 originally appointed to Batavia, went thence 

 to Japan, like Thunberg and Siebold, with 



the yearly embassies of the old Dutch East 

 India Company. His " History of Japan" was 

 published in England after his death from a 

 MS. acquired by Sir Hans Sloane. It may be 

 seen at Kew, or in the library of the British 

 Museum (Natural History Department) un- 

 der the title of " Icones Selectae Plantarum," 

 and is dated 1 79 1 . 



Prunus mume (or Plum), to which refer- 

 ence is made in Flora and Sylva, No. i, 

 p. 7, was figured and described by Siebold in 

 his " Flora Japonica " sixty years or so ago. 

 Siebold says that it is a yellow-fruited Plum 

 used in Japan for pickles, like our cucumbers, 

 and producing mariy hundreds of varieties. It is 

 also used by the Japanese gardeners for dwarf- 

 ing as domestic ornaments indoors. " The 

 Japanese," says Siebold, " have an incredible 

 fondness for dwarf trees, and with reference 

 to this the cultivation of the Mume is one of 

 the most general and lucrative employments 

 of the country. Such plants are increased by 

 inarching, and by this means specimens are 

 obtained which have the peculiar habit of the 

 Weeping Willow. A nurseryman offered me 

 for sale, in 1826, a plant in flower which was 

 scarcely 3 inches high ; this chef d'ceuvre of 

 gardening was grown in a little lacquered box 

 of three tiers, similar to those filled with drugs, 

 which the Japanese carry in their belts. In 

 the upper tier was this Mume, in the second 

 row a little Spruce Fir, and in the lowest a 

 Bamboo scarcely an inch and a half high." 



Siebold wasone of the first garden-botanists, 

 and an excellent little biography of him may 

 be found at p. 474 of Veitch's " Manual of the 

 Coniferae." He returned to Europe in 1830 

 and published his now celebrated "Flora" ; 

 about the year 1850 he settled at Leyden 

 and established a nursery ovjardin d'acclimata- 

 tion for Japanese plants. As late as 1883 this 

 nursery, with its curved, ridged, tile-roofed 

 entrance, and offices, its tori, and jungle of 

 Japanese plants, all neglected and running riot, 

 was in existence. Myself and Mr. Peter Barr 

 together made a pilgrimage to the place and 

 entered, finding no one in charge. It was in 

 early May, and many Japanese plants, since 

 introduced over again, were growing there. 

 Messrs. Veitch, Maries, and Wilson, and ama- 

 teurs like Lord Redesdale, Mr. and Mrs. 



