The Garden Magazine, March, 1920 
39 
PLANTS DESTINED FOR AMERICA PHOTOGRAPHED BY MR. WILSON 
It is not alone colors ranging from pure pink, rose, cerise, lavender, mauve, magenta .salmon and vermilion to deep red which distinguishes this remarkable group, 
nor the profusion of the flowers, but rather a peculiar luminosity that radiates from every color, making the one word "ethereal" truly descriptive of them all 
companionship with plants. In this garden 1 made a selection 
of forty-three of the best kinds, in duplicate; and this was later 
increased to fifty-two kinds. 
I am happy to say that on April 24, 1919, these io4Azaleaswere 
unpacked in the Arnold Arboretum and all found to be alive; 
and, considering the length of their journey, in good condition. 
Making the selection was much easier than persuading Mr. 
Akashi to part with them; though, with true old-time Japanese 
politeness, he had offered me any or all that he had. He loved 
his plants and I fully understand his reluctance to part with 
them when the time to do so actually came. 
M R. AKASH 1 kindly furnished us with the details of the his- 
tory of these Azaleas, as far as these are known. They were 
originated by a Japanese gentleman named Motozo Sakamoto, 
who lived in the city of Kurume about one hundred years ago. 
The parents came from sacred Kirishima (a volcanic mountain in 
south Kyushu, still active) but whether brought from there by 
Mr. Sakamoto or given to him by some pilgrim is uncertain. 
At any rate, Sakamoto cultivated several varieties and raised 
and selected seedlings, including one he named “ Azumakagami” 
from which it is claimed have descended all the pink-colored 
forms. After his death, Sakamoto’s collection passed into the 
hands of Mr. Akashi. 
T HE original plant of “Azuma-kagami ” is still living and 
healthy. 1 photographed it but failed to purchase it — 
though I tried hard to do so. Mr. Akashi showed us a gold 
medal awarded to him for an exhibit of thirty plants, in a dozen 
kinds, of Kurume Azaleas at the Panama-Pacific Exposition, 
San Francisco, in 1915. The plants were afterward sold; and 
Mr. Akashi’s pride in the gold medal seemed a little saddened 
when he thought of the loss of those thirty plants. [Question: 
Where are these plants now? Ed.] 
We next determined to visit Mt. Kirishima, whence tradition 
says the parents of the plants came. 1 had visited this mountain 
early in March, 1914, and remembered that an Azalea grew there 
and that 1 had gathered leafless specimens. We spent a night 
nearthe baseof Mt. Kirishima and startingearly the next morning 
soon reached an altitude of 1,000 meters, where forest abruptly 
gives place to grass-land. And there we saw before us the moun- 
tain slopes dotted with blossoming Azalea bushes in quantity. 
1 hey grow on volcanic soil, on windswept grassy slopes, and 
among rocks. In size the bushes are from nearly prostrate to a 
yard high, and hardly two plants have flowers of the same shade 
of color! We gathered specimens of forms with pink, salmon, 
and mauve to rich magenta-colored flowers; then at a little 
higher altitude red-flowered forms, and among these an oc- 
casional white one. Much variation is found in the size and 
shape of the flowers and leaves; also the anthers vary in color. 
With the variety of forms on the mountain before us we could 
accept without reservation the story of the origin of the Kurume 
Azaleas, as given by Mr. Akashi, and reiterated by others; 
for seedlings raised from such a variable and multicolored 
species could easily give rise to all the known colors in the gar- 
den forms of this group to-day. 
