Travel Tales 
H of a Plant Collector Jf 
E. H. WILSON 
Assistant Director of the Arnold Arboretum 
Author of “Romance of Our Trees,” “Aristocrats of the Garden,” “A Naturalist in Western China, 
and other works 
VIII. THE ORIENT, ANCIENT MOTHER OF TO-DAY’S GARDEN 
How Buddha Builded Gardens—In the Footsteps of French 
Jesuits—The East India Company an Early Ally of Horticulture 
Editors’ Note: By his unparalleled contribution to Occidental gardens of more than 2,000 new trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants brought back from a 
fourteen-year search in the Far East, Mr. Wilson has won the permanent gratitude of gardeners everywhere. Many of his introductions are already established 
in popular favor, and nearly 200 have received the authoritative stamp of the Royal Horticultural Society's Award of Merit. 
The exclusive privilege of publishing these accounts of "Chinese Wilson's” recent plant explorations through Africa, Asia, and Australia, in the footsteps of 
the older plant collectors, has been accorded The Garden Magazine. 
Copyright, D. P. & Co., 1933 
|T IS a singular fact that the shrubs and trees with con- 
spicuous blossoms hardy in the colder parts of this 
country, and in Europe, which are first to open their 
itlosi flowers in the spring are natives of the Orient. 
The Forsythias which inaugurate the gladsome season with a 
galaxy of golden bells are of Chinese origin, and in friendly ri¬ 
valry we enjoy the Japanese Magnolia stellata with its lovely 
pure white stars. Often these spring jewels are harshly buffeted 
by late frosts ere winter is finally banished, but the wonder is 
that such beauty can brave the wintery blasts of the cold north. 
The native woody plants which blossom in early spring have in¬ 
conspicuous flowers and it is not until the Shad-bushes (Amelan- 
chiers) burst into bloom that West vies with East in floral beauty. 
Whilst winter’s hand is yet heavy on the land, the Witch- 
hazels boldly put forth their star-shaped, yellow blossoms, but 
the native Hamamelis vernalis is overshadowed by its more 
brilliant Chinese and Japanese relatives. The European For- 
sythia opens its flowers at the same time as its Asiatic sisters, 
but is dimmed by their greater beauty. Not until the Lilacs 
blossom does Europe compete with eastern Asia in wealth of 
showy flowers. The Peach, the Almond, and the Apricot are 
Asiatic; the white-flowered Cherries of Europe are cold in com¬ 
parison with their pink-flowered Asiatic sisters; the Magnolias 
and Crabapples of America flower after their Asiatic relatives. 
Wistaria, the most glorious climber hardy gardens enjoy, is 
also from the Orient. And our indebtedness is just as great 
at other seasons of the year. All our most popular races of 
Roses are of Oriental origin and so, too, are Chrysanthemums, 
the glory of the autumn blossoms. Peonies and Primroses, 
China Asters and Lilies are very largely of east Asiatic origin. 
I ndeed, our debt to the Orient for hardy plant material is greater 
than to any other part of the world. The two most common 
hedge plants in America, Thunberg’s Barberry and the so-called 
Californian Privet, are natives of Japan. The Peach and 
Apricot hail from China and this same country has given us 
the Orange, the Lemon, and the Grape-fruit. To tell in detail 
of all the plants the Orient has given to our gardens would re¬ 
quire a bulky volume, but as we proceed some glimmering of the 
rich dowry showered upon us will be seen. 
The object, however, is not so much to describe the plants as 
to tell the means by which they reached us. Last month we 
bade good-bye to South Africa, as in May we did to Australia, 
and from either of these lands it seems a far cry to China and 
Japan. Deep oceans and many thousands of miles separate 
these regions and yet the same chain of events led to their dis¬ 
covery and to the introduction of plant material. 
Antiquity of China’s Influence 
"THE nations of the East are old, very old, and the peoples enjoyed 
* a high standard of civilization and were cultured when those of 
western and northern Europe were sunk in savagery. China was a 
nation when the Pharaohs ruled in Egypt. Of the first intercourse 
between China and the nations of the Levant we have no knowledge. 
In the first century of the Christian era, Chinese armies penetrated as 
far westward as the Caspian Sea and Chinese sway was maintained 
there for at least a couple of centuries. Probably during this period 
the Walnut ( Juglans regia ) and Vine ( Vitis vinifera) were brought from 
that region into China and such fruit trees as the Peach and the Apri¬ 
cot carried to Persia together with silk and other Chinese articles. The 
wealth of China reached the peoples of Persia and the Levant, but how 
much intercourse there may have been is not known. 
In A. D. 65 a deputation was sent to India to obtain the sacred books 
and authorized teachers of Buddhism which the Emperor intended to 
publicly introduce into China. This religion has exercised an all- 
powerful influence over the peoples of China, Korea, and Japan, 
moulding their culture, inculcating and fostering a love for flowers. 
Buddha himself made famous the Bo-tree of India ( Ficus religiosa ) and 
his disciples in succeeding generations and in other lands have done 
the same for other trees like the Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba), a Linden 
( T. Miqueliana), Juniperus chinensis, Thuja orientalis, such shrubs as 
Paeonia moutan and such herbs as Nelumbium speciosum. From China 
Buddhist apostles carried to Korea, and from Korea to Japan, a great 
many flowers still favorites to all three lands. Further, they intro¬ 
duced cereals, vegetables, and fruits and did much to improve the ma¬ 
terial life of the people they proselyted among. This grand old re¬ 
ligion is now somewhat decadent in these lands, but in the temple- 
grounds everywhere are still to be found fine trees, many kinds of 
shrubs and herbs in choice variety. 
To the illustrious traveller, Marco Polo, who lived many years in 
China during the latter part of the 13th century, we owe the first 
authentic account of that mighty empire and of many of the vegetable 
productions used there for economic purposes. His account sounded 
so marvelous that it was unbelieved by the Venetians; indeed, it was 
not until late in the 19th century that his veracity was properly es¬ 
tablished. After his memorable travels and the wanderings of Friars 
Odoric and Marignolli in eastern Asia early in the 14th century, 
China was shut off from European access until the arrival of the 
Portuguese in 1516. 
IN MAY, 1498, Vasco da Gama reached India, and the Portuguese 
I established themselves at Goa on the west coast. For a century 
they enjoyed a monopoly of trade with India and the countries to the 
eastward, the richest regions of the known world—the Indies. The 
wealth of the Indies was the lodestone of geographical enterprise in the 
1 5th and 16th centuries, the greatest era in voyages of discovery in the 
world’s history. Columbus in 1492 striving to find a westerly route 
