36 
The Garden Magazine, September, 1923 
The doyen of living botanical collectors in China is Professor 
Augustine Henry. For fairly obvious reasons these articles 
concern themselves with the labors of those who have passed on, 
but it is permissible to state that no one in any age has contri¬ 
buted more to the knowledge of Chinese plants than this schol¬ 
arly Irishman. Space forbids that I pursue this subject further, 
and it may well end with reference to work done by a Russian, 
Dr. E. Bretschneider, who for many years was physician to the 
Russian Legation at Peking. This gentleman, during his so¬ 
journ in China, among other good works sent seeds of native 
plants to many Botanic Gardens in Europe and also to the 
Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University. 
From these seeds were raised some of the finest plants now 
growing in the Arnold Arboretum and of them 1 may mention 
four Lilacs ( Syringa villosa, S. pubescens, S. oblata, and A. peki- 
nensis), such Pear-trees as Pyrus Bretscbneideri, P. ussuriensis 
var. ovoidea , P. betulaefolia, the Manchurian Crabapple ( Malus 
baccata var. mandshurica), the wild form of the Apricot ( Prunus 
Armeniaca ) and the single-flowered form of Prunus friloba, 
David’s Peach ( Prunus Davidiana), the Chinese Thorn with 
large, edible fruits ( Crataegus pinnatifida ) and such plants as 
Hydrangea Bretscbneideri, Deut{ia parviftora, Ampelopsis aconi- 
tifolia, Celastrus articulatus, Sorbus discolor, Philadelphus peki- 
nensis. Viburnum Sargentianum, that exquisite gem among early 
flowering plants, Rhododendron dauricum var. mucronulatum and 
many others. These seeds were received in 1882 and have 
proved one of the most important gifts the Arnold Arboretum 
has received. Since the 20th century dawned, many hundreds of 
valuable plants have been introduced from China and of the men 
who have aided in thiswork three (Messrs. Frank N. Meyer, Regi¬ 
nald Farrer, and William Purdom) have paid the supreme price. 
A Rich Flora and One Familiar 
C '' HINA proper and without its dependencies is a very large country 
> occupying about 20 degrees of latitude and 20 degrees of longi¬ 
tude, being equal to about two-thirds of the United States. The south 
is just within the tropics whereas the north enjoys a climate similar to 
that of New England. The country is well watered and is rich and 
fertile to an extraordinary degree. It has many fine rivers navigable 
for very long distances. Rich alluvial valleys, plains, and plateaux 
and a complex mountain system make up its physical formation. The 
western boundaries separating it from Thibet are a series of high par¬ 
allel ranges with their major peaks clad with snows eternal. The high¬ 
est exceeds 25,000 feet in altitude. Except in the treeless areas of the 
northeast, China enjoys a good rainfall, evenly distributed through the 
year, though in many parts there is a decided leaning toward a summer 
rainfall. 
China is densely populated and the people are essentially agricultural. 
All suitable land is under crops, and forests (except in inaccessible 
parts) have been all destroyed. In spite of this the Chinese flora is 
the richest temperate flora in the world. Fully twenty thousand differ¬ 
ent species are known to grow there, and we are far from knowing the 
full richness of this remarkable land. Enjoying a climate congenial 
to plant life, every kind of soil and altitude ranging from sea-level to 
perpetual snows, China is of course highly favored. Moreover, the 
country was not glaciated during the Tertiary times and though agri¬ 
culture, practiced as it has been for several thousand years, has wrought 
the destruction of we know not how many species and genera of plants, 
the flora as it exists to-day is really an epitome of that of the whole 
north temperate region in times prior to the last glacial epoch. This 
itself is of great interest, but the fascination to us lies in the fact that it 
contains such a wealth of different plants preeminently suited to the 
embellishment of our outdoor gardens. 
No other country has given us so many ornamental trees and shrubs, 
and a majority of the most prized woody plants of hardy gardens are 
native of China. The woods and forest remains of China are in the 
main composed of plants genericallv the same as those of North 
America, indeed, there is a very close relationship between the floras. 
In China we find Pine, Fir, Spruce, Larch, Juniper, Oak, Ash, Elm, 
Maple, Willow, Poplar, Birch, Alder and so forth even as here though 
the species are different. In short the aspect of the forests is similar 
though in detail they differ greatly. However, the flora is in general 
familiar and not wholly alien like those of Australia and South Africa. 
I do not wish these articles to degenerate into mere lists of plant 
names, but it is difficult to do any sort of justice to the Celestial Em¬ 
pire’s contributions to gardens of the West without enumerating such 
names by the score. The outstanding 
feature of Chinese flora is its great 
richness in plants with showy flowers 
which blossom at every season of the 
year except winter in the cold north. 
Our spring-flowering Forsythias and 
Magnolias, summer-flowering Roses, 
Buddleias, and Lespedezas, and au¬ 
tumn-flowering Chrysanthemums are 
all Chinese in origin. Space is too lim¬ 
ited for any proper analysis, but a few 
words may be given to some of the 
principal groups which characterize the 
flora of China. 
Dwarfs and Giants 
of the Rhododendron Family 
B ROADLEAF evergreen trees and 
shrubs are prominent in the 
milder parts of China, and chief among 
them are Rhododendrons. If we ignore 
for the moment the section familiarly 
known as Azaleas ,the first species of 
Rhododendron proper was discovered 
in Hongkong in 1849 and was named 
R. Championae after the wife of Colonel 
Champion, its discoverer. Robert For¬ 
tune found on the mountains of Che¬ 
kiang in 1855 a second species which 
A CHINESE LILAC 
GROWN EROM SEED 
Now flourishing in the Arnold Arboretum, 
Jamaica Plains, Mass., this Lilac (Syringa 
villosa) was grown from seed found in China 
and sent to the Arboretum by a Russian 
physician, Dr. E. Bretschneider 
