Vol. 43 No. 4 Fall 1983

Amoldia (ISSN 0004-2633) is published quarterly inspnng, summer, fall, and winter by the ArnoldArboretum of Harvard University.

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Copynght © 1983 President and Fellows of HarvardCollege

Etleen J Dunne, Editor

Peter Del Tredici, Associate Editor

Front cover photo Leaves of Cornus kousa ’Snowboy’,a vanegated dogwood cultivar recently mtroduced fromJapan by Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, Maryland.Carl R Hahn, photo Back cover photo~ Fruit of thecommon bayberry (Mynca pensylvamca~. A1 Bussemtz,photo.

·arno ~aPage

3 Cultivars of Japanese Plants atBrookside GardensCarl R. Hahn and Barry R. Yinger

20 Of Birds and Bayberries: Seed Dispersaland Propagation of Three MyricaSpeciesAlfred J. Fordham

24 E. H. Wilson, Yichang, and theKiwifruit

23 BOOKS

Cultivars of JapanesePlants at BrooksideGardens

Since 1977 Brookside Gardens, a publiclysupported botanical garden within theMontgomery County, Maryland, park sys-tem, has maintained a special collectionsprogram to introduce into cultivation orna-mental plants (primarily woody) not in gen-eral cultivation in this country. Plants that

appear to be well-suited for the area are

grown at the county’s Pope Farm Nursery insufficient quantity for planting in publicareas, and others intended for wider cultiva-tion are tested and evaluated in cooperationwith nurseries and public gardens through-out the United States. Information on the

plants is kept in the county’s computer sys-tem, by means of a program designed underthe guidance of Carl Hahn, chief of horticul-ture. The collections are maintained andevaluated under the supervision of thecurator, Philip Normandy.To date more than 1000 different plants

have been acquired, mainly from Japan butalso from Korea, England, and Holland. TheJapanese collection includes both wild andcultivated plants, and the English and Dutchcontain mostly hard-to-find species and cul-tivars from specialty nurseries. Many of theplants were collected by the authors, and

Torreya nucifera ’Gold Strike’

Barry R. Yingerand Carl R. Hahn

some were ordered from commercialnurseries.

Cultivar Names of Japanese Plants

One of the persistent problems with thecollections has been the accurate naming ofJapanese cultivars. In our efforts to assigncultivar names that are in agreement withboth the rules and recommendations of theInternational Code of Nomenclature forCultivated Plants, 1980, we encounteredseveral problems. The most obvious waslanguage, as virtually all printed referencesto these plants are in Japanese. However, amore serious difficulty was trying to deter-mine which Japanese names satisfied theCode and which, regardless of how com-monly they are used, had to be set aside. Inresolving these difficulties, we arrived atwhat we believe will serve as ground rulesfor assigning English names to Japaneseplants being introduced into the UnitedStates.

First, most Japanese cultivar names can bedivided into two broad categories: metaphor-ical and literally descriptive. The first group iseasy to deal with on our terms because thenames correspond to Western "fancy"names or cultivar names. They are com-monly written in Chinese characters (ratherthan Japanese phonetic symbols, known as

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kana and do not incorporate the Japanesecolloquial names of the plants. These namesare usually allusions to ornamental featuresof the plants. For example: Akebono("dawn"), Shishigashira ("lion’s mane"/, andAmanogawa ("Milky Way"/. Such namesare characteristic of plants that have beencultivated and selected for a long time, oftencenturies, particularly those included inwhat is known as koten engei, the cultiva-tion of "classical plants." Bearing thesemetaphorical names are such popular groupsas Japanese maples, Japanese flowering cher-ries, Japanese apricots, Japanese pines, mostazaleas, and many others. We believe thesenames ought to be preserved and used.

In the second group the name usually con-sists of a descriptive prefix added to theJapanese colloquial name of the plant. Sev-eral prefixes appear again and again; themost common include the following:

(describing plant habit)shidare, penduloushime, diminutive, dwarfyatsubusa, congested, of slow growth

(descnbmg leaf characteristics)fuin, variegated (shirofu, white-variegated;

kiifu, yellow-variegated)murasaki, purple

(describing flower and fruit characteristics)issai, flowenng or fruiting as a young plantyaezaki, double flowersshikizaki, everbloommgakabana and bembana, red, pink, scarlet, or

orange flowers; shirobana, white flowers;kibana, yellow flowers)

shmoml, white fruit (akami, red fruit)

Names such as these are often written in

Japanese phonetic symbols and usuallyprefix the name of the species; thus shidare

("weeping") ego-no-ki (the Japanese namefor Styrax japonicus refers to a clone ofStyrax ~aponicus with pendulous branches.We believe that such names are contrary torecommendations within article 31A of theCode (sections g and /, which discourageboth the use of names that refer to an attri-bute likely to become common in a group ofrelated cultivars and the use of names that

incorporate the common names of plants.Several of these names are used in Japan formore than one cultivar, causing confusion.For instance, several distinct variegated cul-tivars of Ginkgo biloba are marketed underthe name fuiri icho. Many names of this typeare also in Western literature as cultivar

names, but we hope that they will be re-jected in favor of names that are more pre-cise and comply with the Code.

Occasionally a name surfaces that cannotbe slipped easily into either of the categoriesabove. For instance, in several Japanesenames for selected variants the fu from fuiri("variegated") has been attached to otherwords to form combinations that are more

precise than fuiri itself; thus arare ("hail")plus fu becomes ararefu, "hail-spot" variega-tion, and so on. These names can, we be-lieve, be accepted as cultivar names, albeitoccasionally with some reservations. Thetest must be whether a person familiar withboth the language and the plants can say thatthe use of the name is not likely to causeconfusion as other cultivars emerge.

Descriptions

The following is a list of cultivars ofJapanese plants with descriptions, which webelieve will serve to distinguish each plantfrom the most similar existing cultivar ofthe same species. The reader should consult

standard references (such as Jisaburo Ohwi’sFlora of Japan for complete descriptions ofthe species. Leaf measurements have beengiven only where they differ from those ofthe species.Most of the selections described here have

variegated foliage, a reflection of the Japaneseinterest in variegation. Historically, far moreselections of variegated plants have beenproduced in Japan than in any other country.Nearly every plant cultivated by theJapanese has been grown at some time in atleast one variegated form, and some species,such as Ardisia ~aponica, are represented byscores of variegated cultivars. A complexsystem for the classification and enumera-tion of variegated leaf types has developedsimultaneously.The Japanese interest in variegated plants

remains strong today but does not approachwhat it was in the 18th and 19th centuries,when collecting these plants seems to havebeen almost a national preoccupation. Thethree-volume Somoku Kihin Kagami, pub-lished in 1827, described over 500 variegatedselections, which had been chosen by apanel of 90 hobbyists and illustrated by fa-mous artists. This was followed in 1829 bythe five-volume Somoku Kinyoshu, whichpictured over 1000 cultivars in the sameformat. These plants, as well as thoseselected for showy flowers were (and stillare) grown in pots and admired individuallyrather than as part of a garden landscape.Most of these plants have been cultivated atBrookside Gardens for three years or more,and most have been observed in cultivationin Japan in several seasons as well.

Aucuba japonica Thunb. ’Sun Dance’. Newcultivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 267.

The leaves of this cultivar are dark green,with a distinct central splash of pale yellow.They are 14 to 18 cm long, 5 to 5.5 cm wide,deeply toothed on the margin, and oftensomewhat twisted. The leaf stalks are greenor yellow and reddish at the base on newshoots. Young stems are clearly striped withgreen and yellow. This is the best and moststable of the cultivars with central variega-tion ; it has no extraneous spots or flecks ofcolor to mar the effect. ’Sun Dance’ is illus-trated (p. 62) but not named or described inFuiri Shokubutsu (Variegated Plants) byMasato Yokoi and Yoshimichi Hirose (1978). ( .Several specialty nurseries m Japan, includ-ing Garden Wako, in Yamamoto, supply thisplant, which they call Nakafu Ao-ki, mean-ing "central variegated Aucuba. "

In the Dutch publication Dendroflora (no.15/16, 1979), reference is made to a plantnamed Aucuba japonica ’Nabaku’, de-scribed as having a conspicuously largeblotch in the middle of the leaf with small

yellow dots here and there. We believe theepithet ’Nabaku’ is a misspelling of"Nakafu," a name that has been applied toseveral cultivars ofAucuba japonica with

Aucuba japonica ’Sun Dance’

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central leaf variegation. ’Sun Dance’ seemsto be distinct from the cultivar described in

Dendroflora, however.

Carpinus japonica B1. ’Ebi Odori’. New cul-tivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 1417.This selection is like the species, except

that the showy catkins are borne in profu-sion on small plants. It is an attractive andtough plant that can be grown indoors or ona patio and has almost year-round interest.The cultivar name means "dancing shrimp"in Japanese, an allusion to the shrimplikecatkins, which move in the breeze and per-sist after leaf fall. This selection reportedlycomes true from seed. It is described and il-lustrated in the Nihon Kaki catalogue(spring 1981, p. 21 as Issai Kana-shide,meaning "early-blooming Carpinus." It isproduced and sold as a bonsai subject bymany nurseries, including Nihon Kaki inAngyo.

Cephalotaxus harringtonia (Knight) K. Koch’Korean Gold’. New cultivar name, assignedby Barry R. Yinger. Yinger Collection Nos.428 and 1424.

This plant is identical to C. harringtonia’Fastigiata’, except that new growth is yel-low in spring, becomes chartreuse by mid-summer, and green by winter. A selection ofa Korean species cultivated in Japan, it hasbeen confused with C. harringtonia ’Fas-tigiata Aurea’ (listed by den Ouden andBoom) but can be distinguished by its newgrowth, which is entirely yellow, in contrastto that of C. h. ’Fastigiata Aurea’, which isyellow only on the margins of the needles.The name has been derived from the

Japanese name for this plant: Ogon ChosenMaki or "golden Korean Podocarpus. " Thisselection is sold under the Japanese commonname by several nurseries, includingShibamichi Kanjiro, in Angyo.

Cornus kousa Hance ’Gold Star’. Cultivarname assigned by the Sakata Nursery Com-pany. Yinger Collection No. 660.On this plant the leaves are dark green,

with an irregular central blotch of deepbutter-yellow covering one-third of the leafarea. On new growth the blotch is char-treuse. The form of the plant and flowercharacters are typical of the species. Thisvigorous cultivar is at its best in full sun andbeautiful m all seasons. It was introduced bythe Sakata Nursery Company, Yokohama,about 1977 and is illustrated and describedin the company’s spring 1978 catalogue(p. 19). Wayside Gardens, Hodges, SC 29695,also lists and illustrates this cultivar in its1983 catalogue (p. 3). ).

Cornus kousa Hance’Snowboy’. Cultivarname assigned by the Sakata Nursery Com-pany. Yinger Collection No. 661.The leaves of this selection are pale gray-

green, with a regular white margin, 2 to 5mm wide, which occasionally invades thecenter of the leaf. Splashes of yellow-green,or small areas of paler gray-green along theedge of areas of darker gray-green, occur in-frequently. Axillary tufts of hair are absenton the leaf undersurfaces. The leaf apices areoften reddish, as well as the leaf bases onnew shoots and young twigs. Flowers andhabit are typical of the species. This plantsunburns in late summer in our climate un-

less grown under high shade or on the north

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Cornus kousa ’Gold Star’

side of a building. It was introduced about1977 by the Sakata Nursery Company ofYokohama and described and illustrated inits spring 1978 catalogue (p. 19).

Deutzia crenata Sieb. & Zucc. ’Summer

Snow’. New cultivar name assigned by CarlR. Hahn. Yinger Collection No. 1378.This cultivar has medium yellow-green

leaves, some with scattered markings ofpure white and gray-green. It is supplied by anumber of specialty nurseries, includingGarden Wako, in Yamamoto, as Fuiri Utsugi("variegated Deutz~"). In the Shibamichi

Kanjiro Company catalogue of April 1979(p. 24), it is listed as D. crenata var. var-iegata, a name that is not legitimate.

Eriobotrya japonica /Thunb.~ Lindl.’Yukige’. New cultivar name, assigned byBarry R. Yinger. Yinger Collection No. 1959.Often irregular in outline, the leaves of

this plant are somewhat puckered and vari-ously patterned in green, gray green, andpure white. The margin is usually white,with irregular blotches of white and gray in-vading the center of the leaf.This plant is propagated and sold by sev-

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eral specialty nurseries, including theShibamichi Kanjiro Company, Angyo, underthe name Fuiri Bi wa ("variegated Erio-botrya "/. ’Yukige’ is Japanese for "meltingsnow." "

Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz.var. vegeta (Rehd.) Rehd. ’Duet’. New cul-tivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 1452.

This variegated cultivar is of recent origin,with leaves 5 cm long and 3 to 3.5 cm wide,medium green, and irregularly splashed andstreaked with creamy white. Young leaveshave longitudinal streaks and splashes ofpure white, with some small areas of yellowgreen; however, some leaves are entirelywhite. Young stems are often streaked withwhite. The plant is shrublike, with a spread-ing habit. It is grown by the Suzuki Nursery,Akayama, Angyo.

Euonymus fortunei (Turcz.) Hand.-Mazz. var.radicans (Miq.) Rehd. ’Harlequin’. New cul-tivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 1453.

This is a new variegated cultivar withleaves 1.5 to 3 cm long and 1.5 to 2 cm wide,medium green, usually with a narrow mar-gm of pure white and profuse speckles ofpure white and light yellow-green. A fewshoots are all white. Young stems are greenor occasionally striped or banded with purewhite. This plant is trailing and prostrate inhabit. It has been grown by the SuzukiNursery, Akayama, Angyo.

Euonymus sieboldiana Bl. ’Shimoyo’. Newcultivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.This selection has green leaves, some-

times of irregular shape (though usually

ovate~, and 7 cm long and 3 cm wide. Occa-sionally they are elongated to 11 cm longand I cm wide. The margins are irregular,with blotches of white or gray white break-

ing up into small blotches and speckles orgradually darkening to green in the center ofthe leaf. This plant is vigorous and stable. Itis listed in the Shibamichi Kanjiro Com-pany catalogue of April 1979 (p. 28) as FuiriMayumi ("variegated Euonymus").’Shiyomo’ is Japanese for "frosty night." "

Eurya japonica Thunb. ’Confetti’. New cul-tivar name assigned by Philip Normandy.Yinger Collection No. 769.The leaves of this cultivar are 3 to 5 cm

long and 1.5 to 2 cm wide. Many are green,while others are white, blotched white, paleyellow, or shell pink and distorted and ir-regular in outline. Several specialty nurs-eries, including Garden Wako, Yamamoto,supply this cultivar.

Eurya ~aponica Thunb. ’Harmony’. Newcultivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 719.

All leaves of this cultivar are somewhat

distorted, usually narrow and elongated, 3 to4 cm long and 0.5 to 1 cm wide. They aredark green with a pale pink or white irregu-lar margin, which sometimes invades thecenter of the leaf in streaks or wedges. Thisis a dwarf and slow-growing plant. It issupplied by several nurseries, including theShibamichi Kanjiro Company, Angyo.

Forsythia koreana Nakai ’Bandal’. New cul-tivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 1662.New leaves of this cultivar emerge green,

and about half have a broad irregular margin

9

Eurya ~apomca ’Harmony’

of pale yellow, which soon becomes creamywhite. The margined leaves are green in thecenter, with small irregular splashes ofwhite and pale gray-green. Some leaves andshoots are entirely creamy white, and a few

leaves are not margined but have irregularsectoral wedges of all of these colors. ’Ban-dal’ is distinct from ’Ilgwang’, in the color ofemerging leaves and in the ultimate creamywhite color of variegated portions, but issold in Japan under the same name: Fuiri

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Rengyo. It is grown by several nurseries, in-cluding the Shibamichi Kanjiro Company,Angyo. ’Bandal’ is Korean for "half moon." "

Like ’Ilgwang’, it is most successful in ashaded position. Even greater care in propa-gation must be taken with this cultivar thanwith ’Ilgwang’, as ’Bandal’ tends to revert,and solid green plants can easily result.

Forsythia koreana Nakai ’Ilgwang’. Newcultivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 1676.

All leaves of this cultivar emerge yellowgreen in spring, ultimately becoming char-treuse ; many bear a central blotch of darker

green. Average leaf size is 5 cm long and 2cm wide. This is a selection of a Korean

species cultivated in Japan. It is sold by sev-eral nurseries, including Kairyo En in Angyo,as Fuiri Rengyo ("variegated Forsythia").’Ilgwang’ is Korean for "sunlight." Thisplant requires light shade to avoid sunburn.Care must be exercised in propagating itin order to avoid confusion between it

and ’Bandal’. Cuttings must be taken onlyfrom shoots showing a minimum of centralblotching.

Ilex serrata Thunb. ’Koshobai’. Yinger Col-lection No. 1931.This cultivar bears leaves that are small

and long-pointed, about 3 cm long and 0.7 7cm wide. In new growth they are purple atthe tips. The flowers and fruit are tiny, about2 mm wide, and very abundantly producedon this pistillate plant. The fruit is red andvery persistent. The plant is slow-growingand twiggy and congested in habit. It is apopular choice in bonsai but also a finedwarf garden shrub. It is listed in the fall1979 catalogue of Nihon Kaki, Angyo (p. 29),with an illustration and description. The

Japanese cultivar name means "plum ofyouth. "

Jasminum nudiflorum Lindl. ’Mystique’.New cultivar name, assigned by Carl R.Hahn. Yinger Collection No. 1691.The leaves of this selection are trifoliolate,

although sometimes reduced to one or twoleaflets, and occasionally somewhat dis-torted. Leaf margins are pure white, thecolor sometimes invading the center of theleaf, where it may be accompanied by palegray blotches. The green twigs often havethin white stripes along the ridges of thestem. The flowers are typical of the species.This is a stable and attractive plant sold byGarden Wako, in Yamamoto, as Fuiri Obai("variegated fasminum ").

Juniperus conferta Parl. ’Akebono’. Cultivarname assigned by Nihon Kaki. Yinger Col-lection No. 1925.New growth on this cultivar, which is

produced at the tips of branches, is creamywhite with green flecks, becoming green inlate summer. It is illustrated and describedin the spring 1982 catalogue (p. 3) of theNihon Kaki Nursery. ’Akebono’ is Japanesefor "dawn." "

juniperus conferta Parl. ’Silver Mist’. Newcultivar name, assigned by Carl R. Hahn.Yinger Collection No. 1954.This selection is similar to ’Blue Pacific’.

It can be distinguished by its distinctlygrayer tone and shorter needles, which givethe plant a denser and tighter appearance.The leaves of ’Silver Mist’ average about 1cm long, while those of ’Blue Pacific’ average

Opposite: Ilex serrata ’Koshobai’

11 I

12

13

Neolitsea sericea ’Kanoko’

1.5 cm. ’Silver Mist’ is sold by manyJapanese nursenes as Shiro Tosho ("whitejuniperus con ferta"~. It is illustrated and de-scribed in the fall 1979 catalogue (p. 18) ofthe Nihon Kaki Nursery.

Laurus nobilis L. ’Sunspot’. New cultivarname, assigned by Barry R. Yinger. YingerCollection No. 1890.Some of the leaves of this plant are en-

tirely yellow, but most are green and gener-ously mottled with pale yellow and small

Opposite: Laurus nobilis ’Sunspot’

blotches of gray green. Occasionally, shootsare also entirely yellow. The Kiraku EnNursery, in Mito, Ibaraki, supplies thisplant.

Neolitsea sericea (Bl.) Koidz.’Kanoko’. Newcultivar name, assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Yinger Collection No. 1892.The leaves of this selection are green, var-

iegated with specks, blotches, and broad ir-regular longitudinal stripes and wedges ofcreamy white, accompamed by smallblotches of yellow green. The leaves aresometimes slightly distorted. This is themost attractive and stable of several similarselections. It is propagated and sold by the

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15

Kiraku En Nursery, Mito, Ibaraki. ’Kanoko’ isJapanese for "fawn." "

Osmanthus x fortunei Carr. ’Equinox’. Cul-tivar name assigned by Barry R. Yinger.Ymger Collection No. 1957.Green leaves are characteristic of this

plant, although many have a creamy whitevariegation. A sectoral pattern is mostcommon, with the leaves divided in half

longitudinally, one section being green andthe other white. Some leaves and shoots are

entirely white, while others are entirelygreen. The variegation is chartreuse onyoung growth. The plant is sold by severalnurseries, including Shibamichi KanjiroCompany, Angyo, as Fuiri Hliragi-mokuse1("variegated Osmanthus x fortunei"~.

Osmanthus heterophyllus (G. Don) P. S.Green ’Akebono’. Yinger Collection No.830.

New growth, stems, and leaves of this cul-tivar are entirely light yellow, lighter thanin ’Ogon’, above. Leaves become green bysummer, retaining an indistinct yellow-green margin; second-year leaves are en-tirely green. Leaves bear 8 to 13 spmes,which are rarely recurved. This plant isgrown and propagated by Garden Wako,Yamamoto. ’Akebono’ is Japanese for "dawn."

"

Osmanthus heterophyllus (G. Don) P. S.Green ’Goshiki’. Yinger Collection No. 699.The leaves of this cultivar are evenly cov-

ered with flecks and small blotches of

creamy white, dark green, gray green, andyellow green and have a pink cast when un-

Opposite : Osman th us x fortunei ’Equinox’

Osmanthus heterophyllus ’Kembu’

folding. Creamy white patterns predominateon young leaves, becoming less prominentas the leaves age. Each leaf bears 7 to 9

spines of uniform size. This plant is illus-trated and described in the spring 1980

catalogue (p. 34) of the Nihon Kaki Nursery.’Goshiki’ is Japanese for "five colors."

"

Osmanthus heterophyllus (G. Don) P. S.Green ’Kembu’. New cultivar name, as-

signed by Barry R. Yinger. YingerCollection No. 1644.The leaves of this cultivar are narrow,

4 to 5 cm long and I to 2 cm wide. Most arecrescent shaped or of irregular outline, with1 to 10 spines per leaf. Their color is

medium-green, with an irregular off-whitemargin. The plant is sold by Suzuki Nursery,Akayama, Angyo. ’Kembu’ means "sworddance" in Japanese.

Osmanthus heterophyllus (G. Don/ P. S.Green’Ogon’. Yinger Collection No. 1450.New shoots (both stems and leaves) of this

selection are uniformly bright yellow,gradually becoming chartreuse by midsum-mer and green by winter. Second-year leavesare a normal dark green. Each leaf bears 12 to

16

14 long spines not of uniform length. Theseare usually alternately upcurved anddowncurved, with a strongly downcurvedterminal spine reminiscent of Ilex cornuta.This clone is illustrated and described in the

spring 1979 catalogue of the Sakata NurseryCompany (p. 34). ’Ogon’ means "yellowgold" in Japanese.

Osmanthus heterophyllus (G. Don~ P. S.Green ’Sasaba’. Cultivar name assigned byYoshimichi Hirose. Yinger Collection No.715.

The leaves of this very distinctive cultivarare dark green, with 8 to 13 spine-tipped

Osmanthus heterophyllus ’Sasaba’

lobes, which are cut to the midrib and clus-tered so that each leaf resembles a tuft ofsmall bamboo leaves. Leaf stalks are purplebeneath. The veins are light green. This is anopen plant of upright growth, with inter-nodes varying in length from 3 mm to 6 cmand producing dense clusters of leaves at var-ious points on the branches. It is sold bySuzuki Nursery, Akayama, Angyo. ’Sasaba’is Japanese for "bamboo leaf." "

Photinia glabra (Thunb./ Maxim.’Parfait’New cultivar name, assigned by Barry R.Yinger. Yinger Collection No. 1956.The dark green leaves of this plant have a

17 7

dark pink margin, with some marbling andsectoral variegation. These markings oftenfade to pale pink or white. This is a very sta-ble selection. It is illustrated and describedin the spring 1979 catalogue (p. 2) of theSakata Nursery Company as FuiriKaname-mochi /"variegatedPhotinia"/.

Pieris japonica (Thunb.) D. Don ’Whitewa-ter’. New cultivar name, assigned by BarryR. Yinger. Yinger Collection No. 234.This is a plant with a spreading habit, with

lax descending branches bearing ascendingbranchlets. Leaves are narrow, 6 to 7 cm longand I to 1.7 cm wide. Flowers and buds are

pure white and abundantly produced inpanicles 8 to 11 cm long. New growth isgreen. This selection was collected as a wild

seedling by Barry R. Yinger in January 1977,on a mountain slope below Hana-no-ego,Yakushima, Japan, at an altitude of approx-imately 5000 feet.

Stauntonia hexaphylla Decne. ’Cartwheel’.New cultivar name, assigned by Carl R.Hahn. Yinger Collection No. 1373.On this plant the youngest leaves on each

shoot have irregular white blotches andprominent green veins running throughout,and a pink cast when unfolding. Some leavesare distorted or have a strongly undulatemargin. Most become green with age. Thisplant is particularly showy in spring, whenthe new shoots contrast with the greenleaves of the previous year. It is sold byNakamura Nursery, Nagoya.

Styrax japonica Sieb. & Zucc. ’Carillon’.New cultivar name, assigned by Carl R.Hahn. Yinger Collection No. 326.

Piems 7aponica ’Whitewater’

The flowers and foliage of this selectionare typical of the species. However, thebranches are lax and pendulous, forming alarge mounded shrub about 7 feet tall. Theplant can easily be induced to form a smalltree by staking a leading branch until the de-sired height is reached. It is sold by a numberof nurseries, including Shibamichi KanjiroCompany, Angyo, as Shidare Ego-no-ki("weeping Styrax"). ( .

Styrax japonica Sieb. & Zucc. ’PinkChimes’. New cultivar name, assigned byCarl R. Hahn. Yinger Collection No. 834.The leaves and flowers of this selection

are typical of the species except that theflowers are pale pink, shading to darker pinkat the base of the petals. Branches of youngplants are lax and nearly pendulous, becom-ing less so as the plant ages. The plant is ex-tremely floriferous even when young. It wasintroduced about 1976 by the ShibamichiKanjiro Company, Angyo, as BenibanaEgo-no-ki ("pink-flowered Styrax"/, and it isillustrated and described in the fall 1979

catalogue (cover and page 1) of the NihonKaki Nursery as Benibana Issai Ego("early-flowering pink Styrax"). ( .

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Torreya nucifera (L.) Sieb. & Zucc. ’GoldStrike’. New cultivar name, assigned by CarlR. Hahn. Yinger Collection No. 427.Most shoots on this cultivar are either

bright yellow entirely or have both green andyellow needles scattered on the same shoot;some needles are striped green and yellow.The stems of young variegated shoots areyellow. The plant is not stable in coloration,but usually about half the shoots are varie-gated. It is grown and sold by Kiraku EnNursery, Mito, Ibaraki, as Fuiri Kaya ~"var-iegated Torreya").

Wisteria floribunda (Willd.) DC.’MonNishiki’. Yinger Collection No. 277.The emerging leaves of this selection are

liberally speckled in creamy white and someyellow green, often having a slightly puck-ered surface and an undulate margin. Leavesproduced later in the season are usuallygreen and typical of the species. The purpleflowers also are typical of the species and areproduced with the new leaves. The plant isillustrated and described in the spring 1982catalogue (p. 44) of the Kairyo En Nursery,Angyo. ’Mon Nishiki’ is Japanese for"brocade cloth." The plant is sold under thename ’Nishiki’ ("brocade"), too.

Zelkova serrata (Thunb.) Mak. ’Green Veil’.New cultivar name, assigned by Carl R.Hahn. Yinger Collection No. 835.This cultivar is characteristic of the

species, except that the branches are at firstslightly ascending and then strongly pendu-lous, forming a gracefully weeping, narrowtree without staking. It is an old selectionproduced by several nurseries, includingShibamichi Kanjiro, Angyo, as ShidareKeaki ~"weepingZelkova"/.

Authors’ Note:

The authors will try to honor requests for moreinformation about these plants and will bepleased to receive additional information as well.At present, time and money do not permit thedepth of research that would answer all questionsthat might be raised, but we will try to addressquestions as they arise. It is our intention to de-posit specimens and documentation of publishedcultivars with the United States National Ar-boretum in Washmgton, D.C., as the plants con-tinue to develop. Correspondence should be sentto Carl R. Hahn, Maryland-National Capital Parkand Planning Commission, 8787 Georgia Ave-nue, Silver Spring, MD 20907. (Please note thatthe Arnold Arboretum cannot supply these plantsor information regarding them.) (The authors wish to express their sincere

thanks to Dr. Frederick G. Meyer and Dr. Theo-dore Dudley, United States National Arboretum;Mr. Philip Normandy, Brookside Gardens; andMs. Gennie Potter, Maryland-National CapitalPark and Planning Commission, for their kindand invaluable assistance in prepanng the manu-

script.

References

Books and Periodicals

Bailey, Liberty Hyde, and Ethel Zoe Bailey 1976 Hor-tus Thzzd ~ A Conczse Dzcuonary of Plants Culu-vated in the United States and Canada Revisedand Expanded by the Staff of the Liberty HydeBailey Hortonum. New York: Macmillan.

Bean, W. J 1970-1980. Trees and Shrubs Hardy In theBnush Isles 4 vols London: John Murray.

den Ouden, P., and B. K. Boom. 1978. Manual of Cultz-vated Conzfers The Hague, Netherlands: Mar-tmus Nr~hoff.

Grootendorst, Herman J. 1979. "TentoonstellingHerfstweelde’78."Dendroflora, 15 and 16:50-56.(In Dutch/.

Hrllier, H. G. 1972. Hillzer’s Manual of Trees and dShrubs. Newton Abbot, England: David andCharles.

International Commission for the Nomenclature ofCultivated Plants of the International Umon ofBiological Science. 1980. lnternauonal Code ofNomenclature for Cultivated Plants: 1980, C. D.Bnckell, Chairman, Editorial Committee.

19

Utrecht, Netherlands: Bohn, Scheltema andHolkema.

Kmtaro. 1827. Somoku Kihin Kagami 3 vols. Repnntedm Facsimile m 1976 Tokyo: Seiseido (InJapanese~.

Krussmann, G. 1976-78. Handbuch der Laubgeholze,2nd ed., rev. 3 vols. Berlin: Verlag Paul Parey (InGerman).

Lee, Tchang Bok 1979. Illustrated Flora of KoreaSeoul, Korea: Hyang Mun Sa (In Korean) (

Mizuno, Tada-aki 1829. Somoku Kmyoshu 7 vols. Re-printed m facsimile m 1977. Tokyo: Seiseido (InJapanese)

Ohm, Jisaburo. 19G5. Flora of /apan Edited by Fred-erick G. Meyer and Egbert H. Walker. Washing-ton, D.C.: Smithsoman Institution.

Tsukamoto, Yotaro, et al. 1977. Explanauon Volume toAccompany 1977 Facsimile Reprmt of SomokuKmyoshu Tokyo, Japan Seiseido (In Japanese/.

. 1976 Explanation Volume to Accompany 1976Facsimile Repnnt of Somoku Kihin Kagami. To-kyo : Seiseido. (In Japanese).

Yokoi, Masato, and Yoshimtchi Hirose. 1978. FmnShokubutsu. Tokyo: Seibundo Shmkosha. (InJapanese).

Catalogues (in Japanese unless otherwise noted)

Chugai Nursery Company, Kanagawa Prefecture,Isehara-shi. Catalogue No 11 I

Fuy En, Osaka, Takarazuka. Fall 1973, spnng 1978/apanese Trees and Shrubs for Your Garden, by Barry R.

Yinger. Catalogue prepared for the Shibamichi Kan-~rro Company Limited, m 1981. (In English).

Kairyo En, Saitama Prefecture, Kawaguchi-shi, OjiKamito. Spnng 1966; fall 1970, spring 1972, fall 1972,spnng 1973, fall 1973, spnng 1974, fall 1974, fall1975, spring 1977, fall 1977, spring 1978, fall 1978,fall 1979, fall 1980, spnng 1981, spnng 1982.

Nagoya Engei, Nagoya, Naka-ku. Catalogue No. 11 (fall1978).

Nihon Kaki, Saitama Prefecture, Kawaguchi-shi,Ishigami. Fall 1973, spnng 1974, fall 1979, spnng1980, spring 1981, fall 1981, spnng 1982. _

Sakata Nursery Company, Yokohama, Mmami-ku,Nagada-cho Spnng 1978, fall 1978, spnng 1979,spnng 1981, fall 1981.

Shibamichi Kan~iro Company Limited, Saitama Prefec-ture, Kawaguchi-shi, Akayama. Commercialcatalogue 1976-77. Trees and Shrubs for Your Gar-den April 1979. /Latter m English).

Shunko En, Tokyo, Itabashi. Spnng 1972, fall 1972,spnng 1979

Sosei En, Hyogo Prefecture, Takarazuka Fall 1976,spnng 1977, fall 1979

Wayside Gardens, Hodges, SC 29695. Spnng 1983. (InEnglish). Yokohama Nursery Company, Yokohama,21~5 Nakamura. 1911-12. (In English).

Carl R. Hahn is chief of horuculture at Maryland-National Capital Park and Planmng Commission,Silver Sprmg, Maryland

Barry R. Ymger is curator of the Asian Collecuons atthe Umted States National Arboretum

Of Birds and Bayberries :Seed Dispersal and Propagationof Three Myrica Species

Alfred j. Fordham

The genus Myrica comprises about 50species (often ill-defined) distributedthroughout the temperate and subtropicalareas of both hemispheres. The Arnold Ar-boretum collection includes three species:M. pensylvanica, M. cerifera, andM. gale.Myrica pensylvanica Lois., the common

bayberry or candleberry, occurs naturallyfrom Newfoundland to western New Yorkand Maryland, chiefly in poor soil. It is suck-ering in habit and tends to form shrubbyclumps, which at maturity can range from 2to 8 feet in height. Frequently it is found onroadside cuts, railroad banks, gravel pits, andother locations where topsoil has been re-moved completely. In Boston its shiny greenleaves remain on the branches until No-vember. They are fragrant when crushed, acharacteristic of all Myrica species.Myrica ceri fera L., the southern bayberry,

wax myrtle, or southern wax myrtle, is anevergreen plant native from east Texas andOklahoma to Florida and as far north as New

Jersey. Although the plants in the Ar-boretum are low in stature, the species canattain heights of 30 to 40 feet.Myrica gale L., sweet gale, a deciduous

shrub, occurs naturally in shallow watersand swamps from Alaska to Newfoundland,Nova Scotia, and the northeastern and cen-

tral United States and from Europe to north-east Asia.

All three of these species have nitrogen-fixing root nodules, which enable them tothrive m areas where many other plantscould not survive. They are dioecious -having staminate (male) and pistillate (fe-male) flowers on different plants - like hol-lies and ashes.The fruits of Myrica pensylvanica and M.

cerifera are small (2.5-3 mm and 3.5~.5 mmin diameter respectively) globose nuts withwaxlike coatings. It is this waxlike materialthat provides the fragrance in bayberry-scented candles and soap. It becomes bluish

gray as it dries, making the thickly clusteredfruits conspicuous in the landscape. Thefruits ripen in late September and are eatenby birds. Since birds lack teeth and cannotchew, the hard-coated seeds pass undamagedthrough their digestive systems. Only thewaxy coating is removed, and this is a pre-requisite for germination. The seeds thenremain on the ground throughout thewinter, satisfying another requirement forgermination, chilling, which activates theembryo.The fruits of Myrica gale are different

from those of M. pensylvanica and M. ceri-fera. They are tightly packed around a cen-

21

tral axis to form short (8-10 mm) catkinsthat remain on the plant until spnng. In-stead of the waxy coating of the otherspecies, two winglike bracts dotted with yel-low resin enclose the fruit of M. gale. Thefleshy bracts aid in the dispersal of the seedsby flotation, keeping them afloat when theyfall into the water. Birds are not known to

eat the fruits of sweet gale.

Bayberry plants (Myrica pensylvamca) growing inpoor soil at the intersection of Routes I and 128in Dedham, Massachusetts. These plants un-doubtedly grew from seeds carried in the diges-tive tracts of birds and dropped here. The trees mthe background are red cedar (Jumperus vm-gmana L.) and probably were spread by thesame means.

Propagation by Seed

To germinate the seeds of Myrica ceriferaand M. pensylvanica artificially, one mustcreate conditions resembling those of na-ture : the waxy coating must be removed andthe seeds placed in cold stratification at 40°Ffor three months. I divided fruits of M. ceri-

fera into four lots, each containing 100seeds, and treated them as outlined below(the fruits were collected on September 27,and the accounting was done five monthslater):

Lot 1: Seeds were sown with wax remain-

ing. Six seedlings resulted.Lot 2: Seeds with wax remaining were

placed in cold stratification at 40°F

22

Fruit and foliage of the common bayberry (Myricapensylvamca ~.

for three months and then sown. Sev-enteen seedlings resulted.

Lot 3: Seeds were sown with wax removed.Six seedlings resulted.

Lot 4: Seeds with wax removed were placedin cold stratification for threemonths and then sown. General ger-mination resulted.

These results demonstrate the importanceof both wax removal and cold stratificationto obtain complete germination with thesetwo species. Seed of Myrica gale requiresonly cold stratification - 3 months at 40°F- for general germination.

Ripe fruits of Myrica can be collected eas-ily by hand. At the Arnold Arboretum theyare ready for collection in late summer. Howlong they remain on the plants varies fromyear to year, for the birds remove them ear-

lier in some years than in others. I once sawan immense stand of M. pensylvanica onCape Cod heavily laden with fruits in Oc-tober, but by mid-November all had beeneaten by birds. If the seeds are to be storedprior to treatment, the wax should not beremoved, as it protects the seed from desicca-tion.

The first step in germinating the seeds ofMyrica pensylvanica andM. cerifera is toremove the waxy coating. Rubbing betweenthe palms of the hands, rubbing on a wirescreen, or soaking in warm water will ac-complish this. Next, the dewaxed seedsmust be combined with a medium such as

damp sand or damp peat moss and the mix-ture placed in a polyethylene plastic bag.The bag must be bound at the mouth with arubber band to make it vapor proof. Theamount of the medium need only be two orthree times the volume of the seeds, for at

23

sowing time the entire content of the bagmust be used, and excessive medium couldlead to some seeds being embedded toodeeply. The bag must then be placed in a40°F refrigerator for three months, afterwhich the contents are sown. When this

procedure is followed, complete germinationcan be expected in about three weeks.

Vegetative Propagation

Myrica tends to be suckering in habit, andshoots with roots can be separated fromaround the bases of the parent plants. Newplants also can be started from softwood cut-tings.

References

Rehder, Alfred. 1940 Manual of Cultivated Trees andShrubs Hardy in North America Second editionNew York: Macmillan

Ehas, Thomas S 1971. "Genera of Myricaceae "Journalof the Arnold Arboretum, 52: 305-18.

Schopmeyer, C S., comp 1974 Seeds of Woody Plantsm the Umted States Agricultural Handbook450 Washington, D C : U.S. Department of Ag-nculture.

Ridley, H. N. 1930. The Dispersal of Plants Throughoutthe World. L Reeve: Ashford, England.

Alfred /. Fordham was formerly research horticulturistat the Arnold Arboretum

BOOKS

The Pirion Pine: A Natural and Cultural

History, by Ronald M. Lanner. With a Sec-tion on Pine Nut Cookery by Harriette Lan-ner. Reno, Nevada: University of NevadaPress. 208 pp. $13.50.

RICHARD WARREN

From the Texas Panhandle almost to thePacific Ocean, from Mexico to southernIdaho, covering 70,000 square miles, growsthe pinon-juniper woodland, so little knownto us in the East. In this compact volumeProfessor Lanner tells us why this woodlandis important. He opens our eyes to its prehis-tory, its history, and its future.

Pines originally immigrated to NorthAmerica from Asia. Some found temperatehomes in our continent and in Europe. Oth-ers went southward to Mexico and split intomany genetic variants, the forerunners ofthe present bewildering array of Mexicanpines. From them a group of drought-hardy,soft-wooded pines, with one to five leaves ina fascicle and large, wingless edible nuts,evolved to comprise the present 11 species ofpinon pines recognized by the author. Theuplift of the Sierra Nevada in the Pleiocenebarred the moisture-laden Pacific windsfrom the interior of the continent they hadformerly penetrated. This event brought adrought to the southwest of what was laterto be the United States, and the redwoodsthere died, and the pinons, particularlyPinus monophylla, moved in.

Lanner tells us of the birds, the animals,

Conunued on page 36

E. H. Wilson, Yichang,and the Kiwifruit

A. R. Ferguson

The fruits are rounded to oval 1’/z-2 inches long,russet-colored and more or less hairy. The skin of thefruit is very thm and the flesh is green, sweet and pleas-ant to the palate and is excellent for dessert or for mak-ing a preserve.

E. H. Wilson1915

So wrote E. H. Wilson of the fruit ofAc-tinidia chinensis Planchon var. hispida C. F.Liang, the fruit known to the Chinese as theyang tao or mihoutao and now known tomost of us as the Chinese gooseberry orkiwifruit. At the turn of the century, thekiwifruit was a wild plant in China, a veryhandsome climbing plant, ideal for pergolas,but only one of the many interesting newChinese plants being brought into cultiva-tion in Europe. By the 1950s it had become auseful fruiting plant grown in a few com-mercial orchards in New Zealand. The total

plantings then occupied fewer than a hun-dred acres, and only small quantities of fruitwere exported to the United Kingdom.In the early 1960s the first shipment ofkiwifruit was sent to the United States. Or-chardists in California began planting itsoon after, when they discovered that thefruit produced in New Zealand was beingsold in Los Angeles for remarkably highprices. By 1968 they had planted 15 acres.Today the kiwifruit has become a hor-

ticultural success story. At the beginning of1983, kiwifruit orchards covered over 20,000

acres in New Zealand, and that area is in-creasing by 3000 to 4000 acres annually. It isestimated that there are now over 6000 acresof the fruit in California. Plantings are beingmade in many other parts of the world also:

France, Italy, Spain, Israel, Japan, SouthKorea, Chile, Australia, Zimbabwe, andSouth Africa.

In comparison to that of most other fruitcrops, the history of the introduction of thekiwifruit is remarkably well-documented.By reading the accounts of the plant explor-ers, old gardening and horticultural journals,missionary records, and reports and files ofgovernment research stations, and by talk-ing to older growers and nurserymen, we cantrace almost every step in the domesticationof the kiwifruit. We can follow it from its

origin in China to its dispersal throughoutthe world and its development as an impor-tant horticultural crop.

The Kiwifruit in China

Accounts of the kiwifruit appear in manyof the early Chinese texts. Indeed, it is some-times suggested that the earliest referencesto it can be found in classics of over 2000

years ago. Identification of plants mentionedin such texts is notoriously difficult, how-ever. Many of the descriptions are vague, theallusions poetic, and a single plant is some-

25

times referred to by the different names ithad in different parts of China (worse, thesame name is sometimes used for different

plants). The first unequivocal descriptions ofthe kiwifruit date from the Tang dynasty(A.D. 618-907), and one poem indicates thatcultivation of it may have begun about thistime (Yan 1981). Cultivation cannot havebeen extensive, however, since most writersconsistently describe the kiwifruit as being awild plant, a plant of the mountains. Attimes the peasants would bring it to town tosell in the markets.

A kiwifruit orchard near Auckland, New Zea-land. Tree ferns ~Cyathea sp.) can be seen m theshelter belt at left.

European Discovery of the Kiwifruit

The first known collector of kiwifruit

plants was Pere Pierre Noel Le Cheron d’In-carville, a French Jesuit who spent 17 yearsat the Imperial Court in Beijing (Peking). Hecollected specimens (but no fruit) at Macao,soon after his arrival in China in late 1740.Incarville sent his specimens back to Francebut they remained there, ignored and unde-scribed, for over a century (Franchet 1882).The plant was formally described, andnamedActinidia chinensis, in 1847 (Plan-chon 1847), based on specimens collectedseveral years earlier by Robert Fortune, whohad been sent to China by the HorticulturalSociety of London (Cox 1943). Fortunebrought back dried specimens of kiwifruit

26

27

foliage and flowers but made no mention ofthe fruit. He probably had not seen fruit, ashe had had only a few chances of travelingany distance from the main ports.Towards the end of the 19th century,

botanists and horticulturists in Europe andNorth America were becoming more awareof the variety and beauty of the Chinese floraand the fitness of many of the plants fortemperate climates. This increased aware-ness was due in large part to the efforts ofAugustine Henry, who spent 20 years in theservice of the Chinese Maritime Customs.On his first tour of duty, from 1882 to 1889,Henry was stationed at Yichang (Ichang), asmall port on the Yangtze River about athousand miles inland and just downstreamfrom the famed Yangtze Gorges.Yichang had only a small European popu-

lation, and life in such an outpost could bevery lonely and dreary. Henry took up aninterest in botany. "My collecting is myexercise, and it keeps me in health, bodilyand mental; in these out-of-the-way posts,where stagnation is the rule" (Henry 1896).He was particularly interested in the eco-nomic uses of plants in China and in the ori-gins of cultivated plants. His writings referto the kiwifruit several times: "a climbingshrub which bears edible fruit about the sizeof a plum" (Henry 1887); "a very large climb-ing shrub with white conspicuous flowersand fruit about the size of a plum, which canbe made into a good jam with a guava-jellykind of flavour. This fruit might be muchimproved by cultivation" (Henry 1893); (;"produces in the wild state excellent fruit

Mature kiwifruit are harvested m New Zealand

dunng May (early autumn). (Photo courtesy of theNew Zealand Kiwifruit Authority.) (

about the size of a big plum .... the fruitwould be a great acquisition, I think" (Henry1903). Henry encouraged and aided expedi-tions to collect seed and explore the flora ofwestern China.

Wilson and the Introduction of theKiwifruit to Europe

Of the various collecting expeditions,E. H. Wilson’s had the greatest success. Onhis first two trips to China, Wilson was inthe employ of James Veitch & Sons, thefamous London nursery firm. Veitch’s hadsent a series of travelers abroad to collect

plants suitable for the nursery trade. From1840 to 1905 they almost always had at leastone collector overseas in the botanically un-explored parts of the world, and a remark-able range of plants had thus been intro-duced to Great Britain (Veitch 1906; Fullerand Langdon 1973). James Herbert Veitch,one of the younger members of the family,had collected in Japan in the early 1890s, andhe was aware of the richness of the Chineseflora. He had been keen to go to China buthad been refused permission by his uncleHenry James Veitch (Howard 1980). Sir Wil-liam Thiselton-Dyer, then director of Kew,had been getting enthusiastic letters fromHenry; he was undoubtedly an ally in em-phasizing the advantages of an expedition toChina (Nelson 1983). Another ally was C. S.Sargent of the Arnold Arboretum (Wilson1913). In 1899 Thiselton-Dyer was asked byVeitch’s to recommend a young man capableof undertaking a prolonged collecting jour-ney in China. Thiselton-Dyer proposed E. H.Wilson (see Howard 1980).The object of Wilson’s first trip for

Veitch’s was to obtain seeds, bulbs, and liv-

28

ing plants of species almost certain to behardy in Great Britain, species at that timeknown only by dried herbarium specimens.Plant collecting was often extraordinarilycompetitive, and claims to priority wereconsidered very important. In a newspaperinterview at the time ("The Flora and Faunaof Ichang," 1902), Wilson therefore said onlythat his "object has not been to collect anyparticular species of plants, but anythinglikely to be of interest or value to the botani-cal world." Later he admitted that he in facthad instructions to collect a very particularspecies of plant, Davidia involucrata.

Wilson’s first task was to visit Henry, whowas then at Simao (Szemao), Yunnan, to ob-tain details about Davidia and informationon the flora of western China in general(Wilson 1938). The journey to Simao to seeHenry certainly was not an easy one: "Icrossed no less than eleven distinct ranges,the highest altitude being 8200 ft., and manyexceeded 7000 ft. and were fearfully steep. Inone place we ascended 1000 ft. in three-quarters of an hour. The easiest way to climbsuch a mountain is to hang on to the mule’stail and let him drag you up" (Wilson 1900).Simao was "the most God-forsaken placeimaginable" but the trip was worth it: "Ifound Dr. Henry a splendid fellow, full ofknowledge of all kinds. A more genial man Ihave never met. He assisted me in every wayhe could, and whatever success attends ourventure will be largely due to him" (Wilson1900). Henry "freely imparted important in-formation regarding the plants Wilson wasin search of, and the ways and means ofreaching them" (Veitch 1906). Wilson prof-ited by this advice and used much of Hen-ry’s field experience in making his earlyplant introductions. As B. D. Morley (1979)

E. H. Wilson with two Japanese friends,T. Miyoshi and H. Ushio. The photo was taken inKagoshima, when Wilson visited Japan in 1917.

has pointed out, many of the plants first in-troduced by Wilson were those discoveredby Henry during his period at Yichang. Al-though Henry did not discover the kiwifruit,it was he who sent the first fruits to Europeand recommended that the plant be culti-vated.

After leaving Henry, Wilson traveled toShanghai and then up the Yangtze River toYichang, where he established himself forthe next two years (Wilson 1905). Yichangwas by now a busy port. (The YangtzeGorges made Yichang the upper limit forsteamers on the river.) The Chinese popula-tion was about 35,000, and the Europeanpopulation had increased from the dozen of

29

Henry’s early days in China to about 45.There was the staff of the Maritime Cus-

toms, the English consulate, the Germanconsulate, and about 20 missionaries. TheChina Inland Mission, the Scottish Mission,the American Presbyterian Mission, theAmerican Episcopalian Mission, the Scan-dinavian Mission, the Canadian Mission,and the Roman Catholic Mission were allresident or frequent passers through.Yichang was the starting point for travelsinto western China. Wilson made it his basefor collecting trips into the mountains andfor overwintering.

In 1900 Wilson obtained seed of 671 dif-ferent species of plants, herbarium speci-mens of 1764 species, and a great quantity ofbulbs and roots of herbaceous plants. Hiscollections during the following year werealso impressive: seed of 305 species, her-barium specimens of 906 species, and 35cases of bulbs, living roots, and rhizomes ofherbaceous plants, all shipped to Britain(Veitch 19061. As the parcels of seed arrivedfrom Chma, they were sorted and sent to thevarious Veitch nurseries. Here nothing wasstinted in the attempt to get satisfactorygermination (Harrow 1931). Often, of course,the seed of a species would fail to germinate,but many efforts were successful. In 1904the kiwifruit appeared in the Veitchcatalogue. "It has recently been raised fromseed gathered in the province of Hupeh,Central China, sent by Wilson, and hasproved hardy and of very rapid growth, at ourCoombe Wood Nursery .... [It produces]edible fruits the size of walnuts, and theflavour of ripe gooseberries. Apart from itsflowering and fruiting qualities it is a re-markably handsome plant, and will be ofgreat value as a pillar or pergola plant in the

Kiwifruit bemg inspected and graded m New Zea-land. Photo courtesy of the New Zealand Kiwi-fruit Authority.) (

open garden" (James Veitch & Sons Ltd.

1904).Like many of the other plants brought in

from China, the kiwifruit initially arousedgreat interest. It received an Award of Meritfrom the Royal Horticultural Society in1908. The first flowering of plants in En-gland and France was noted at length in thehorticultural journals of 1909. But Wilsonwas not satisfied with the plant’s perfor-mance in England: writing to C. S. Sargenthe complained, "A. chinensis, introduced byMessrs. Veitch, has so far failed to do itselffull justice; but, in the years to come, I be-lieve it will be one of the finest ornamentalclimbers in cultivation .... A difficulty to

30

the classifier and a drawback from the cul-tivator’s point of view is the fact of the flow-ers being polygamous [dioecius]" ( Wilson1909).That the flowers are dioecius (bearing

staminate [male] and pistillate [female]flowers on different plants) was definitely adrawback, for all the plants introduced andsold by the Veitch nursery were staminate.Without pistillate plants, horticulturistscould not produce the new and rare fruitHenry and Wilson had hoped for. It was notuntil 1912, eight years after the first plantswere distributed, that the nursery was ableto advertise that among the new plants re-cently introduced from western Chinathrough E. H. Wilson was "Actinidiachinensis foemina. The female form .... inhabit of growth ... is similar to the nowwell-known male form" (James Veitch &

Sons 1912). It seems, however, that by thenhorticulturists in Europe had lost interest inthe kiwifruit. The long-awaited first produc-tion of fruit in England in 1911 appears tohave gone almost unremarked. The dissolu-tion of the Veitch firm, and then the GreatWar, came soon after. The kiwifruit inBritain has remained only an ornamentalcuriosity; certainly the plants brought in byWilson and sold by the Veitchs did not giverise to any new horticultural industry.Making matters worse, it is now apparent

that Wilson could not even claim credit for

introducing the first kiwifruit to Europe, justas he could not claim credit for the firstDavidia. In 1897 Maurice de Vilmorin hadsecured seed of Davidia from Pere Paul Guil-laume Farges, a member of the MissionsEtrangeres, stationed in northeast Sichuan.The following year, and two or three yearsbefore Wilson’s collections reached England,

one Davidia plant was successfully raised atthe arboretum at Les Barres, in France. Arooted cutting of this plant was sent to Kewin 1901 while Wilson was still in China. Atthat time plant introduction was very com-petitive, and for Wilson this was "yet onelittle cup of bitterness to drain" (Wilson1938). Again, Farges had sent seed, in thecase of Actinidia chinensis, to Vilmorin in

1898, and a plant had been raised in 1899(Vilmorin and Bois 1904/, several years be-fore Wilson’s own seed had arrived in

Europe. No matter that Wilson was respon-sible for the introduction of every seedlingplant but one of the kiwifruit: he could notclaim the first plant.

The Kiwifruit in the United States

At the beginning of this century, the mainorganization introducing new plants into theUnited States was the Office of Foreign Seedand Plant Introduction in the Bureau ofPlant Industry, U.S. Department of Agricul-ture. The earliest recorded introductions ofkiwifruit into the United States occurred in1900 (USDA Bureau of Plant Industry 1905). ).The seed of the yang tao (the name used inthe Yangtze Valley) first came from G. D.Brill, who had made an extended tripthrough China and visited Yichang. Some ofthe other seed he sent is listed as being "pre-sented by Mr. E. H. Wilson of Kew Gardens,through Mr. G. D. Brill." This seed failed togrow, however (Fairchild 1913). The nextimports from China were more successful.In the autumn of 1903, the Americanconsul-general at Hankou (Hankow), L. S.Wilcox, received a sample of kiwifruit sentdownriver by a Mr. Goodhart of Yichang.

31

"When the fruits are picked and left for a fewdays until soft they are very fine eating," "

Wilcox said. "They have the flavour of thegooseberry, fig, and citron. They make de-licious jam, pies, and sauce." Wilcox was soimpressed that he decided to get a few plantsto send to the U.S. Department of Agricul-ture.

A letter was sent to Mr. Goodhart in

Yichang who agreed to help. For a long timenothing happened. Finally, Wilcox wrote, "abox came [on March 19, 1904] weighing

Harvested kiwifruit are removed from the or-chard in large bins. (Photo courtesy of the NewZealand Kiwifruit Authority.)

three or four hundred pounds, with the in-formation that they had been secured atChungking (1000 miles up river) from plantsformerly obtained on the borders of Yunnanby Mr. Wilson, under whose advice theyhave been packed in moss and sand, war-ranted to keep for months. I felt I had a whiteelephant in my hands; the bill for them hasnot yet been presented" (L. S. Wilcox, quotedby Fairchild 1913). Four vines survived thelong journey from Hankou to Shanghai,Nagasaki, San Francisco, and, finally, thePlant Introduction garden at Chico, Califor-nia. The vines grew well and flowered for thefirst time in 1907 (Fischer 1909). Over thenext few years more than 1300 young plantspropagated from the four vines were widely

32

distributed throughout the Pacific and GulfStates (Fairchild 1913). Unfortunately, all ofthese plants also proved to be staminate andwere therefore valuable only as ornamentals.The potential value of the kiwifruit as afruiting plant could not be assessed.Why all the plants initially introduced to

the United States and England proved to bestaminate is unknown. Early botanists notedthat staminate kiwifruit plants are consid-erably more common in the wild than pistil-late plants. Herbarium material of many Ac-tinidia species is also mostly staminate: thismay result from a predominance of stami-nate plants in the wild, or simply from thegreater floriferousness and therefore more

frequent collection of staminate plants. Noexperimental evidence exists for sex ratioseither in the wild or from seed.

Finally, in 1913, the bureau purchasedplants from Veitch’s that had been grownfrom cuttings of the female plant (sent byWilson) that had produced fruit in Englandin 1911. Although some plants from seedsent earlier by Wilson later proved to be fe-male, these plants from Veitch’s were "thefirst known female plants of this promisingfruit-producing species to be introduced intothe United States" (USDA Bureau of Plant In-dustry 1915a). Two years later a photographwas published of a kiwifruit vine "bearing asingle .... fruit, the first to be produced inAmerica. The vine [of unstated origin] wastrained over the porch of a private house atChico, California, and produced a number offruits" but unfortunately "never reachedmaturity" (USDA Bureau of Plant Industry1915b).Thus Wilson was clearly responsible, di-

rectly or indirectly, for the introduction ofthe kiwifruit into the United States. Wilson

believed the kiwifruit had considerable po-tential as a fruiting plant, as did David Fair-child, the agricultural explorer in charge ofthe Office of Plant Introduction. Fruit pro-duced from vines growing in California wasshipped to Washington and "eaten by anumber of people of discriminating taste,and the universal opinion appears to be thatwe have in this Chinese fruit a distinct new

possibility for home gardens in Southern re-gions. What American horticulturists willdo with it remains to be seen" (USDABureau of Plant Industry 1918). As we nowknow, American horticulturists did very lit-tle. Just as it had m England, the kiwifruitremained no more than an ornamental

curiosity in the United States. So littleinterest was taken in it that Wilson didn’teven include it in a manuscript he was com-pleting at the time of his death in 1930,"Wilson’s Plants in Cultivation." The

manuscript has accounts of three differentActinidia species but not the kiwifruit, Ac-tinidia chinensis, even though the kiwifruitis now considered perhaps the most impor-tant of all the commercial plants Wilsonbrought into cultivation.

The Arrival of the Kiwifruit in NewZealand

The introduction of the kiwifruit to Brit-ain and the United States is surprisinglywell documented, but it has little commer-cial significance. These introductions didnot lead to the horticultural industry of to-day. Ironically, very little has been writtenon how the kiwifruit was introduced intoNew Zealand, even though all commercialkiwifruit orchards throughout the world are

33

based on scions or seeds that originated inNew Zealand.The first known kiwifruit plants in New

Zealand were grown near Wanganui, a townon the west coast of the North Island. Alex-

ander Allison was a sheep-farmer therewhose greatest interest was the growing ofall sorts of plants and trees and, most par-ticularly, new and novel fruiting plants (Al-lison 1930). One of the plants he succeededin getting to grow and produce fruit was thekiwifruit. An acquaintance of Allison,named Frank Mason, wrote: "I have a recordin my diary dated July l Oth 1910 that I hadtasted the fruit of this plant from a bushgrown in his garden" (Mason 1953). Al-though it is uncertain as to whether thesewere the first kiwifruit plants in New Zea-land, it is clear that they were very impor-tant : all the cultivars of kiwifruit, and all thekiwifruit plantings in New Zealand, can betraced to Allison’s plants in Wanganui.The most plausible story as to how Alex-

ander Allison obtained his first seeds or

plants takes us back to Wilson and Yichang.Most of the Europeans in Yichang lived out-side the Chinese city in a suburb stretchedalong the bank of the Yangtze. Here were thebuildings of the Imperial Maritime Cus-toms, the consulates, and the various mis-sions. A British gunboat often lay opposite atanchor in the stream. Life for the Europeanpopulation had its difficulties, as that re-markable traveler Mrs. Bishop (Isabella Bird)observed: "Their amusements consist

chiefly m tennis, shooting, and boating pic-nics to some of the picturesque ravines androck temples off the main river, and to theIchang Gorge. The British Consul ... andthe Commissioner of Customs ... do theirbest to alleviate what, it must be confessed,

is the great monotony of life in a small andisolated community .... amusements areapt to pall. The winter evenings are long anddull, and those of summer hot andmosquito-infested. People soon gauge themental and social possibilities of new-comers, and know exactly what theirneighbours think on every subject which canarise, ... and the arrival of a stranger and ofthe mail boat and the changes in the cus-toms staff are the chief varieties in life"

(Bishop 1899).Wilson was one such stranger; his fre-

quent comings and goings would inevitablyhave been one of the "chief varieties in life." "

He would undoubtedly have been knownpersonally to every European resident ofYichang. He has written that "in 1900 I hadthe pleasure of introducing this fruit to theforeign residents of Ichang, with whom itfound immediate favour, and is now knownthroughout the Yangtze Valley as theIchang gooseberry" (Wilson 1929).The Church of Scotland opened its mis-

sion at Yichang in 1878. In 1897 the work ofthe mission was augmented by the arrival ofthree young female missionaries from New

Zealand under the sponsorship of theChurch of Scotland Women’s Associationfor Foreign Missions (Hewat 1960). One ofthese missionaries was C. G. (Katie) Fraser, ateacher and evangelist, who was to remam atYichang until the Revolution of 1911. MissFraser had sisters in New Zealand, one ofwhom, M. I. (Isabel) Fraser, was also ateacher and principal of Wanganui Girls’College. In 1903 Isabel Fraser was granted aleave of absence for eight months and sheleft Wanganui to join her sister in China.When she returned to New Zealand in Feb-

ruary 1904, she brought with her some seeds

34

of the kiwifruit. A. M. Atkins, a niece ofAlexander Allison, recalled: "Many yearsago, when I was at Wanganui Girls’ College,the head mistress, Miss M. I. Fraser, went fora holiday to China and brought back someseeds of Chinese Gooseberry [kiwifruit].These she gave to [Mrs. Atkins’ father] Mr.Thomas Allison, who passed them on to hisbrother, Mr. Alexander Allison; he grewthem..." (Atkins 1948). (.Today, nearly 80 years later, it is not pos-

sible for us to confirm that the seed broughtfrom China by Isabel Fraser and given toAlexander Allison did actually grow andproduce the plants that were fruiting in1910. Allison’s plants may have come fromelsewhere. It has been suggested that otherintroductions of kiwifruit to Wanganui tookplace at about the same time. Nevertheless,it seems plausible that the kiwifruit of todayhad its origin in those seeds from Yichangand that Katie Fraser was made aware of thekiwifruit by Wilson: Wilson is therefore duemuch of the credit - even if indirectly - forbringing the kiwifruit to New Zealand.

It seems ironic that the sending of seed bya missionary to an amateur gardener shouldeventually lead to a new horticultural indus-try, when the efforts of the Veitch Nurseryand the U.S. Department of Agriculturewere so much less successful. After all,Veitch’s was the greatest nursery of its day,and the U.S. Department of Agriculture hadall the resources of the Office of Foreign Seedand Plant Introduction, with its plantexplorers and its chain of plant introductiongardens. Perhaps it is largely luck that de-termines whether the introduction of a new

plant is successful.

Author’s Note

I am grateful to Dr. H. M. Mouat, formerly ofthe Fruit Research Division, Department of Sci-entific and Industrial Research, New Zealand, forpermission to cite the letter from Mr. Frank Ma-son, and to Dr. E. C. Nelson, National BotanicGarden, Dublin, Ireland, for permission to readhis then unpublished manuscript on AugustineHenry. The excerpt of the letter by Dr. Henry ispublished with the permission of the RoyalBotanic Gardens, Kew. My thanks are due to MissBella Smith and the library staff at the Mt. AlbertResearch Centre, Department of Scientific andIndustrial Research, Auckland, New Zealand, theArnold Arboretum, the Auckland Institute andMuseum, the Church of Scotland, the NationalLibrary of Scotland, and the Royal BotanicGardens, Kew.

References

Alhson, A. 1930. Letter to California Avocado Associa-tion, Los Angeles. Avocado Yearbook 1930:191-92.

Atkms, A. M. 1948. "Introduction of ChmeseGooseberry." The New Zealand Gardener, 4:795.

Bishop, J. F. (Isabella L. Bird). 1899. The Yangtze Valleyand Beyond An Account of /ourneys m Chma,Chieflym the Provmce of Szechuan and amongthe Man-tze of the Somo Termtory. London: JohnMurray.

Cox, E. H. M. 1943. "Robert Fortune." Journal of theRoyal Horticultural Society, 68: 161-71.

Fairchild, D. 1913. "Some Asiatic Acumdias." UmtedStates Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and Ag-ncultural Engmeenng Cmcular 110: 7-12.

Fischer, W. 1909. "Actmudia chinensis. " The Garden-ers’ Chromcle, 46 (3rd series): 77.

Franchet, A. 1882. "Les Plantes du Pere d’Incarvilledans l’Herbier du Museum d’Histoire Naturellede Pans." Bulletm de la Societe Botamque deFrance, 29: 2-13.

Fuller, K. A. P., and J. M. Langdon. 1973. The House ofVeitch. Yearbook, International Dendrology So-ciety, 1972:63-69.

35

Harrow, G. 1931. "Some Recollections of CoombeWood "The New Flora and Silva, 3’ 177-81. 1.

Henry, A. 1903 "Some New Trees and Shrubs of West-em Chma." Flora and Sylvo. 1: 217-18.

--. 1896 Letter to W. T. Thiselton-Dyer, Sep-tember 5, 1896 Kew Archives. Director’s Corre-spondence 151 (Chinese and Japanese letters,1865-1900, Hancock-Y): 696.. 1893 Notes on Economic Botany of Chma.

Shanghai’ Presbytenan Mission Press.. 1887 "Chinese Names of Plants "/ournal of the

Chma Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 22:233-83

Hewat, E. G. K. 1960. Vision and Achievement 1796-1956: A History of the Foreign Missions of the eChurches Umted in the Church of Scotland.London: Thomas Nelson & Sons.

Howard, R. A 1980 "E. H. Wilson as a Botamst."Ar-noldia, 40: 102-38, 154-93.

James Veitch & Sons, Ltd 1912 New Hardy Plantsfrom Western Chma (Introduced through MrE H. WiIsonJ~Autumn 1912 Chelsea: JamesVeitch & Sons.

. 1904 Novelties Offered by /ames Veitch &

Sons, Ltd, Royal Exotic Nursey, Chelsea: JamesVeitch & Sons.

Mason, F 1953. Letter to H. M. Mouat, January 21, 1,1953. File FR 14/6, Fruit Research Division, De-partment of Scientific and Industnal Research,Auckland, New Zealand.

Morley, B. D 1979 "Augustine Henry His BotamcalActivities m China, 1882-1890." Glasra, 3.21-81.

Nelson, E. C. 1983. "Augustine Henry and the Explora-tion of the Chmese Flora. " Amoldia, 43~ 1 /:21-38.

. 1980. "An Irish Mandanm Augustine Henry(1857-1930) " Taisce Journal, 4: 12-14.

Planchon, J. E. 1847. "Sur la Nouvelle Famille desCochlospermees." London /ournal of Botany, 6:294-311.

"The Flora and Fauna of Ichang: An Enghsh ExplorerGives His Experiences." 1902. North-ChmaHerald and Supreme Court and ConsularGazette (weekly edition of the North-ChmaDaily News/, 68 / 1979/; January 29, 1902. 192-3.

Umted States Department of Agriculture, Bureau ofPlant Industry 1918 "Acumdia chmensis "

Plant Immigrants, No. 140, p. 1255.. 1915a Inventory of the Seeds and Plants Im-

ported by the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant

Introduction dunng the Penod from January 1 toMarch 31, 1913 No 34, p. 45. Washington, D.C.:Government Printing Office.

-. 1915b. [Actinidia chmensis, first fruit producedm America.] Plant Imm~grants, Nos 111-12, fac-ing p 916. An unnumbered plate.

-. 1905. Seeds and Plants Imported dunng the Pe-nod from September, 1900 to December, 1903.No. 66, p. 38. Washington, D.C : GovernmentPrinting Office

Veitch, J. H. 1906. Hortus Venchm A History of theRise and Progress of the Nursenes of MessrsJames Veitch and Sons London JamesVeitch & Sons Limited.

Vilmonn, M L. de, and D. Bois 1904. Frut~cetum Vil-monmanum, Catalogus Pnmanus Cataloguedes Arbustes Existant en 1904 dans la Collectionde M Maunce Leveque de Vilmorin avec la De-scnpuon d’Especes Nouvelles et d’IntroducuonRecente Pans Libraire Agncole.

Wilson, E. H. 1938. Anstocrats of the Garden. London:Williams and Norgate.

. 1929 Chma, Mother of Gardens. Boston, Mass.:Stratford Company. First published m 1913 as ANaturahstm Western Chma. 1915. "The Best of the Hardy Climbmg Shrubs."

The Garden Magazine, 22 /2~: 31-35.. 1913. Plantae Wilsomanae Edited by C. S. Sar-

gent. Publications of the Arnold Arboretum, 4,vol 1 ~ v-vm.

-. 1909. "Plant-Collecting m China." Part of a let-ter to C. S Sargent, Oct. 1, 1908. The Gardeners’Chromcle, 45 /3rd series). 24-25.

-. 1905. "Leaves from my Chinese note-book: 1.

Ichang "The Gordeners’ Chromcle. 37 /3rdsenes/~ 337-38.

1900 /ournal of the Kew Gmld 1900 24-25.(Repnnted m 1901 as "Mr. E. H. Wilson mChina "The Gardeners’ Chromcle, 29 (3rdseries): 126-27.)

Yan, J. 1981. "Histoire d’Actimdio chinensis Planch.et Conditions Actuelles de sa Productiona 1’Etranger." Journal d’Agnculture Tradmonelleet de Botamque Apphquee, 28 : 281-90

A R. Ferguson is a plant physiologist at the Depart-ment of Scientific and Industrial Research in New Zea-land.

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Conunued from page 23

the humans, and the pests (the wood rats[pack rats] and the jays that store the seedsfor the winter) that have been associatedwith these plants over the years. Even bearsand bighorns like them. He stresses the im-portance of the nuts as a food crop for the In-dians and others. In the time of the Spanishexplorations, the pine nuts saved more than afew lives that otherwise would have beenclaimed by starvation.The silver mining days of the 1880s

brought an influx of people to the South-west. They ravaged the woodlands. Pinonwood provided the charcoal needed for thesmelting operations. Rivalries to obtain thewood often caused bloodshed. And unwisemethods of "chaining" the forests, with theidea of providing grazing land, have persisteduntil the present. The author does not hesi-tate to point the finger at the Forest Servicefor its share in this and other controversial

practices.Lanner has included an important chapter

on the taxonomic story, the history of theidentification and naming of the species asfar back as Fremont in 1843. It is interestingthat modern studies have eliminated thenamesPinus cembroides, P. quadrifolia, andP. parryana. They have been swallowed upby other species or by hybrids.

In his last chapter, on the future of the pi-non, Professor Lanner expresses a cautious

optimism: "The food potential of pinonforests... is enormous.... of the nine aminoacids essential to human growth seven arepresent in greater quantities in pinons thanin cornmeal." The table of the protein, fat,and carbohydrate content of pinon and otherpine nuts compared with better known nutsis a useful reference.

A 20-page chapter on pine nut cookery byHarriette Lanner tells where to find and howto gather the nuts, how to avoid hurting thetrees, and how to store and shell the nuts.Her recipes include salads, sauces, dressings,main dishes, side dishes, cookies, breads,cakes, other desserts, and backpackers’pinon pemmican.Ronald Lanner’s engaging writing style

and penetrating scholarship form a happycombination. He has provided a good bib-liography and index and effectively arrangedauthorities for text statements in notes atthe end of the book, thus avoidingsuperscription and footnotes in the textpages. Nineteen photographs and five linedrawings neatly round out the comprehen-sive presentation.