Augustine Henry and the E. Charles Nelson Exploration of the Chinese Flora

The -collector’s job is to uncover the hidden studies as rapidly as he could, obtained his beauties of the world, so that others may share medical qualifications, passed the Chinese his joy .... Customs Service examinations, for which he

- Frank From China to Hkamti Kingdon Ward, had acquired a working knowledge of Long Chinese, and left for China in the autumn of Although he is generally believed to have 1881. been born in Ireland, was Henry remained in the customs service born in Dundee, Scotland, on July 2, 1857. until the end of 1900, during which time he His father, Bernard, was a native of County made considerable collections of the native Derry in the North of Ireland, and his Chinese flora. Ernest Wilson is reported to

- mother was a local girl, Mary MacNamee. have said that "no one in any age has con- She met Bernard Henry while he was visit- tributed more to the knowledge of Chinese ing his married sister, who lived in Dundee. than this scholarly Irishman," and in After their marriage, and shortly after Au- Bernard and re- gustine’s birth, Mary Henry The portrait of Augustine Henry in this photo- turned to Ireland with their son and settled graph hangs in the National Botanic Gardens in in Cookstown in County Tyrone. Bernard Dublin, Ireland. It was pamted by Celia Harrison. owned a grocery shop in the town and also bought and sold flax. Austin, as Augustine was called, went to Cookstown Academy. He was a brilliant scholar and eventually gained a place in the Queen’s College, Galway, where he studied natural science and philosophy; he grad- uated in 1877 at the age of 20 with a first- class degree. In the following year he ob- tained a Master of Arts degree at the Queen’s College in Belfast. After that he spent a year in London studying medicine in one of the teaching hospitals. During a visit to Belfast about 1879 he met Sir Robert Hart, who re- cruited him for the Imperial Maritime Cus- toms Service in China. Henry completed his 22E

1929 the second fascicle of Icones Plan- March 1882 he was assigned to tarum Sinicarum was published in ("Ichang" in Henry’s correspondence), a port (Peking) with the following dedication: on the River, about a thousand miles near the borders of and Augustine Henry through whose assiduous bo- inland, tanical exploration of Central and South-Westem provinces. There he served as the China the knowledge of our flora has been greatly assistant medical officer and also performed extended. customs duties. For a while he spent his lei- sure time on shooting trips in the nearby Other botanists shared these al- opinions, countryside, but he was a poor shot and in Arthur Grove commented that though 1884 he began to pursue less mobile crea- Henry "was more concerned in botanical tures : plants. exploration than in horticultural exploita- In his diary he recorded his first botanical and more of a tion, thought getting specimen excursion on November 25, 1884, when he to Kew than of the seeds safely getting crossed the river at Yichang and collected which enable the to might particular plant some plants near the village of Shiliujing. be raised" for in cultivation the British Isles. On March 20, 1885, he wrote to the director But that is an unfair comment. was Henry of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, saying not oblivious to horticultural but potential, that a number of medicinal plants were cul- because he was occupied by his work at the tivated around Yichang. He reported that customs office he could in engage the task of "there seem to be a fair number of interest- and seed in his plant hunting collecting only ing plants; and as this part of China is not free time. Seed and still a collecting was, is, very well known to botanists interesting two visits to time-consuming task, requiring specimens might be obtained." Henry con- a one to collect the in flower habitat, plant fessed that he knew very little of botany, but for identification and a second to obtain ripe he offered to collect specimens and send seeds. first letter to Kew accom- Henry’s them to Kew "if you think they would prove panied seeds of the lacquer (Rhus ver- useful." niciflua) and in the next few years he sent About the same time he wrote to a Dr. other seeds, including Camellia euryoides, Wales regarding botanical work. His letter Rosa Buddleia and a lin- banksiae, davidii, was passed on to Henry Hance (1827-1886), den in ( tuan). On leaving Yichang who was one of the leading experts on the March 1889 he brought with him bulbs of an Chinese flora at that time as well as British which he to orange-flowered lily, gave vice-consul in Canton. Hance replied on Charles who forwarded some to Ford, Kew; April 1, 1881, suggesting some useful books this was the Henry lily ( henryi1, and recommending that "in order to work at which is cultivated in widely gardens today so novel and comparatively unknown a flora has the of a lime-toler- (and advantage being in a tolerably satisfactory manner, a student ant species).

Henry in China For the first few months of his time in The Henry honeysuckle (Lonicera henryi)./. China, Henry was stationed in . In Drawing by Michael Grassi. . 23 24 ~-,

ought to have a fairly good herbarium and a straints. He had to be single minded and col- very considerable library, with all the impor- lect seeds and bulbs of plants that would be tant systematic monographs and memoirs profitable for his employer. Maries did make on families & genera." He suggested to some notable discoveries at Yichang, includ- Henry that "any person with a love of ing the Chinese witch hazel (Hamamelis botany can do invaluable service even by mollis which was raised from his seed by collecting, whilst both leisure and want of Veitch but grew unrecognized in the London pecuniary means may render it impossible nursery for almost 20 years. for him to attempt to attack the study" on a Another person who collected at Yichang large scale. before Henry was Thomas Watters, by coin- The value of that advice to Henry may be cidence also Irish. The coincidence is more gauged by the fact that the letter in which it remarkable in that Watters was the brother was written and a second one containing a of Augustine Henry’s sweetheart, Harriet recipe for an insect repellent to preserve her- Watters. Harriet turned down Henry’s pro- barium specimens are the only letters that posal of marriage but corresponded with him survive among Augustine Henry’s papers for many years while he was in China. from his first tour of duty in China. Not Thomas Watters was a scholar with a special even the reply of Sir Joseph Hooker, director interest in Chinese Buddhism, and he was a of Kew, survives from the voluminous corre- member of the British consular service in spondence that Henry conducted with China from 1863 until 1894. In 1878 he was botanists after 1885. appointed acting consul in Yichang and dur- Having been advised by Hance, and un- ing his free time collected herbarium speci- doubtedly encouraged by Hooker, Henry mens for Hance. Watters also responded to a began to collect assiduously and thereby "to request made by the authorities at Kew for open the treasure chest of the Chinese materials on economic botany; at Yichang flora."" he discovered the service viburnum (Vibur- Other botanists, amateur and professional, num utile/, which was used for making had collected at Yichang before, but because pipestems. His other notable find was the they were eclipsed by Augustine Henry, Chinese primrose (Primula sinensis). Wat- their work is little known and their collec- ters sent some living plants to Charles Ford tions do not seem to amount to much. at the botanical garden in , but Charles Maries (c. 1851-1902) was sent to does not seem to have sent seeds or living China by James Veitch, the famous London plants to the British Isles. It is said that Wat- nurseryman, in 1879. According to Veitch he ters and Henry met in China, but no docu- lacked staying power and did not get on well ments describing such a meeting exist. with the Chinese, who resented his Augustine Henry, therefore, was in vir- "difficile" nature and destroyed his collec- tually unexplored territory. It was an area of tions. Thus Maries returned to England with outstanding botanical riches, "the Klondike very few plants. Unlike Henry, Maries was of plant gold." Between November 1884 and on a commercial expedition; he was not a February 1889 Henry discovered about 50U leisured explorer without deadlines or con- species new to Western scientists, about 25 25

new genera, and one plant, Trapella sinensis, there was nothing in them suitable for you that is now in a family by itself, the to plant. I must get you something soon." A Trapellaceae. He made use of native collec- few weeks later, as promised, Augustine tors, whom he trained to bring dried speci- Henry sent a "box containing 3 kinds of or- mens to him, although they were not as chids (I haven’t seen the flowers) procured productive as Henry wished. He combined on ... at 7000 [feet]. If they arrive via- the collection of herbarium specimens with ble and plantable, please take half of each studies of ethnobotany and recorded the kind and send the other half" to Bulley. vernacular names and uses of plants, espe- Henry said that the orchids should grow in cially those used in Chinese folk medicines. England, advising Miss Gleeson not to Indeed, his interest in botany was aroused by "throw them away: but try them, as they the difficulties of reconciling European sci- have astonishing vitality. Consult some one entific names and the many vernacular who knows: and give me suggestions if nec- names for Chinese medicinal plants. essary re collecting & sending similar or- On June 20, 1891, during home leave, chids."" Henry married Caroline Orridge, the daugh- Henry sent additional batches of seeds to ter of a London jeweler, and returned to Kew. In one letter to Evelyn Gleeson on De- China later that year. In November 1896, cember 21, 1898, he wrote that he had sent while stationed in southern China at Mengsi William Thistleton-Dyer, Hooker’s succes- ("Mengtze" or "Mengtse" in Henry’s letters), sor as director of Kew, "a lot of seeds: and he he wrote to Evelyn Gleeson, a friend from gave them to the girl gardeners to grow: and his student days in Galway, saying that he these dears succeeded in raising 45 kinds (al- had received "very enthusiastic letters from ready) including 6 species of Begonia & some a Liverpool merchant," Arthur K. Bulley. other beautiful plants as a new species of Henry promised to send him seeds but Rogersia, ... also Rhododendrons (3 or 4)." commented to Evelyn Gleeson that These seedlings had perhaps a better chance of surviving than the orchids sent to Miss the difficulty is in selecting. I like plants with Gleeson, yet the number of plants said to beautiful foliage and neat little flowers. I don’t have been introduced is care for colour much. I thmk chrysanthemums by Henry generally are positively ugly on account of their wretched considered to be small. . The Rose is an exception: it is wonder- While his introductions may be few, Au- beautiful in As for fully every way. Geraniums, I gustine Henry’s discovery of new species can’t understand them. really any one liking and his botanical work in poorly known Ferns of all kinds please me. They are simply areas was W. marvellous here, especially the kinds that one significant. Botting Hemsley gets in the virgin forests. Their vanety of form is estimated that while in China - at Yichang, astonishing. on Hainan, in , at Mengsi, and Simao - Henry and his native helpers acquired Despite his reservations and his own plea- over 15,800 collection numbers. As there sure in form, not color, Henry did collect were an average of 10 specimens in each seeds and also some epiphytic orchids. In there must have been a total of almost January 1897 he wrote to Evelyn Gleeson 160,000 herbarium specimens. Henry col- saying that he had sent seeds to Bulley "but lected probably over 5000 species between 26

1884 and 1900. His contribution to Chinese plant specimens. He soon tried to pass on his botany may be measured crudely by noting enthusiasm to others. the many species with the epithets augus- During his early years in China, Henry tinii orhenryi: Henrya augustinii, was learning and being guided. He returned Rhododendron augustinii, Emmenopterys to China in 1892 more confident and pre- henryi, andLonicerahenryi. Carolinella pared to encourage others. In 1893 he pub- henryi was named for his wife, Caroline. lished Notes on the Economic Botany of China, in the preface of which he wrote: Missionaries and others living in the interior are botanical contacts in China Henry’s often m a position to make enquiries concerning the natural productions of China, the results of One of Augustine Henry’s first contacts in which would be of great service to science. I in- China was Lord Kesteven (1851-1915), who tend to publish a few notes, pomting out the di- visited Yichang in April 1886 and probably rections in which such work might be done as re- accompanied Henry on a trip upstream gards articles derived from the vegetable kmg- for I thmk a idea that iss through the famous Yangtze gorge near the dom ; vague everything known, prevents many people from taking an city. Kesteven went with Henry many years interest in natural history. Scarcely anything is later on excursions to forests in France and known m regard to many points of economical sponsored his journey to the western United interest. If any one wishes to help, he will confer States in the early 1900s. He was one of the a great favour on the writer by sending him select group who received seeds from Augus- specimens of dried plants, drugs, woods, dyes, etc. These will be forwarded when neces- tine Henry during his first tour of duty, and specimens sary, to England, to have them dealt with by the it was him that introduced through Henry authorities at Kew. the sweetspire (Itea ilici folia into cultiva- tion in the British Isles. Henry continued with instructions on the No doubt Henry’s enthusiasm was stimu- preparation of herbarium specimens, which lated by the letters he received from Kew were almost word for word what Henry telling him of the significance of his discov- Hance had told him nearly nine years earlier eries and enclosing numerous articles and in the only letters he kept. papers containing descriptions of his plants. Henry did not confine his interests to eco- Unfortunately, none of these letters, written nomic botany, however, nor did he attempt by William Thistleton-Dyer, Daniel Oliver, to restrict the people he helped and encour- and William Hemsley, is extant, so it is not aged. In October 1892 he was assigned to possible to judge accurately how much Dakou on the island of Taiwan (Formosa); he Henry was inspired by them. During his had applied for the transfer in the hope that home leave in 1890, Henry certainly must the climate would suit his wife, who was in have been encouraged by his visit to Kew, failing health with tuberculosis. Caroline where he was greeted as a celebrity, the man Orridge Henry died two years later in Den- who had in 1886 sent "one of the most im- portant plant collections ever received from the centre of China" and who continued to The Henry lily (Lilium henry/.J . astound botanists with every new parcel of Drawing by Cynthia DeSando. 27 28

ver, Colorado, where she had gone because A few days later Henry provided Morse of the illness. with instructions about drying plants, not- On Taiwan Henry gathered information ing that he generally obtained six specimens for a flora of the island. In May 1893 he con- of each species. Later Henry advised him on tacted Hosea Ballou Morse (1855-1934), a employing native collectors. In August graduate of and a com- Morse promised to collect for Henry. Henry missioner in the customs service who was agreed to pay a native collector $ 8 a month stationed at Tamsui. He reminded Morse and instructed that he should bring plants that he had sent specimens of wild hemp- into Tamsui twice a month if possible. skin cloth and the plant from which it was Morse’s assistance was acknowledged by manufactured to Shanghai the previous year; Augustine Henry in his published list of the plant had been identified as an Alpinia Taiwanese plants. The two men continued species. On May 15, 1893, Henry wrote that to correspond for many years, especially while Henry was in Mengsi. from letters received from Kew, asking for speci- Henry arrived in Mengsi late in June 1896 mens in flower, it appears that it is a new species and there met Pierre Bons D’Anty (1859-

... I should be much if you would kindly obhged 1916), who was the French consul in Simao cut off the flowers, put it m a bottle m spirits of (Ssemao or Szemao in Henry’s correspon- wine, and send to me.... I am domg my best here a in southwestern China near to get at the products of the vegetable kingdom dence), city and have a native ... collecting for me in the the border with Vietnam (then French In- mountams. dochina). Bons D’Anty was probably in Mengsi on business. They could not have In fact he had several for people working had much contact, for the consul left Mengsi of Mr. a him; under the guidance Schmuser, five days after their first meeting. These two "the chief lighthouse keeper, savage Capt- men had much in common; they shared an made a collection in the south of ing" large interest in Chinese literature, and Henry re- the island. On " June 6, 1893, Augustine garded Pierre Bons D’Anty as "very clever." to a letter from Hosea Morse Henry replied Their brief contact was enough for Henry to had mentioned the in which Morse prob- persuade him to collect plants at Simao. and lems of customs officials with plants Between August 1896 and November listed under Chmese names. plant products 1897, when Bons D’Anty left Simao, he cor- he could not tackle that for Henry said that responded with Henry and sent specimens. the present: On August 22, 1896, Bons D’Anty sent to Henry specimens of plants "found common One must remember that the framers of the tariff or between Mengsi and Simao; were ignorant of botany, textile fibres and such peculiar" each was and Bons like ... such work as identifying drugs, fibres, specimen numbered, dyes &c, can only be done very gradually and by D’Anty asked Henry to refer to the "same accumulation of specimens of the plants and in- number when telling me the identification formation at first hand. It also an ex- got requires that you arrive at." It is evident from this pert, one who knows Chinese and has an acquam- that Henry had become more than a collec- tance with common vulgar names in Chinese, he was now a botanist of with Chinese books &c, else the ordinary ob- tor ; capable naming server will be taken in. plants. Yet there were some species he could r 29

not identify, and these were sent to London. Longzhou in province. On April 30, Over the following year Henry and Bons 1897, Henry informed William Thistleton- D’Anty corresponded about conifers, tea, Dyer that he had and vernacular names. Chinese received from Morse ... some 400 species. Some In June 1897 Pierre Bons D’Anty wrote are quite interesting. He sent me Tournefortia that sarmentosa, which is hitherto known only as an oceamc plant.... He also sends me Dolichan- drone which I found on the Red for nearly two months I have not been out of my cauda-fehna, River. Its are the most comic of office and I was busy till the middle of every pods fruits; long tall of some ammal would be near it. mght. I hope you will excuse me. I thought of prehistoric to but I couldn’t find a minute to do writing you Earlier in the year he had written to Hosea so.... I have some 250 or 300 some specimens, Morse saying that Professor Charles Sargent very cunous, collected during my trip in the Lip- of the Arnold Arboretum had written sing [?]. I am going to pack them all right and send asking them to you as soon as possible. for seeds of "mountain shrubs and trees. Perhaps you could co-operate if you get off at all to the mountains." his He sent Henry a photograph of a palm that Henry expressed for Morse’s assistance with the was very common in the Lipsing area; "it is gratitude Taiwanese flora: "I am to seen around every pagoda and the leaves are very grateful you for for me: and can send used to make paper with, or rather they are your collecting you I will have used as paper, being cut into long stripes at your convenience. expect you [sic].",, quite a lot of novelties. Every place in China has and often are the commonest As he could not make herbarium some; they speci- " of the - mens of the huge leaves, Bons D’Anty plants locality." thought the best way to convey the informa- tion was by photographing the plant. He re- marked that the Chinese called the palm Henry and Bulley Mieni chou. In a subsequent letter Bons D’Anty showed that he had some botanical It was while in Mengsi that Augustine expertise himself, by saying that the palm Henry began his correspondence with the was not a species of Chamaerops, Livistona, Liverpool merchant Arthur K. Bulley Arenga, or Borassus. Henry sent the photo- (1861-1942). Bulley, the founder of Bees graph to Kew and the palm was identified as Nursery, was an insatiable horticulturist "probably Trachycarpus sp." In all, Pierre with a passion for introducing new plants Bons D’Anty sent Henry about 500 speci- into the British Isles. He had tried contacting mens before he left Simao. These were in- missionaries in China to request seeds, a corporated into Henry’s collections and sent practice that was becoming common at that to Kew. They gave Henry a good preliminary time among institutions and enthusiastic knowledge of the flora of that region, where gardeners in Europe. However, Bulley was he was to be sent in 1898. far from content with the seeds he received; While corresponding with Bons D’Anty in his garden "could quickly claim to possess Simao, Henry remained in contact with the best international collection of dande- Hosea Morse, who had been transferred to lions to be seen anywhere."" 30

Bulley first wrote to Henry in 1896 and re- sell plants and I cant afford the expense quested seeds, which Henry sent. In a letter without selling. Given prosperity I’ll go my- to Evelyn Gleeson written in June 1897, self some day." His nursery business did Henry said that "I don’t know [Bulley], but prosper, but Bulley never visited China. In- he wrote to me for seeds .... He is an en- stead he employed his own collectors or as- thusiast. I have a weakness for enthusiasts, sisted in financing plant-collecting expedi- cranks and the like." A fortnight later, he tions. In 1904 George Forrest ( 1873-1932) remarked in another letter to Miss Gleeson went to China for the first time, as Bulley’s that "Mr. Bulley seemed satisfied with the collector. He returned in 1910, sponsored by seeds I sent him and wrote me a letter full of another English gardener, J. C. Williams flattery and appreciation."" (1861-1939), and Arthur Bulley. In 1911, Unlike the missionaries, Henry seemed to financed by Bulley, Frank Kingdon Ward be able to travel anywhere and collect (1885-1958) made his first plant-collecting worthwhile plants. On March 30, 1897, trip; it was not remarkably productive and Henri Correvon of Geneva sent a letter in probably displeased Bulley. Although Ward idiosyncratic English to Bulley seeking as- made several other expeditions, Bulley did sistance : not commission them. In 1913 Bulley en- Roland to collect "I allways wishes to hear that somebody would gaged Cooper (1890-1962) ter- go [to ]. But Franchet says that only the in Sikkim, but their contract was soon Jesuits - those who take the protestant church minated. Like Forrest and Ward, Cooper built at Madagascar by English missionaries - made other collecting trips in the Far East, alone, the awful Jesuits can go there. Is your but none under Bulley’s sponsorship. friend Henry the abbe Henry? - if so he will be able to get something as the people there is catholic. Franchet says even that they are very ’ much against protestants. Our protestant mis- Henry and Ernest Wilson sionaries are not far from Yunnan but Franchet in 1898 was trans- says they cannot go there they would be killed!!! Early Augustine Henry So that if you have a fnend there ask him for ferred from Mengsi to Simao. The journey seeds of Primula and Paeomes etc. etc." took 18 days by foot and mule. This customs post was the last new one to which Henry Although Henry sent seeds to Bulley from was assigned, and it was at Simao that one of Mengsi, the plants from this part of Yunnan the most significant events took place in his were subtropical species and were unlikely work of stimulating exploration of the to be hardy in England. Chinese flora. That event was the arrival of In 1901 Bulley and Henry met in England Ernest Wilson (1876-1930) in Simao with following Henry’s resignation from the these instructions from the Veitch nursery: Chinese Customs Service. Bulley was still The of the is to collect a keen’to get Chinese plants. In one undated object journey quantity of seeds of a plant the name of which is known to letter to he had stated that "there are Henry - us. This is the object do not dissipate time, few in the wide world I should things enjoy energy or money on anything else. In furtherance more than sending out a collector. But at of this you will first endeavor to visit Dr. Augus- present [about 1897] it’s impossible. I wont tine Henry and obtain precise data as to the 31

habitat of this particular plant and information at Mengsi asking for seeds. Henry sent this on the flora of central China in general. reply on June 3, 1897: With respect to seeds, I will do what I can, espe- These cryptic orders were the long- cially later on when I shall have less plant collect- awaited result of efforts Augustine Henry’s mg to do in our immediate neighbourhood. But it to have the seed of the beautiful dove tree really is a difficult matter collecting seeds - one (Davidia involucrata) collected and trans- arrives on the ground too early or too late. I tried ported to England for cultivation. e.g. to collect seeds of Gentiana serra and rhodantha common plants and failed to get a Those efforts in when began 1888, Henry single seed. You may ask why not employ a na- set out with his Chinese coolies and tive. Ah! you don’t know the Yunnanese - my Antwerp Pratt on a collecting trip that lasted muleteer who collects plants is the only man I three months and covered the area south- know who could or would do the work - and even he does only about [one-tenth] of what I west of Yichang. On May 17 near the village could do if I had his time. The other Chmese and of Mahuanggou Henry rode up a river valley aborigines are too lazy for seed collecting .... The and saw "one of the he saw strangest sights fact is that if one has nothing else to do, one in China ... a solitary tree of Davidia in full might orgamze plans and people for carrying out blow ... waving its innumerable ghost hand- such work, but it is difficult for me as I have a deal to do. And I doubt if of kerchiefs." At the time he did not know the good yet many my specimens will be collected agam for 50 years: as I tree’s name, so he collected herbarium have put an amount of energy into parts of the In the autumn he specimens. following botanizing. The flowers of a certain Zanthoxyl- managed to send two of his trusted coolies to lum have cost me 3 visits to one spot and an ex- the tree, and they collected fruits, which penditure of 6 hours time. Money is not what is he sent with the herbarium specimens to wanted, but time, oceans of time. Nothing as- tonishes at home so much as the a Kew. The fruits and dried specimens reached people fact, real fact, that in countnes like China, you cannot London in 1889 and were examined by do everything with money. Patience is more val- Daniel Oliver. Oliver prepared drawings of uable. the fruits, which were the first seen by continued various other Western scientists, but he omitted to have Henry by discussing subjects, but before he posted the letter an- any seed sown. In April 1891 Oliver pub- other one arrived from Thistleton-Dyer ask- lished a description and illustration of the for seeds of a redbud tree fruits and commented that "Davidia is a ing specially (Cer- cis racemosa). Henry added to his letter: tree almost deserving a special mission to Western China with a view to its introduc- I never saw the tree but in one spot on the frontier. It is useless of me to tion to European gardens." That remark is so Hupeh-Szechwan write to Ichang as I know no one there now: but I similar to comments made years later by think you ought to make a strong effort to get the that it is hard not to conclude that he Henry Consul there to send one of the coolies who ac- had suggested this to Oliver when he visited compamed me on my trip to the locality, & pro- Kew during his home leave in 1890. cure not only seeds of the Cercis, but also of

Davidia .... Why Davidia is worth any amount of However, for a few years Davidia was for- money. I only saw one tree of it, but doubtless in William gotten. Then, April 1897, there are others in the district ... I assure you Thistleton-Dyer wrote to Augustine Henry that if I could do anything by writmg myself to the Ichang Consul, I would do it; I know the ways This letter marks the beginning of a new of people m outposts. You will draw them, if you period in Augustine Henry’s life in which he make the offer Davidia is wonderful. exciting. recognized the vast potential of the Chinese flora for European horticulture, yet ac- On before this May 21, receiving long reply, knowledged his own inadequacy. It is clear Thistleton-Dyer wrote to ask for more seeds, that these letters also provided William "the majority of them being from Ichang Thistleton-Dyer with much food for this con- plants." On receiving letter, Henry thought, and for several months Henry got sidered the list to sending Yichang himself, no further correspondence from Kew. Dur- but he decided that there was little of hope ing this period he was transferred to Simao. he anything resulting. On July 19, 1897, In 1898 he received a "very extensive letter" wrote a detailed letter to William long, from Thistleton-Dyer and in his reply on Thistleton-Dyer in which he set out the fol- June 8, 1898, Henry remarked that "I hope ideas: lowing you will try and get a young Cambridge or Oxford botanist to come to this part of the In regard to seed collecting it is not a question of world, do some naturalist [sic] work, and money, but of finding some one with the time on collect seeds and live plants for cultivation."" hand and the requisite intelligence and energy, In none of Augustine Henry’s subsequent and this is very difficult to find indeed. letters to William was the I would suggest, so great is the variety and Thistleton-Dyer beauty of the Chinese flora and so fit are the matter discussed further. plants for European climate, that an effort ought Thistleton-Dyer proposed an expedition to to be made to send out a small expedition - the of Veitch’s nurseries, the com- funds e.g. being provided a syndicate of say, a by pany that had previously sent Charles horticulturist, a private gentleman or two, &c. I Maries to with so little success. estimate £1000 would cover the expenses for 2 Yichang Veitch asked to recom- years: and what I would recommend is that a man Thistleton-Dyer be selected, who has just finished his botamcal mend someone and in April 1899 Ernest studies at Cambridge University. I mean don’t Wilson set off for China. He traveled send a collector but a gentleman, a student, and through the United States, where he visited an enthusiast. could on a Suppose e.g. you ahght the Arnold Arboretum in Boston and met man like Willis of Ceylon was, just as he had Professor He reached finished his botanical course some years ago. The Sargent. Hong Kong locality I would suggest is the mountain range and then traveled to Hanoi, eventually separating Szechwan from Shensi or thereabouts reaching Laokoi. There were civil distur- - the expedition starting from Ichang in April bances in the Mengsi area just before Wilson and two seasons. covering arrived in southern China and he was forced In conclusion, I can see now that there were to remain at Laokoi. after a hundreds of interestmg plants which I might have Eventually, long he for Simao. knew noticed earlier m my plant collecting, if I had had delay, departed Henry the experience or gemus or the teaching. If you that Wilson was on his way; on September ever again come across a budding collector like 19, 1899, he wrote to Thistleton-Dyer saying what I was when we some began correspondence that "Mr. Wilson after a long delay at Laokoi years ago, please insist on him being more than a owing to the disturbance at Mengtse &c. is mere collector: and perhaps you will help to de- on his here and has reached and velop a naturalist. way Talang: will arrive in Ssemao on Sunday next. I will he found that Henry’s lone dove tree had give him all the help possible." been cut down. However, as Henry had pre- Ernest Wilson reached Simao as antici- dicted, Wilson found other trees in the area pated and for several weeks stayed with and collected seeds for his employers. These Henry. On October 9, in a letter to Evelyn eventually reached England, germinated, Gleeson, Augustine Henry remarked that and produced many of the Davidia trees seen in the British Isles Wilson’s suc- I have ... a guest of all the things in the world at today. Szemao, a Mr. Wilson, late a gardener at Kew, cess must have given Augustine Henry plea- who has been sent out by Veitch’s to collect sure, for although he had sent the first fruits or bulbs in China. plants rather their seeds and to Europe, none of the seeds had been sown, He has made his way here to consult with me on and the glory of raising the first seedling best way of procedure and concerning the in- to Maurice de Vilmorin in Paris. teresting country around Ichang and he will stay passed here 2 or 3 weeks. He is a self-made man, knows botany thoroughly, is young and will get on. Henry and Charles Sargent On the same day Henry wrote to Kew, not- In 1892 Charles Sargent was visiting Ja- ing that Wilson had reached Simao safely. pan, where he met He offered the opinion that Wilson would (1868-1907), nephew of Harry Veitch. On "do, I think, as he seems very energetic, fond his return to Boston, Sargent suggested to of his botany .... He is also even-tempered Harry Veitch that his nephew go to China to and level-headed, the main thing for travel- collect seeds for the Arnold Arboretum and ing and working in China." Henry gave Wil- the family nursery. James’s uncle declined to son "on a half-page of a notebook ... a send him and Sargent abandoned the idea of sketch of a tract of country about the size of a Chinese collecting expedition until he New York State" on which he marked the began to correspond with Augustine Henry. place where he had found the single tree of Henry’s first letter to Charles Sargent is Davidia involucrata in 1888. He also pro- dated May 31, 1894. Like Kew, the Arnold vided Wilson with useful information and Arboretum wanted seeds, and Sargent had hints. In October Henry was instructed to asked Henry to collect. Augustine Henry ex- return to Mengsi to resume charge of the plained his position to Sargent in much the customs station there, so he and Wilson same way as he had earlier explained it to journeyed from Simao. At Mengsi they Thistleton-Dyer. But, like Thistleton-Dyer, parted, but they remained close friends for Sargent was persistent, and Henry had to the rest of their lives. Henry was pleased and reiterate in a letter written in September relieved. To Evelyn Gleeson he confided that 1897 that he found "seed collecting almost he "would be glad if [Wilson] will continue out of the question, as my time is so limited to carry on the work in China which has which I can spend in the forests." been on my shoulders for some years. There Shortly after arriving in Simao, Henry re- is so much of interest and of novelty." marked casually in an undated letter to Sar- Ernest Wilson traveled to Yichang and gent that "Yunnan is a splendid ground for then to the hamlet of Mahuanggou, where the anthropologist, ethnologist, zoologist, 34 ,

geologist: and I should very much like to see In the final paragraph Henry wrote: a trained set out to - we expedition explore It must not be forgotten that I am doing fairly who are on the spot are too busy with our good botanical work as I am situated, as my own ordinary duties to go in seriously for any private hobby. I have pondered over the matter a deal: and much as I should like to on such such studies." By autumn 1898 Sargent was good go an expedition, I must consider that I do not see also pestering Henry to send seeds from any way to accomplish such a wish. I am unavail- and on Novem- Yichang, Henry’s response able. My home leave is due at the end of 1900: ber 20 was the same as that to and I am lookmg forward to spending 1901 and Thistleton-Dyer: 1902 in Europe. I feel that by that time, i.e. end of 1900, I must have a change of climate and sur- There are American missionaries m Ichang and roundmgs for the benefit of my health, both phys- many other parts of China and you could get ical and mental. It may seem absurd: but it is very lists of them from the mission boards and appeal difficult to bear up with the isolation, fnendless- to them. A circular letter attract one or two might ness and monotony of a place such as this. out of the hundreds. Perhaps you don’t like the idea of begging in this way: but Mr Bulley of In another letter dated July 21, Henry re- Liverpool (whom you know, I think) has been peated his remarks and told Sargent that he somewhat successful m this direction. would require a considerable salary for such As Veitch and Wilson were negotiating an expedition and thus his "terms would be about the quest for Davidia, Sargent wrote prohibitive ... I could scarcely be expected to from in the to Henry proposing an expedition to China resign my position customs, unless I saw an I am with Henry as a member. He received the opening equally good. proposal early in May 1899 and replied that less loath to refuse, because I know that re- in the Customs I still do ser- "as the matter requires a considerable maining good amount of thinking about, I intend to write vice to botany." even not Sar- to you fully by our next courier." As he However, that did diminish promised, Henry replied in detail on May 9, gent’s hope of enlisting him, and their dis- again exactly as he had to Thistleton-Dyer. cussions continued. It lasted many more "As I consider enthusiasm in botany the months, probably due to delays in the mail chief quality needed in the man selected, I service, and was still continuing when Wil- reply to your question ’is there anyone I son arrived in Simao. On November 14, could recommend in China’ in the negative. 1899, after Wilson had left and Henry had re- The man can be found in the U. S. or in En- turned to Mengsi, Henry wrote to Sargent: "I gland. Indeed it might be better to send 2 thank you very much for the confidence you men." Clearly Sargent wanted Henry to be repose in me, and for the liberality of your his envoy, for on the following day Henry offer, and feel flattered by the high esteem wrote a confidential note to Sargent saying you have in my capacities. But I think it is that he could not see any way of obtaining best to decline definitely." leave from the customs service to go on an His long letter continued with remarks expedition, and that, in any case, the trou- about sending out a young collector. Sargent bled situation within China made such a re- thought the person should speak Chinese, quest from him to his superiors inopportune. but Henry said that this was not necessary, 35

remarking that he was "sure Mr. Wilson will of Foreign Seed and Plant Introductions. do excellent work, in the way of collecting Fairchild visited southern China in March seeds, bulbs, etc.... he is really at little dis- 1900, and according to his own account advantage on account of his ignorance of wrote to Henry for advice on collecting. Au- Chinese." Henry said that no interpreter was gustine Henry sent Fairchild his book on needed, that "an ordinary ’boy’ will do." In economic plants. Fairchild thought the book concluding his letter Henry provided Sargent was "splendid." At the end of his letter, with advice on choosing a collector, again Henry answered Fairchild’s query as to how commenting on Ernest Wilson’s suitability. he could procure seeds and plants from the interior of the What is wanted is a man with common-sense, China, by giving following tact and especially good temper - of course I advice: "Don’t waste money on postage- pre-suppose he is enthusiastic in botany and eager send a man." David Fairchild acknowledged to travel. You ought not to have the slightest that "this word of wisdom made a deep im- difficulty in findmg such a man. Of course, as in pression on me and had a great influence on Mr. Wilson’s case it would be a good thing if he my when I returned to the United could come and see me and learn a great many policy States. because of this advice I inau- wrinkles in that way. If Mr. Wilson were not em- Largely ployed by Veitch’s for seed collecting, I think he gurated an exploration of that vast country." would do very well - as he gets on well with the In 1903 David Fairchild visited London Chinese and is keen to do as much very collecting and called on Augustine Henry, who was as is possible. I trust you will succeed in finding working on his Chinese collections at Kew. such a man. In conclusion, I must again express He that should return to to you my best thanks for the kindness and liber- proposed Henry ality of your offer: so much esteemed by me, as China for the U.S. Department of Agricul- coming from you one of the most disting~.ushed of ture, but Henry declined. However, the two botanists. living men discussed the economic potential of This finally compelled Sargent to stop his Chinese plants and Fairchild departed more than ever to send to pursuit of Augustine Henry, but it was not determined explorers China. In under Fairchild’s direc- the last offer Henry was to decline. One year May 1905, later Henry left China for the last time - he tion, Frank Meyer ( 1875-1915) went there for the first time. he concentrated had lost "the zest of youth" and was "tired Although of China, mentally dead tired of it." How- on plants of economic value, he did intro- some into North ever, he was to retain great interest in its duce ornamental species American David Fairchild plants for the rest of his life, and he con- gardens. Later, sent Rock who made his tinued to encourage others to explore the Joseph (1884-1962), and vast country. name by introducing rhododendrons conifers. Henry began to talk about the great hor- Henry and David Fairchild ticultural potential of Chinese plants soon Before Augustine Henry left China, he re- after he returned to Europe. At a dinner of ceived a letter from David Fairchild ( 1869- the Horticultural Club on March 8, 1902, in 1954), a botanist in the U.S. Department of London he was the guest of honor. Sir Wil- Agriculture, who was in charge of the office liam Thistleton-Dyer proposed Dr. Henry’s 36f

health in "a capital speech which evoked So you have captured me at last. Twelve months ago I would not have believed it possible for any- considerable amusement by its quaint com- one to have persuaded me into revisiting China bination of official reserve and ap- dry genial on any terms. Since it has come to pass be it said of Dr. labours." Accord- preciation Henry’s that there is no person or institution I would ing to the Gardeners’ Chronicle, Augustine rather serve than yourself and the Arnold Ar- Henry’s speech was outstanding. He pointed boretum - Kew alone excepted. out that vast areas of China remained to be explored and yet stated that he had been the Augustine Henry was in the United States wrong person to undertake the task. He re- when he learnt of Wilson’s "capture" by Sar- marked that his education had not prepared gent. In fact Henry had been looking for a him for botanical work, "an extensive suitable position for Wilson and had found a knowledge of ancient Greece ... being of no possibility in Canada. He wrote to Wilson in aid to him whatever." He hoped that an ex- November from Washington: "I have just pedition under the auspices of the Royal come here from Boston ... I shall miss you: Horticultural Society could be fitted out for am sorry. I agree with Sargent that this ex- China, where it would find not only plants pedition is to be a great one. Success to you!" of great ornamental value but also "many His letter continued with recommenda- sorts of vegetables unknown to use, many tions on the cameras and photographic fruits, ... also unintroduced, and even plates that Wilson should take to China forage-grasses," which he considered worthy and also mentioned Schimper’s Plant Geog- of introduction. He noted that the climate of raphy, which Henry noted "will put you in much of China was such that its native way of describing floral regions and doing plants should be hardy in the British Isles ’Plant Society’ [i.e. ecology] work." He told and he cited "numerous species there exist- Wilson that he should take his own chemi- ing, Ribes, Rhododendrons, &c., which cals for developing plates and do his own would excel anything yet introduced." developing: "It saves time! and is necessary, else you will be carrying about spoiled and useless plates." Augustine Henry must have felt that the mantle of responsibility was Wilson, Sargent, and Henry now finally off his shoulders, and that a new Ernest Wilson returned to England in generation of collectors and explorers was April 1902 with his collection of seeds and bound for China. bulbs. So successful was his expedition that In later years Henry was still consulted in January 1903, Harry Veitch again sent by these collectors. For example, Reginald him to China. From this expedition Wilson Farrer (1880-1920), an English horticulturist returned in March 1906. In mid-April who sponsored his own expedition to west- Charles Sargent was in England and met ern China in 1913, was working with Wil- Wilson, whom he surprised by inviting him liam Purdom (1880-1921) in April 1914 at to return to China, this time for the Arnold Sining-Fu in Gansu province near the border Arboretum. After some negotiations Ernest with Xizang (Tibet). From there he wrote to Wilson agreed, and he wrote to Sargent: Henry saying that they hoped to return to 37

Beijing by way of the Yangtze valley. Farrer letter to Evelyn Gleeson. On returning to wanted to "see in situ and obtain ... Gen- England he decided to take up a career in tiana venosa and Primula nutantiflora." He forestry and went to study at the French asked Henry for full notes on where these School of Forestry at Nancy. However, he species could be found. Henry replied, and was soon invited by Henry J. Elwes (1846- Farrer later wrote from "The Valley of Rocks 1922) to work on a monograph on trees cul- and Wolves, Chinese Tibet" thanking him tivated in Ireland and Great Britain. Henry " for his "most lucid and valuable directions." left Nancy and set to work on the book; the Arthur Bulley also continued to consult first of its seven volumes appeared on No- Henry; in 1926 he wanted to obtain a species vember 14, 1906. Early in 1907 Augustine of Lithospermum, which had been collected Henry was approached to become reader in in Yunnan. However, Henry had never seen forestry at the University of Cambridge. He or collected the plant and could not help Bul- accepted and remained there until January ley in his quest. 1913, when he became the first professor of forestry in the Royal College of Science in Dublin. Henry did much to influence the fu- Conclusion ture course of forestry in Ireland and also carried out taxonomic research. On St. Pat- If had done no more than [Augustine Henry] rick’s 1908 married Alice Brun- make known the marvellous riches of China he Day Henry of Sir Richard a lead- would have achieved more than most men.... ton, daughter Brunton, died in Dublin Happily so many plants bear his name that while ing English physician. Henry trees and shrubs are cultivated his memory will on March 23, 1930. remam m every garden and arboretum for long The Western world is indebted to Augus- years to come. tine Henry for the many fine plants he - J. W. Besant, Gardeners’ Chromcle brought to the notice of botanists and hor- ticulturists here. While Arthur Grove was Augustine Henry found pleasure in correct in saying that many of Henry’s dis- botany, which he told Charles Sargent was coveries would remain as herbarium speci- his "private hobby." It helped him to bear mens, it is also true that Henry encouraged the monotonous daily toil of an officer in the others to go to China to collect the seeds and Chinese Maritime Customs Service. His bulbs that he was unable to obtain. It is a plant-hunting trips allowed him to forget the remarkable fact that most of the collectors loneliness of life far from his home and working in China at the beginning of this friends. He confided to Evelyn Gleeson on century were sent by persons who had corre- August 29, 1896, that "I positively enjoy sponded with or met Henry. Ernest Wilson myself in the wild luxury of beautiful air, in never forgot the help he received from Au- " the beautiful loneliness of our mountains." gustine Henry and paid many tributes to the In China he learned to appreciate the plants "scholarly Irishman" who guided him. Of and above all the forests. "A forest is the Augustine Henry’s own introduction, the finest thing in the world: it is the expression eponymous Lilium henryi, Wilson wrote: "It of nature in the highest form: it is so full of is particularly fitting that such a notable ad- beauty and of variety," he said in another dition to our gardens should bear the hon- 38

A. 1896. "A List of Plants from Formosa with oured name of a pioneer who has done so Henry, some Prelimmary Remarks on the Geography, much to a world of the acquaint sceptical Nature of the Flora and Economic Botany of the rich floral wealth of interior China." From Island." Transacuons of the Asiatic Society of the Chinese flora’s treasure chest, he dis- Japan, 24: supplement. the and allowed with . 1893. Notes on the Economic Botany of Chma. played jewels others, Presbytenan Mission Press, Shanghai. his help and encouragement, to bring the Henry Mss., National Botamc Gardens, Dublin. Augus- gems to us. Without Augustine Henry we tine Henry’s dianes and letters. The Horticultural Club. 1902. Gardeners’ Chromcle would be the poorer. (3rdser.)31: 244. Kew Mss., Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. (English Let- at the National E. Charles Nelson is taxonomist ters vol. 151, ff 705-709, 710-714, 715-717, 718, Ireland Botanic Gardens, Dublm, 725-730, 752, 753.) Letters to W. Thistleton- This paper was read at a meeting held in University Dyer B. 1980. The Garden College, Dublm, in November 1980, marking the 50th Morley, "Augustme Henry." (Lon- 285-289 anmversary of Augustme Henry’s death; the meetmg don) 105 /7/~ His Botamcal Ac- was held under the auspices of the Insh section of thee . 1979. "Augustme Henry: Society for the Bibhography of Natural History, the So- tivities m Chma, 1882-1890." Glasra 3: 21-81. ciety of Insh Foresters, and the Forestry Graduates Morse Mss., Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Letters of Augustine Henry and Hosea Morse. . Group. Nelson, E C 1980 "An Insh Mandann, Augustine Henry ( 1857-1930/." Taisce Journal 4/2/~ 12-14. Oliver, D. 1891. "Davidia involucrata. Hooker’s Acknowledgements IconesPlantarum, t 19G1. Patton, E. R. Unpublished ms. "Ulsterman and Chinese My thanks are due to the libranans and archivists of Botamst: the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; the Arnold Arbore- Scholar, Explorer, Photographer, Thomas Watters 1840-1901." tum, Boston, Massachusetts; the National Library of S. 1966. The Wood and the Trees, a and the Hunt Institute for Botamcal Pim, Biography of Ireland, Dublin; London. The best Documentation, Pittsburgh, for their assistance with Augusune Henry. Macdonald, source of information on this article and especially for making available copies of biographical Augustine Augustine Henry’s letters. Henry. Sargent Mss., Arnold Arboretum, Boston, Massachu- setts. Sutton, S. B. 1970. Charles Sprague Sargent and the Ar- References nold Arboretum. Harvard University Press, Bean, W. J. 1908. "Viburnum utile."Curus’s Botamcal Cambndge. 1906. Hortus Veitchm Veitch. Magazine. t. 8174. Veitch, J H. James Lon- don. Besant, J. W. 1931. "The Late Professor Henry, V. M. Wilson Arnold H." Gardeners’ Chromcle /3rd ser.~ 87: 274-275. Mss., Arboretum, Boston, Massachu- setts. Bretschneider, E. 1898. History of European Botamcal Wilson, E H. 1925. The Lihes of Eastern Asia. Stratford, Discovenes in China 2 vols. Sampson Low, Boston. London. Wilson, E. H. 1926. Amstocrats of the Garden. Stratford, A. 1969. The a Coats, Quest for Plants, History of the Boston. Horticultural Explorers Studio Vista, London. Fairchild, D. 1941. The World Was My Garden. Travels of a Plant Explorer. Scribner’s. New York and London. " -. 1921. "An Agncultural Explorer m Chma." Asia, January: 7. Gleeson Mss., National Library of Ireland, Dublin. Let- ters of Augustine Henry and Evelyn Gleeson. Grove, A. 1930. "Professor Augustine Henry." Garden- ers’ Chromcle (3rd ser.) 2257: 248-249.