Fathers of Botany The discovery of Chinese plants by European missionaries Jane Kilpatrick The University of Chicago Press Chicago and London You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew 2014 Text © Jane Kilpatrick Photographs © Jane Kilpatrick, unless otherwise stated Illustrations © The Board of Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, unless otherwise stated Jane Kilpatrick has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 All rights reserved. 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First published in 2014 by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AB, UK www.kew.org and The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637, USA 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 1 2 3 4 5 Kew Publishing ISBN 978 1 84246 514 1 eISBN 978 1 84246 590 5 The University of Chicago Press ISBN-13: 978 0 226 20670 7 (cloth) British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kilpatrick, Jane, author. Fathers of Botany : the discovery of Chinese plants by European missionaries / Jane Kilpatrick. pages cm Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 978-0-226-20670-7 (cloth : alkaline paper) 1. Botanists—France—Biography. 2. Botany—China— History—19th century. 3. Plants—China. I. Title. 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Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. DEDICATION For Drew, Ginny and Sally You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. Contents chapter 3 Acknowledgements North of the Great Wall viii 24-31 chapter 4 Botanists and Explorers Land of the White Bear viii-ix 32-55 chapter 5 Gazeteer The Qinling x 56-63 chapter 6 Introduction A Botanical Eden 1-3 64-85 chapter 1 chapter 7 A Dangerous Vocation The Riches of Yunnan 4-7 86-95 chapter 2 chapter 8 The Open Door Our Dear Project 8-23 96-119 You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. vi FATHERS OF BOTANY Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. chapter 9 chapter 15 Convalescence and Return The Flower Garden of the World 120-131 202-213 chapter 10 chapter 16 A Most Interesting Flora Rebellion 132-145 214-223 chapter 11 chapter 17 Interesting Specimens Final Years 146-163 224-231 chapter 12 North of the Qinling Sources and General Bibliography 164-175 232-233 chapter 13 The Tibetan Borders Notes and References 176-189 234-249 chapter 14 A Devoted and Indefatigable Collector Index 190-201 250-252 You are reading copyrighted material published by University of Chicago Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted CONTENTS vii under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. Acknowledgements am very grateful to Rowena Bartlett who came with by the missionary-botanists and Chris has let me use several Ime to Yunnan and to Edward He of Edward Adventures in of his photographs. Martyn Rix was very helpful and pro- Dali who looked after us so well on our journey to Dapingzi vided photographs of Baoxing. I am grateful to Tony Marden and Cigu. I must also thank Father Richard Leonard SJ who of Shady Plants who talked to me about his collection of Aris- discussed with me the theological beliefs that lay behind the aema; to Hugh McAllister who answered my Sorbus questions; nineteenth century missionary impetus and for his help with and to Marc Colombel who provided information about Adrien various passages. Roy Lancaster has provided unfailing encour- Franchet. Thank you to Mikinori Ogisu for his help and to his agement and support, and has let me use many of his own pho- colleagues Dr Liu Bo and Ye Jianfei in Beijing. Cédric Basset, tographs. Raymond Evison, Jeanette Fryer, Gail Harland, Harry Jans, I am most grateful to David Boufford who painstakingly Nick Macer, Seamus O’Brien, Keith Rushforth, Julian Sutton read through the manuscript and made many helpful sugges- and Toshio Yoshida have kindly provided photographs. tions. I am also grateful to Seamus O’Brien for his help with I must also thank the librarians without whose help the Chapter 11. Their comments have saved me from many errors. research for this book would have been so much harder: par- Paolo Cuccuini of the Botany Department, Museo di Storia ticularly Elizabeth Gilbert and Elizabeth Koper in the RHS Naturale in Florence kindly supplied information about the Ital- Lindley Library in London; Andrea Hart and Armando Men- ian missionary-botanists. David and Stella Rankin of Kevock dez in the Botany Library, and Lisa di Tommaso in the General Garden Plants patiently answered my questions and generously Library, at the Natural History Museum, London; and Julia provided several photographs. Peter Cox of Glendoick Gardens Buckley in the Library, Art and Archives at Kew. identified several rhododendrons for me and showed me Rho- I am very grateful to Jennifer Harmer, and to Hilary Lenton, dodendron davidii in flower; and Ken Cox has kindly supplied for their help with photographs. Thank you also to Simonne photographs. Chris Reynolds and Daniel Luscombe of Bedge- Frissen; and a special thank you to Jane Crawley who gave me bury Arboretum showed me several conifer species discovered the title. Botanists and Explorers MISSIONARY-BOTANISTS Bodinier, Père Émile (1842-1901) collected Faber, Pastor Ernst (1839-1899) German Martin, Père Léon (1866-1919) botanized around Beijing and in Hong Kong before Protestant missionary who collected in with Père Bodinier in Guizhou after collecting in the Guiyang area after his Guangdong and was the first to collect 1897 return to Guizhou in 1897 plants on Emei Shan in 1887 Monbeig, Père Théodore (1875-1914) Cavalerie, Père Pierre (1869-1927) collected Farges, Père Paul Guillaume (1844-1912) collected at Cigu and Cizhong in the in southern Guizhou collected in the Daba Shan in north-east Tibetan borderlands – both now in David, Père Armand (1826-1900) collected Sichuan Yunnan around Beijing and made three extended Incarville, Père Nicholas le Cheron d’, SJ Perny, Père Paul (1818-1907) the first journeys between 1866 and 1874 to Inner (1706-1757) Jesuit missionary at Beijing missionary to collect in Guizhou Mongolia, to Baoxing on the borders of 1741-57 and the first missionary to Scallan, Father Hugh (1851-1927) Irish western Sichuan, and to the Qinling and collect plants in China Franciscan who collected in northern eastern Jiangxi Genestier, Père Annet (1858-1937) Père Shaanxi Delavay, Père Jean Marie (1834-1895) Soulié’s travelling companion to the Silvestri, Padre Cipriano (1872-1955) Italian collected extensively in north-west Tibetan borderlands Franciscan who collected in north-west Yunnan, particularly in the Cang Shan Giraldi, Padre Giuseppe (1848-1901) Italian Hubei and Heishanmen ranges, and around Franciscan who collected in northern Soulié, Père Jean André (1858-1905) made Lijiang Shaanxi extensive collections around Kangding, Ducloux, Père François (1864-1945) collected Maire, Père Édouard Ernest (1848-1932) Tongolo, Yaregong (now in Sichuan) around Kunming, Yunnan after 1897 collected plants in north-east Yunnan and Cigu (now in Yunnan) then in the Esquirol, Père Joseph (1870-1934) collected after Père Delavay’s visit to Longki in Tibetan borderlands in Guizhou 1894 You are reading copyrighted