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The Introduction of Japanese Plants Into North America

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Abstract

This article describes the history of plant introductions from Japan into North America, from the Perry Expedition in 1854 through the collections of George Rogers Hall of Bristol, Rhode Island and Thomas Hogg of New York City between 1861 and 1875. Both men sent plants to the innovative nurseryman, Samuel Bowne Parsons of Flushing, Long Island, who propagated and sold them to the gardening public. This process, which took more than twenty years from initial collection through commercial distribution, succeeded in adding innumerable Japanese species into the ornamental landscapes of North America, including Japanese maple, kousa dogwood, panicle hydrangea, and Sawara cypress. Unfortunately these early introductions also included a number of species which escaped cultivation and have become infamously invasive, including oriental bittersweet, kudzu, porcelain berry and Japanese honeysuckle. The pioneering work of these three horticulturists--compounded over the past hundred and fifty years--has had a profound impact on both cultivated and wild landscapes across North America.

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Notes

  1. Clark spent eight months on the island of Hokkaido from 1876 to 1877 where he helped establish the Sapporo Agricultural College. He sent seeds of at least thirty plants to the Arnold Arboretum in Boston and deserves credit for introducing Actinidia arguta [A. polygama] and Syringa reticulata [S. japonica] into cultivation in North America (Clark, 1878; Sargent, 1911).

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Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Michael Dosmann, Kyle Port, Kathryn Richardson, Lisa Pearson and Larrisa Glasser of the Curation and Library Departments of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University for their untiring support over the many years it took to complete this project. In addition, thanks also to Joseph Disponzio, Preservation Landscape Architect for the New York City Parks Department; Laura J. Martin, currently in residence at the Harvard University Center for the Environment & Department of the History of Science; Walter Kittredge of the Harvard University Herbaria; and Sara Butler of Roger Williams University for their helpful discussions on various aspects of this paper and for their thoughtful reviews of the manuscript.

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  1. Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 1300 Centre Street, Boston, MA, 02131, USA

    Peter Del Tredici

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Correspondence to Peter Del Tredici.

Appendix

Appendix

Below is a complete listing of the woody plants that the author has determined are documented Thomas Hogg introductions into North America from Japan based on literature references from the period; also listed are four species that are likely, but undocumented Hogg introductions. Each species is listed with its currently accepted Latin name, followed by the Latin name used in the Kissena Catalogue if different [in brackets], followed by its currently used common name. The date of introduction comes from the 1927 edition of Alfred Rehder’s Manual of Cultivated Trees and Shrubs and refers to a species’ initial cultivation outside its native country. Following this (in parentheses) are primary references from the literature documenting the introduction of a specific species by Thomas Hogg: the initials KN stands for a listing in the 1887 Kissena Nursery catalogue followed by the appropriate page number; FFJ refers to C. S. Sargent’s 1894 Notes on the Forest Flora of Japan followed by the appropriate page number; TH1863 refers to James Hogg’s inventory of Thomas Hogg’s first shipment of plants as published in The Horticulturist in 1863; TH1875 refers to the inventory of plants Thomas Hogg presented to S. B. Parsons’ for propagation as published by Parsons in The American Garden in 1875; and SBP1889 refers to S. B. Parsons’ recollection of plants he got from Thomas Hogg as documented by “S.” in Garden and Forest in 1889. Other literature references that mention the introduction of a specific plant are listed individually by author and date. At the end of many of the entries, the letters AA followed by the year indicate when the Arnold Arboretum first received a Thomas Hogg plant from Samuel B. Parsons or, in three instances, from George Thurber, who got the plants from James Hogg. And finally, the designation 2nd trip seed indicates plants that were raised from seed collected by Hogg during his second trip to Japan in the fall of 1874.

Thomas Hogg’s introductions of hardy, woody species from Japan into North America based on literature documentation or the fact that the Arnold Arboretum received a plant from Parsons in 1879.

Abies veitchii [Picea Japonica], Veitch fir, 1865 (KN:64; FFJ:83; TH1863) AA1880.

Acer carpinifolium, hornbeam-leaved maple, 1881 (KN:9; Meehan 1876; SB Parsons 1884).

Acer japonicum , full moon maple, 1864 (KN:9; Thurber 1877c, 1881) AA1879.

Ampelopsis glandulosa var. brevipedunculsa [A. japonica], porcelain berry, 1870 (KN:52) AA1879; 2nd trip seed.

Aralia elata [A. japonica, Dimorphanthus Mandchuricus], Japanese angelica tree, 1830 (KN:14; SBP1889); 2nd trip seed.

Berberis amurensis [B. Hakodate], red-stemmed barberry, 1892 (KN:36, 92; Sargent 1990a; Trumpy 1893b) AA1880; 2nd trip seed.

Callicarpa japonica, Japanese beautyberry, about 1845 (KN:36; Sargent 1922) AA1879; 2nd trip seed.

Castanea crenata [C. japonica], Japanese chestnut, 1876 (KN:15; SBP1889; Powell 1889) AA1880; 2nd trip seed.

Celastrus orbiculatus [C. punctatus], oriental bittersweet, 1860 (KN:53; Del Tredici 2014) AA1879; 2nd trip seed.

Cercidiphyllum japonicum, katsura tree, 1864 or 65 (KN:16; TH1875; T. Hogg 1879a,b; SBP1889).

Clematis terniflora [C. paniculata], sweet autumn clematis, 1864? (Sargent 1890b); 2nd trip seed.

Clethra barbinervis, Japanese clethra, 1870 (KN:37; SB Parsons 1890) AA1890; 2nd trip seed.

Cornus controversa [C. macrophylla, brachypoda], giant pagoda dogwood, before 1880 (FFJ:48) AA1879; 2nd trip seed.

Cornus kousa [Benthamia Japonica, B. J. major, minor], kousa dogwood, 1875 (KN:36, 90; FFJ:47; Libby 1888; SBP1889) AA1884; 2nd trip seed.

Corylopsis spicata, spike winterhazel, 1863 (KN:38; TH1875).

Daphne genkwa, lilac daphne, 1843 (KN:39; TH1875; Meehan 1876; SBP1889) AA1880.

Daphniphyllum macropodum [D. glaucescens], 1879 (KN:85; TH1875) AA1880.

Dendropanax trifidus, ivy tree [D. japonica] (KN:85; Saunders 1878); 2nd trip seed.

Deutzia scabra var. sieboldiana [D. scabra vera], rough-leaved deutzia, cult. 1890 (KN:39; TH1875; Harris 1882; SBP1889) AA1880.

Diospyros kaki [D. kiaki], Japanese persimmon, about 1870 (KN:18; TH1863; Meehan 1874; Thurber 1877b).

Elaeagnus multiflora [E. longipes], goumi berry, 1862 (KN:40; SBP1889; Saunders 1878); 2nd trip seed.

Euonymus hamiltonianus [E. Yeddoensis], Yeddo euonymus, 1865 (KN:40, 93; FFJ:26; Rehder 1905c) AA1884; 2nd trip seed.

Hamamelis japonica, Japanese witchhazel, 1862 (KN:41; TH1875).

Hydrangea paniculata, panicle hydrangea, before 1864 (KN:42; SBP1889; Sargent 1893b; Trumpy 1893b) AA1880; 2nd trip seed.

Hydrangea petiolaris [H. scandens], climbing hydrangea, 1874 (KN:57; TH1875) AA1880.

Ilex serrata, Japanese winterberry, 1866 (FFJ:25; Rehder 1905a) AA1880; 2nd trip seed.

Larix kaempferi [L. leptolepis], Japanese larch, 1861 (KN:22; TH1863; Meehan 1871).

Magnolia obovata [M. hypoleuca], Japanese umbrella magnolia, 1865 (KN:24; FFJ:9; J Hogg 1875a; Sargent 1888b & c) AA1880.

Magnolia x weiseneri [M. parviflora, M. P. minor], Watson’s magnolia, cult. 1889 (KN:24, 91; TH1875; SB Parsons 1884 ; Sargent 1895) AA1880.

Photinia villosa, [Amelanchier Japonica] Japanese photinia, about 1865 (KN:87; TH1875; Sargent 1888a) AA1879.

Pueraria montana var. lobata [Dolichos Japonicus], kudzu, cult. 1885 (KN:56; Sargent 1893c) AA1879; 2nd trip seed.

Ribes fasciculatum [R. japonicum], Japanese current, 1884 (KN:46; Rehder 1905b) AA1884; 2nd trip seed.

Schizophragma hydrangeoides, Japanese hydrangea vine, 1880 (KN:58; TH1875; T. Hogg 1879a; SBP1889).

Stachyurus praecox, pearl bush, 1865 (KN:48; FFJ:18); 2nd trip seed.

Stewartia pseudocamellia [Stuartia Japonica, S. J. grandiflora], Japanese stewartia, 1868 (KN:32; FFJ:34; TH1875; Saunders 1878; Sargent 1896) AA1879.

Styrax japonicus [S. japonica], Japanese snowbell, 1862 (KN:48; TH1863; SBP1889; Sargent 1888b).

Styrax obassia [Pterostyrax hispidum], fragrant snowbell, 1879 (KN:45, 93; JH1863).

Symplocos paniculata [S. japonica crataegoides], saphireberry, 1875 (KN:94; TH1875; Parsons 1888a; Sargent 1892a) AA1880.

Tsuga diversifolia [T. sieboldii nana], northern Japanese hemlock, 1861 (KN:92; TH1863; Meehan 1874; SBP1889) AA1889.

Viburnum sieboldii [V. japonicum latifolium], Siebold viburnum, 1880 (KN:50; Sargent 1889b) AA1880; 2nd trip seed.

Some of Thomas Hogg’s important, documented introductions of Japanese cultivars into North America.

Acer palmatum ‘Atropurpureum,’ ‘Dissectum Atropurpureum,’ ‘Sanguineum,’ etc. [Acer polymorphum], Japanese maple (KN:9–10; TH1875; Meehan 1876; Thurber 1877c, 1881; SB Parsons 1880; S Parsons 1881; Sargent 1888b) AA1880.

Acer japonicum ‘Aconitifolium,’ ‘Aureum,’ full moon maple (KN:9; Thurber 1877c, 1881; S Parsons 1881) AA1879.

Camellia japonica variegated cultivars: numbers 1–7, Japanese camellia (KN:84; Meehan 1874).

Chaenomeles japonica ‘Tricolor’ [Cydonia japonica tricolor, Pyrus japonica], variegated Japanese quince (KN:39; TH1875; SBP1889) AA1884.

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana,’ ‘Nana Aurea,’ etc. [Retinospora obtusa], Hinoki cypress (KN:68; JH1863; Meehan 1874; S Parsons 1881; SBP1889) AA1880.

Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea,’ etc. [Retinospora filifera aurea], Sawara cypress (KN:67–69; TH1863; TH1875; Meehan 1874; Saunders 1878; S Parsons 1881; SBP1889) AA1880.

Kerria japonica ‘Picta’ [K. J. foliis variegata, Corchorus Japonica], variegated kerria (KN:43; TH1875).

Eriobotrya japonica ‘Variegata’ [E. J. folis variegatis], variegated loquat (KN:85; TH1875).

Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Thomas Hogg’ [H. hortensia] (KN:42; Thurber 1876a).

Pinus thunbergii ‘Oculus-draconis’ [P. massoniana variegata], dragon eye or sun ray pine (KN:66; TH1875; Meehan 1874; Saunders 1878; S Parsons 1881).

Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’ [Cerasus Japonica rosea pendula], Higan weeping cherry (KN:16; TH1875; Falconer 1894).

Rhus chinensis var. [R. osbeckii “new variety”], Chinese sumac, 1784 (KN:29) AA1877 (from J. Hogg via G. Thurber).

Rosa rugosa ‘Alba’, white saltspray rose (SB Parsons 1888b; Thurber 1875) AA1878 (from James Hogg via G. Thurber).

Spirea japonica ‘Bullata’ [S. callosa crispifolia], crispleaf spirea (KN:47; Saunders 1878; Trumpy1893a; Woolson 1881) AA1877 (from James Hogg via G. Thurber).

Likely Thomas Hogg woody plant introductions from Japan listed in the 1887 Kissena Nurseries catalogue and sent by S. B. Parsons to the Arnold Arboretum in the 1880s, but not documented in the literature.

Clematis stans, erect Japanese clematis, no date (KN:37, “new introduction”) AA1884.

Ligustrum obtusifolium [L. ibota], 1870 (KN: 43, “Japan species”) AA1884.

Lonicera tartarica var. morrowii [L. Morowii], Morrow’s honeysuckle, about 1875 (KN:93, “Asiatic species”) AA1884.

Orixa japonica [Celastrus Orixa], Japanese orixa, 1870 (KN:37, “choice new shrub”) AA1888.

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Del Tredici, P. The Introduction of Japanese Plants Into North America. Bot. Rev. 83, 215–252 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12229-017-9184-3

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