THE ORIGIN OF GARDEN PLANTS AND THE FSU CONTRIBUTION
The Eastern Asiatic Center
The Eastern Asiatic Center of ornamental plants covers most
of the Provinces of the Eastern Asiatic Floristic Region. It includes
Vavilov's Chinese center and all of Japan as well. According to Vavilov,
China is one of the most important region of world agriculture, but it
is also important as a source of ornamental plants. The mountains of
Central and Western China, the adjacent lowlands, and Japan have given
birth to some 250 species, or 5% of the total in general cultivation
today. This area is of prime importance for countries having temperate
climates, since more than half of its native species can be raised in
the open, including the peony (Paeonia lactiflora), tree peony
(Paeonia suffruticosa), royal lily (Lilium regale), ballon
flower (Platycodon grandiflorus) and China wisteria (Wisteria
sinensis). Examples of well-known annual indigenous to this range
are the China aster (Callistephus chinensis) and the popular
shrub kerria (Kerria japonica).
Ancient Chinese gardens displayed a large diversity of ornamental
species. References in old manuscripts to certain tree species allow
us to determine, to some extent, the plants then in common use in China.
For example, in the Chou Dynasty (1122-240 B.C.), trees were traditionally
planted as memorials. The stately pine became the symbol for members of
the royal family, sophora for high government officials, and poplars for
the common people. The emperor who founded the Ch’in Dynasty (217 B.C)
was known to have collected some 3,000 species of various herbaceous and
woody plants in his garden. In China and Japan two of the most popular
cultivated plants were the garden chrysanthemum and the day lily
(Hemerocallis), the latter was also used as food. The migration
of ornamental plants from China to Europe was greatly affected by the
"Silk Trade Route" that connected the countries of the East
with those of the West. Notwithstanding the ancient cultivation of
ornamentals in China and Japan, an even greater number of their species
were later introduced to European gardening between the mid-nineteenth
and the mid-twentieth centuries.
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