About the Book

A beautiful book detailing the fascinating stories behind some of our best-loved plants, including magnolias, roses, rhododendrons, tree peonies, lilies, and blue poppies.

Many of the world’s most renowned and exciting ornamental plants have their origins in China. In the mid-nineteenth century, professional plant hunters were dispatched by nurseries and botanic gardens to collect living botanical specimens from China for cultivation in Europe, and it is these adventurers and nurserymen who are often credited with the explosive bloom of Chinese flowers in the West. But as Jane Kilpatrick shows in Fathers of Botany, the first Westerners to come upon and document this bounty were in fact cut from a different cloth: the clergy.

“Much has been written about the golden age of plant-hunting in Asia (roughly the mid 19th century to the Second World War), particularly on collectors such as George Forrest, Frank Kingdon Ward, Joseph Rock and Ernest Wilson. Although their contribution was considerable, they were not the first to exploit the floral wealth of Asia. The first westerners to exploit this botanical richness were missionaries, mostly french – the subject of this book. Those covered include Armand Davis, Jean Marie Delavay, Paul Guillaume Farges and Jean Andre Soulie. They endured extreme hardship, disease, famine, warring tribes, and several were horribly murdered.

Jane Kilpatrick has conducted scholarly and detailed research, bringing together a great deal of information about these pioneering plant explorers. The book is not just factual but it is also a jolly good read, with chapter titles such as Land of the White Bear and A Dangerous Vocation. The text is supported by numerous contemporary photographs of the missionaries as well as excellent modern photographs of the places and plants. The reference section is extensive and thorough.
While the day-to-day work of these missionaries would have been pastoral, their names live on in the numerous plants and animals they discovered. Besides plant introductions to gardens their important scientific collections now reside in major world herbaria.

This is an inspirational account that will be of keen interest to not only those fascinated by the history of plant exploration, but also by the great wealth and diversity of Chinese plants that enhance our gardens today. To these pioneers we owe a debt of gratitude. This handsome volume fills an important gap in our overall knowledge and understanding of plant exploration. Perhaps, more importantly, it gives us a detailed insight into those many individuals who braved hostile Chinese lands in their quest.”

Chris Grey-Wilson, RHS The Plantsman, June 2015