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Disclaimer 1:
Origin of
our Plants and Plant Information
We have never
been to China! What we are telling you is from our research
and reading. If there are those of you, particularly people
who have lived in China, reading this, we would be most happy to
have input from you in regards to this topic. We do not
profess ultimate wisdom or knowledge in this area.
In plain words: China is the
Last Horticultural Frontier. Their are many places around
the world that have
not been thoroughly 'Botanized' but none so much as China. There are
plant species in China that, quite simply, are
available nowhere else on the planet.
If a map of China were laid on top of
a map of the United States, it immediately becomes apparent that
these two countries having amazing similarities from a climate
standpoint. Each has freezing cold zones, like Alaska and
tropical areas like Florida and Hawaii. They share similar
latitudes. From a horticultural standpoint, somewhere in the
US, there's a perfect spot to grow any Chinese plant, no matter
where it grows in China. Almost
identical latitude and land mass size.
Until around 1970, China was
fairly inaccessible to Western horticulturists. In the years
prior to that, some people were allowed in to 'Botanize' - either
bringing out plants or seed or dried specimen for Herbarium
collections at Universities, etc. But very, very little plant
material actually came out of China. Much of the information
we had about their plants was in the form of black and white Botanical drawings.
In the past 35 years, Western
horticulturists and Botanists have been able to go to China and the
Western World is now becoming somewhat familiar with Chinese
Plants. China has about 30% of the world's species of plants
and about half of those also grow elsewhere - usually, India, Japan,
Korea, etc. But the other half, about 15% of the species
for our entire planet grow only in China.
We feel that it is most important to
introduce these plants to the Western horticulture both for their horticultural
value and for the protection of these rare species. In China,
their national Medicines, are in fact, plants or herbs. It is
widespread and common practice (and absolutely acceptable) for the
Chinese people to 'harvest' plants in the public domain for personal
use and for trading. In this country, we would call that
'digging in the wild' -- and in this country, it is. But it is
'harvesting' in China and a common, accepted practice. The
Chinese people have always 'harvested' plants for medicine, for
food, and even to feed their livestock. That is their culture.
Even if we were of mind to try and change their opinions and
practices to ours, it simply is not going to happen. That
would be like trying to convince people in this country that
we should completely give up all prescription drugs and just treat
ourselves with plants.
For some Chinese people, harvesting
plants is their only income. Loba traders (from Lo, Nepal)
harvest Allium fasciculatum (Wild Garlic or 'jim-bu') during monsoon
on the rangelands and high pastures of eastern Lo or in Tibet and
trade it for rice in Pokhara. Diminishing local resources have
driven more and more Lobas (particularly men) to leave Lo during the
winter and harvesting plants is one way they have found to
survive. Needless to say, lecturing/preaching to them on
'digging in the wild' isn't going to have much impact. (Information
source: http://www.panasia.org.sg/nepalnet/agriculture/icimod/mustang.htm).
This is only one small example. There are many, many more very
specific instances of how and why local people 'harvest' plants.
Due to the rapid growth and expansion
in China, many plants are simply destroyed as part of building new
buildings, factories, etc. Also, in recent years, the
Western World has discovered that many of the Chinese plants and
their medical properties actually work! Several have been
shown, without a doubt, to have anti-cancer properties. As you
might imagine, enterprising folks soon started harvesting and
selling within China or exporting those plants in large quantities
to Pharmaceutical/Herbal companies outside of China. One
plant, in particular, is now on the CITES list as Endangered Species
in China. Over the years, it is estimated that many species
have already become extinct due to being over-harvested for their
use in medical or herbal remedies.
The Chinese government has started
some limited programs to grow, in commercial settings, these plants
that are starting to be in short supply. There does not seem
to be any particular emphasis, at all, to change the national
culture of 'harvesting' medical plants, however.
Just to be clear on this topic.
Lazy S'S Farm Nursery does not condone selling plants 'dug from the
wild'. We are absolutely, 100% against digging and/or
selling plants 'dug in the wild'.
Having said that, we have been collecting Chinese
plants for many years and had a good base to start with. We
have found additional sources in India, Holland and Japan, for those
species that also grow outside of China. Some have been grown
from seed. Our Arisaema consangiuneum, for example, comes from New
York State from our friend/plantswoman, Ellen Hornig! But, some of our
parent stock actually came from
China. We decided to
purchase very small quantities (2,3 maybe 5 plants) from sources in
China for propagation material for plants that we are unable to
obtain any other way. We believe many are nursery
grown as reported by our Wholesaler (just from their tiny, miniscule
size). We have been told by our Wholesaler that they are all
Nursery grown. This may or may not be accurate since I'm sure
our source is aware of the American taboo against 'digging from the
wild' and the negative stigma attached to it. At any
rate, the plants we will be selling will be propagated here from our
parent stock.
For people who buy these plants, we
strongly hope that you keep in touch with us. We would
like to know how they do in your part of the country and any
information you might be able to share with us. Most of these
plants have not been grown in this country before and it is very
important for us to find out as much information as we can about how
they do in various parts of the country.
Disclaimer 2: Chinese Horticulture, from a Nomenclature standpoint, is in its absolute
infancy. If it were a baby, it would be in a Neo-Natal Unit!
There is MUCH confusion over names and plant ID's -- not just in our
descriptions but in the whole plant world! We normally guarantee that our
plants are true to name. This does not apply to the newer Chinese
Plants. If you don't have a sense of adventure and realize that
we are presenting as accurate information as is available in the trade,
don't buy them. Wait and let us grow them out for a few years.
There is such confusion in the Chinese Arisaemas (Jack in the Pulpits), for
instance, that of the 130 or so species and sub-species listed as growing
in China, there are only a portion that have been correctly
identified by experts around the world. The new Gusman book will
help a lot with that. We have spent
thousands of hours researching these plants. We are growing
and propagating only those they we feel fairly certain about BUT the
best minds in horticulture are still studying these plants and there
are very few definites. Your plants will often come with an
Identifying Number. It is important that you keep a record of
this number. If and when we find that there are name
changes, reclassification, etc, the information will be posted
here online. If you share the plant later with a neighbor, you
should also see that they keep up with the plant ID number and check
with us periodically to see what Western Botanists are reporting on
the Chinese Plants. We want to introduce these plants to the
trade as
accurately as possible and not add to Horticultural and/or Botanical
confusion.
We are bordering on
Obsessive/Compulsive about correct Botanical Nomenclature so you can
trust that we will do our part. Just be sure and keep in touch
with us to see if there's any late breaking news!
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So there, now you know what we're
doing with Chinese Plants - our latest passion!
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