
两次在中国采集杜仲种子苗木,奠定杜仲在西方园林的引种基础。
威尔逊1876年生于英国,先后受雇于维奇苗圃与哈佛大学阿诺德树木园,四次赴中国采集,引种珙桐、连香树等上千种植物。杜仲是其重要采集对象之一:1900年他在鄂西为宜昌附近栽培的杜仲采得629号材料,1907年又以W 383号为阿诺德树木园补采,使杜仲在欧美园林中扎下根基。
值得注意的是,威尔逊在华期间从未见过真正野生的杜仲,只见农户宅旁栽培的大树。他在记录中指出剥取树皮会致树死亡,这解释了杜仲野外罕见的原因。阿诺德树木园档案中他1910年拍摄的杜仲药皮运输照片,成为杜仲人文史的珍贵影像。
Collected Eucommia seeds and plants in China on two expeditions, laying the foundation for the species' introduction into Western gardens.
Wilson was born in England in 1876 and worked successively for the Veitch nursery and Harvard University's Arnold Arboretum, making four collecting expeditions to China and introducing over a thousand plant species, including the dove tree and katsura. Eucommia was one of his important targets: in 1900 he collected material No. 629 from cultivated Eucommia near Yichang in western Hubei, and in 1907 he made collection W 383 for the Arnold Arboretum, establishing Eucommia firmly in European and American gardens.
Notably, Wilson never saw truly wild Eucommia in China, only large trees cultivated beside farmers' houses. He noted in his records that stripping the bark kills the tree, which explains the species' rarity in the wild. His 1910 photographs of Eucommia bark transport, preserved in the Arnold Arboretum archives, are precious images of the cultural history of Eucommia.