New trees and shrubs are the life-blood of the arboretum and seed collected from naturally-growing trees is invaluable for collections with scientific objectives, such as Westonbirt. Species vary greatly from one location and habitat to another across their natural range and only by recording details such as altitude, latitude, longitude, soil type and a wealth of other information can we realise the full value of plants for reference and study purposes.

Trips like these are also a valuable way to develop staff knowledge and build relationships with partners in host countries, who are often willing to collect and send seed that is not available at the time of visiting. Some of the seed we collect will be going to the Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst Place. We are really pleased that one of their members of staff will be joining us on this trip. As well as collecting seed, we will be preparing plant specimens for the herbarium at Kew, thereby also contributing to that amazing scientific resource.

3 October 2011

It is late in the evening and the first chance we’ve had to send an update for a while, as we’ve just spent two very busy and successful days deep in the Naka-kawane Forest. We were picked-up early on Sunday morning at our hotel in Shizuoka by Professor Hiro Mizunaga, and were accompanied on our journey westward by five Indonesian forestry students. They were also guests of Shizuoka University, looking at Japanese silvicultural practices and forest management at the same location.

At the Naka-kawane Forest, we met-up with Mizuki Fujishima, a research student, and Taichi Kajikawa, a local forest guide. They had both helped us on our last trip back in 2008, and it was good to see them again. We wasted no time in setting-off in a 4×4 vehicle up the mountain, along a very steep road with an almost vertical drop to one side. We passed through plantations of ‘Sugi’ (Cryptomeria japonica) and ‘Hinoki’ (Chamaecyparis obtusa), and each wondered how these montane forest trees would be harvested in future.

At an appropriate spot, amid dense native woodland, we proceeded on foot, on the look-out for target species with good seed. Our guides proved invaluable, and it wasn’t long before we spotted the trees we’d travelled so far to see. First up was Acer micranthum, one of the snake bark maples, quickly followed by other species of maple, or ‘Kaede’ in Japanese. A. diabolicum, known as the devil maple because of horns on the seed; A. carpinifolium; A. sieboldianum; and A. palmatum subspecies amoenum are all in the bag. We collected seed from lots of other interesting tree species: Styrax japonica (Japanese snowbell), Stewartia monodelpha, Kalopanax pictus (castor aralia) and Carpinus tschonoskii (hornbeam), to name but a few.

4 October 2011

Before the day was over, we had made more seed collections and now have 25 in total. Lots of useful discussions take place between the group members concerning identification of key plants, always a valuable part of these trips. We manage to bag Quercus mongolica (Mongolian oak), Picea jezoensis (Yezo spruce), Picea polita (tiger tail spruce), Tilia japonica (Japanese lime) and Rhododendron pentaphyllum.

9 October 2011

In two days on the forested slopes of Mount Fuji we saw some valuable plants that we missed on our last trip. Once again, we were helped by staff and students from the University of Shizuoka including PhD researcher Mizuki Fukushima, who drove us along the winding forest tracks far removed from the usual tourist bus routes up Fuji. There were memorable views of the mountain as we approached from the industrial sprawl to the south.

We collected from horned maple (Acer diabolicum) and Nikko maple (Acer maximowiczianum). The latter was a real surprise as we had not expected to see it here and had a stroke of luck when Mark spotted a large old tree with a recently shed large limb (probably during the recent typhoon) laden with ripe fruit – a prize delivered on a plate! The forests around Fuji are designated as National Forest Parks and we were very fortunate to be given special permission to collect seed by the equivalent of the UK Forestry Commission. We dropped in at the local forestry office where we met Mr Sakamoto, the local forestry chief, who told us about the forests and their management.

6 & 7 October 2011

We meet another old friend at 8am on Thursday in our hotel lobby: Dr Takashi Masaki of the Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute in Tsukuba. It was just like old times and great to catch-up, as we had spent many days collecting seed together back in 2008.

We wasted no time in heading for our next destination, the Chichibu University forests, some 3 hours’ drive to the west. Takashi had arranged for us to meet university officials at the forest office in Chichibu City, and they gave us a brief presentation about the area and native flora. He had sent them a copy of our target species list, so they already had in mind the best places for us to go. After a tempura and noodle lunch, we headed for the mountains in two vehicles, accompanied by a local member of staff to guide us.

No sooner had we reached our first stop, when we bagged Acer crataegifolium (hawthorn maple) in a sunny location next to a path. We moved higher to a forest road next to a beautiful river, with clear pools of aquamarine water that looked very inviting on a hot day. We are getting to visit some spectacular places that most people will never get the chance to see.

Lots of other target species were collected during a really productive afternoon. Into the bag went: Meliosma myriantha; Mallotus japonicus; Styrax obassia; Stachyurus praecox; Euonymus oxyphyllus (Korean spindleberry), which has fantastic autumn colour; and Zanthoxylum piperitum (Japanese pepper tree), which has edible fruit and medicinal uses. We collected seed from a dozen plants in total, and headed for our hotel.

The next day we set-off for a different part of the Chichibu forest, which was yet higher still and equally scenic. We made ten collections, including Acer capillipes (a snake bark maple) and A. japonicum (full moon maple). But what we will all remember most is Takashi shaking the branches of a large walnut tree (Juglans mandschurica) with his huge telescopic pole, and lots of nuts falling from sky like giant hailstones. At that point we understood why we had each been issued with a hard hat the day before.

A couple of days rest now, until the final part of our adventure in the University Forests of Chiba to the south, with Takashi once again.