Plant Hunting in the 21st Century 21世纪的植物狩猎

According to Wikipedia， “plant collecting involves procuring live or dried plant specimens， for the purposes of research， cultivation or as a hobby.”

按照维基百科的定义，“植物采集是指出于研究、培育、爱好等目的，获取活体或干制的植物标本。”

Kew Gardens’ website offers a more poetic definition： “The plant hunter is a very particular kind of person—a keen and knowledgeable botanist with adventure in their hearts; someone who will take risk and go the extra hundred miles to seek out the most unusual and beautiful plants”.

邱园（英国皇家植物园）的官网给出了更富诗意的定义：“植物猎人是一类非常与众不同的人——是敏锐博学、怀有冒险之心的植物学家；是为寻求极稀有、极美丽的植物而甘冒风险、多行百英里的人。”

What are the uses of plant hunting？

植物狩猎的作用何在？

For most people， plant hunters are bringing plants back for the sole purpose of growing them and potentially introducing them in the horticultural trade.

对大多数人而言，植物猎人采集植物无非是为了种植，之后大概还会将它们引进园艺贸易。

This is the definition of plant hunting， which has an adventurous tone. A broader definition would include specimens， seeds， plants brought back for research， molecular， taxonomic， biological or ecological studies by scientists working for institutions such as botanic gardens or universities. This is what is usually known as plant collecting.

这就是植物狩猎的定义，有一定的冒险意味。更宽泛的定义还包括为植物园、大学等机构的科学家采集标本、种子、植株，用于分子学、分类学、生物学、生态学等学科研究。这就是通常所说的植物采集。

What’s the importance of plant hunting？

植物狩猎的意义何在？

Plant hunting has had an enormous impact on gardens all over the world. Most of the plants commonly seen in gardens， parks， greenhouses nowadays were introduced by great plant hunters in the 18th or 19th century.

植物狩猎对世界各地的花园产生了巨大影响。如今在花园、公园、温室中常见的植物大多是由18世纪或19世纪伟大的植物猎人引进的。

Obviously， the aesthetic value of discovered plants is of much interest to plant hunters. But it’s not the only one.

显然，对于新发现的植物，植物猎人非常关心其审美价值，但这不是他们唯一的关注点。

Plants brought back from abroad can contain valuable genetic resources for future plant breeding （for example， a better resistance to diseases or drought than plants known to that date）. Plants discovered during expeditions can become of economic importance as crops： what would be Europe’s cuisine today， had the potato tuber not been introduced from South America in the 16th century？

从国外采集回来的植物可能含有对未来植物育种颇具价值的基因资源（例如，比当时已知的植物更具抗病性或抗旱性）。实地考察中发现的植物可能成为具有重大经济价值的作物。假如16世纪没有从南美洲引进马铃薯块茎，那么今天的欧洲料理会是什么样子？

Importantly， these plants are a vital material for scientific studies， whether it is in taxonomy （some plants can act as “missing links” and help resolve evolutionary questions）， seed and growth biology， chemistry （hundreds of our common medicines contain plant or plant-derived compounds） etc…

重要的是，这些植物是科学研究的重要材料，无论是在分类学领域（有些植物可作为“缺失的环节”，帮助解答进化问题），还是在种子与生长生物学、化学（数百种常见药物含有植物或植物源化合物）等领域，不一而足。

According to John Wood， Senior Researcher at the University of Oxford and keen plant collector， 15—30% of the world’s flowering plants （around 70，000 species） are yet to be discovered， which means that finding， describing and even cultivating these unknown plants is essential to gain a better understanding of global biodiversity.

据牛津大学高级研究员、植物采集爱好者约翰·伍德说，全世界有15%—30%的开花植物（约7万种）尚待发现。这意味着，发现、描述，乃至培育这些未知植物对于更好地了解地球生物多样性至关重要。

A brief history

植物狩猎简史

The first big era of plant hunting was the end of the 18th century. At that time， European countries had large colonial empires， a thirst for knowledge， a developing love for gardens， and an interest in all things exotic （not only plants）. It was also around that time that Linnaean taxonomy1 became widespread， which helped botanists and naturalists to sort out their observations and collections.

植物狩猎的第一个重要时期在18世纪末。当时，欧洲国家拥有庞大的殖民帝国、求知的渴望、方兴未艾的园林热，以及对一切异域风物（不仅是植物）的浓厚兴趣。也正是在那个时候，林奈分类学推广开来，有助于植物学家、自然学家对自己观察和采集到的成果进行梳理。

In the 19th century， plant hunting became a popular activity. Large institutions such as Kew Gardens or the New York Botanical Garden were set up to support research around the plants brought back from sponsored expeditions.

到了19世纪，植物狩猎成为一项热门活动。邱园、纽约植物园等大型机构得以建立，以支持研究受赞助探险活动带回的植物。

The beginning of the 20th century was the golden age of plant hunting， with a relatively stable political envir-onment， increasingly good transport links and habitats still very much undamaged. This led to the introduction of many “exotic” plants in private gardens and conservatories.

20世纪初是植物狩猎的黄金时期，那时政治环境相对稳定，运输条件日益改善，植物生长环境在很大程度上尚未受到破坏。许多“异域”植物因此被引入私家花园和温室。

Then of course， it was all reduced in the 1930s–1970s with wars and crisis.

接下来，20世纪30年代到70年代，由于战争、危机等原因，植物狩猎活动大为减少。

The end of the 20th century is what John Wood calls the “2nd pivotal area” for plant hunting： many colonial empires came to an end， prompting countries to reassert their local ownership; there were numerous low-level conflicts in Asia， Africa and South America; and financial resources were reduced. It was also the heyday of the “conservation movement” which would increase international awareness on biodiversity issues and introduce restrictions on the trade of plant and animal resources （particularly CITES—the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species）.