Leaf from the "Herbarium Plantae Coreanae"

Fr. Andreas Eckardt's Collection

The leaf is part of an extensive herbarium collected by Fr. Andreas (André) Eckardt at the beginning of the 20th century while he worked as a missionary in Korea.

This Herbarium of Korean Plants (Herbarium Plantae Coreanae) comprises 1.5 meters of shelf space with single leafs of plants from the area of present day North Korea.

It was stored for many decades in St. Ottilien and was handed over to the Korea National Arboretum located near Seoul in 2015; this institution is dedicated to the scientific research and conservation of the Korean flora.

Leaf no 1001 from the herbarium shows leaves and berries of the East Asian Eurya (Eurya japonica), an evergreen shrub up to 3 meters high and common throughout South East Asia. The Eurya, then included into the tea family of plants (Theaceae) and presently into the Pentaphylacaceae family, is still a popular plant in gardens.

The Latin description of the leaf shows that the plant was collected by Fr. Andreas Eckardt on July, 15th, 1913.