[The origin and development of the herbal gardens of the Owari clan].

The early herbal garden of the Owari Clan was called Ofuke-Oyakuen. By careful reading of the "Illustration of the Honorable Herb Garden (OYakuen no Zu), it is pointed out that this garden might have been opened around 1562 when 39 species of herbs granted by Shogun Iemitsu were planted. This garden was enlarged in about 1684. We found that the well-known "Honorable Illustration of Former Herb Garden (Moto-oyakuen On-ezu)" was a drawing of a part of this enlarged herbal garden. On the other hand, in 1735 a new herbal garden, Oshitayashiki-oyakuen was opened for cultivation of Panax Shinseng. While this garden produced fair results at Panax cultivation, it was closed in 1869 at the Meiji Restoration. In the last days of the Tokugawa regime, herbalists of this garden had made original advances in natural history.