Planting Edo: A Field Guide

A collaboration between the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University and the Harvard Art Museums

This is a semi-circular, fan shaped painting of two white flowers with magenta pink centers and green leaves, set against a smoky gray background.

Planting Edo: A Field Guide is a collaboration between the Harvard Art Museums and the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, inspired by the exhibition  Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection .

We invite you to use this field guide to learn more about the botanical features and poetic significance of various flowers and trees featured in the  Painting Edo  exhibition by observing artworks from the exhibition alongside the living collections of the Arnold Arboretum.

The guide is free to download and can be printed on 8.5" × 11" pages, or used digitally on a smart phone, tablet, or similar device.

Take photos of your explorations at the Arnold Arboretum and share them on social media using #PlantingEdo. We will repost our favorite discoveries every week!


How to Use the Field Guide

In this guide, you will find key plants from the Painting Edo exhibition paired with their counterparts from the living collections at the Arnold Arboretum.

Whether you print this guide to take with you while  visiting the Arboretum  in person or if you’re  exploring the Painting Edo exhibition  online, you can use this guide to learn about the botanical and poetic lives of each plant, compare living plants at the Arnold Arboretum with those depicted in paintings exhibited in Painting Edo, document what you discover, and inspire your creativity.

Though the Harvard Art Museums  remain closed  for now, the Arnold Arboretum—Harvard’s remarkable “museum of trees”—is  open to all , every day from sunrise to sunset, free of charge.

Photograph of a spring landscape with two large pink flowering trees and smaller yellow flowering shrubs. A curved concrete path cuts down the center of the image. There are two couples: one walking on the path and one standing on the grass.

Photo by Jon Hetman. Courtesy of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.


Search Tools

Did you know the Arnold Arboretum and the Harvard Art Museums both use accession numbers to keep track of their collections? Accession numbers are unique numbers assigned to objects in a museum collection. They serve as a reference point for all information about an object, including its location, and contain clues about when and how an object entered the collection.

Can you find the unique number assigned to each artwork and plant?

  • At the Arnold Arboretum, you can find accession numbers (also called Plant IDs) at the top left corner of the metal tag attached to each tree or shrub. (Example: 404-97)
  • At the Harvard Art Museums, you can find accession numbers (or Object Numbers) in the online records for our collections. (Example: 2017.225 or TL42147.39) 

You can learn more about each artwork and plant—including where to find them—by entering these accession numbers in the respective online database.

You will find links to these databases throughout the guide, but can also access these search tools using the links below:

Share your experience: #PlantingEdo #PaintingEdo


Visit  hvrd.art/arboretum  for even more from the Harvard Art Museums and the Arnold Arboretum.

Special thanks to Rachel Saunders, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Curator of Asian Art, Harvard Art Museums; Michael Dosmann, Keeper of the Living Collections, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University; William (Ned) Friedman, Director of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University; Pam Thompson, Manager of Adult Education, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University; Inês Torres, Graduate Student Intern in the Division of Academic and Public Programs, Harvard Art Museums; Adam Sherkanowski, Graphic Designer at the Harvard Art Museums; Cheryl Pappas, Editor at the Harvard Art Museums; and Molly Ryan, Programs Manager, Division of Academic and Public Programs, Harvard Art Museums.


Bibliography and Further Reading

 Conifers at the Arnold Arboretum .” Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, Self-Guided Tour. Accessed February 2, 2021.

 Clematis ‘Rooguchi.’ ” Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. Accessed February 2, 2021. 

 Explore the Leventritt Garden: Vines .” Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 2020. Accessed February 2, 2021.

 Japanese black pine .” The Morton Arboretum, Lisle Ill., 2021, Accessed February 2, 2021.

 Kerria japonica ‘Pleniflora.’ ” Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, Mo. Accessed February 2, 2021.

 Tree of the Month: Cherry .” Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 2015. Accessed February 2, 2021.

“Tree of the Month: Clematis.” Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, 2018. Accessed October 2020.

 Types of Trees .” National Park Service, March 2019. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Aiello, Anthony S. “ Japanese Flowering Cherries—A 100-Year-Long Love Affair .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 69 (4) (2012): 2–14. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Burch, Ida Hay. “ Summer Bloom in the Arnold Arboretum .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 38, Series 3 (1978): 102–13. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Department of Asian Art. “ Art of the Edo Period (1615–1868) .” In Heilbrun Timeline of Art History. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003. Accessed February 2, 2021.

DeWolf, Jr., Gordon P. “ Common Pines of Massachusetts .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 35 (5) (July 1975): 197–229. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Dosmann, Michael, and Rachel Saunders. “ Painting Edo at the Arnold Arboretum:  Hydrangeas.” Video. Harvard Art Museums, August 2020. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Friedman, William (Ned). “ The Browns of Winter .” Director’s Posts, Arnold Arboretum, December 19, 2019. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Friedman, William (Ned), and Rachel Saunders. “ Painting Edo at the Arnold Arboretum:  Japanese black pine.” Video. Harvard Art Museums, December 2020. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Friedman, William (Ned), and Rachel Saunders. “ Painting Edo at the Arnold Arboretum: Magnolia sieboldii .” Video. Harvard Art Museums, June 2020. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Havens, Thomas. Land of Plants in Motion: Japanese Botany and the World. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2020.

Kennedy, Corinne. “ Pine Trees, Part Two: Matsu, the Pines of Japan .” Seattle Japanese Garden, March 25, 2019. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Koller, Gary L. “ Bamboos at the Arnold Arboretum—A Midwinter Performance Evaluation .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 49, Series 2 (1989): 28–36. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Naoko, Abe. The Sakura Obsession: The Incredible Story of the Planthunter Who Saved Japan’s Cherry Blossoms. New York: Knopf, 2019.

Saunders, Rachel. “Birds, Flowers, and Botany in Sakai Hōitsu’s Pure Land Garden.” In  Painting Edo: Selections from the Feinberg Collection of Japanese Art , 101–165. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Art Museums, 2019.

Saunders, Rachel (ed.).  Catalogue of the Feinberg Collection of Japanese Art . Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard Art Museums, 2021.

Saunders, Rachel. “ Planting Edo: Pinus Thunbergii. Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 78 (3) (2021): 44–45.

Shirane, Haruo. Japan and the Culture of the Four Seasons. New York: Columbia University Press, 2013.

Spingarn, J. E. “ Clematis for the Northeastern States .” Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Bulletin of Popular Information V, Series 4 (8–10) (April 1937): 4–16. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Spongberg, Stephen A. “ Some Old and New Interspecific Magnolia Hybrids .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 36 (4) (1976): 129–45. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Sullivan, Sally Lindfors. “ Plants in Early Japanese Poetry .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 31, Series 5 (1971): 284–93. Accessed February 2, 2021. 

Wadleigh, Jeanne S. “ The Worthy Kerrias .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 35, Series 3 (1975): 160–61. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Waters, Gregory J. “ Outstanding Plants of the Arnold Arboretum: Prunus x yedoensis ‘Daybreak.’ Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 41 (4) (July 1981): 162–66. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Weaver, Jr., Richard. “ Selected Maples for Shade and Ornamental Planting .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 36 (4) (July 1976): 146–75. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Wyman, Donald. “ Some Single Flowering Japanese Cherries .” Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Bulletin of Popular Information V, Series 4 (2) (April 1937): 9–12. Accessed February 2, 2021.

Wyman, Donald. “ Tree Peonies .” Arnoldia [Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University] 29 (45) (May 9, 1969): 25–32. Accessed February 2, 2021.


Questions about the field guide? Please contact am_dapp@harvard.edu.

Header image: Suzuki Kiitsu,  Magnolia , Japanese, Edo period, early to mid-19th century. Fan; ink, color, gold, and silver on paper. Harvard Art Museums, Promised gift of Robert S. and Betsy G. Feinberg, TL42096.12.4. © President and Fellows of Harvard College.

Painting Edo: Japanese Art from the Feinberg Collection was made possible by the Robert H. Ellsworth Bequest to the Harvard Art Museums, the Melvin R. Seiden and Janine Luke Fund for Publications and Exhibitions, the Catalogues and Exhibitions Fund for Pre-Twentieth-Century Art of the Fogg Museum, the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Thierry Porté Director’s Discretionary Fund for Japanese Art, and the Japan Foundation. The accompanying print catalogues were supported by the Harvard Art Museums Mellon Publication Funds, including the Henry P. McIlhenny Fund.

Related programming is supported by the M. Victor Leventritt Lecture Series Endowment Fund, Harvard University’s Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, and the Department of History of Art and Architecture Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund for Art and Architecture.

Presented by

Harvard Art Museums & Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University

Photo by Jon Hetman. Courtesy of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University.