Explorers brave wilderness to gather seeds

Nearly stepping on an evil-looking yellow viper rearing its triangular head; struggling to cross a raging river teeming with leeches that waste no time attaching to your skin; holding on for dear life as a Russian jeep takes muddy curves way too fast and slides perilously close to the edge of a steep mountain cliff.

Scenes from an episode of “Survivor?” They well could be, but these are just a sampling of the latest adventures of three American plant explorers, two from the Atlanta area, who braved six weeks in the wilds of southwestern China and the high, forbidding mountains of northern Vietnam on a seed-gathering mission.

After flying through a typhoon in late September, Ozzie Johnson of Marietta and Scott McMahan, a Decatur native who now lives in Clermont, landed in Chengdu, China. There, they met up with Dan Hinkley, the well-known lecturer and founder of the former Heronswood Nursery on the Kitsap Peninsula near Seattle.

The threesome —- who have roughed it together through India, China, Vietnam, Japan, Thailand and Bhutan, among other nations —- have completed seed-gathering missions for some of the most prestigious botanical gardens and arboretums in the United States, including the Atlanta Botanical Garden. The work is by turns tough and tedious, with 10-hour hikes through jungles or up steep slopes followed by meticulous cleaning and cataloging of seeds into the wee hours of the morning.

On this six-week trek, the three men met with some disappointment in the seed set in the Sichuan province of China (a harsh winter and a late spring freeze took their toll on plants this year), but were exhilarated over coming across the very same handkerchief trees (Davidia involucrata) the great explorer E. H. Wilson had taken seed from in the early part of the 20th century. Hinkley, McMahan and Johnson had been in this part of China before and had looked in vain for the trees.

On the Vietnam leg of the trip, the three hiked high into the forbidding mountains on the Chinese border. Here, they met with better seed set, but also were beset with torrential rains. Near the end of the trip, the three were holding onto a slick plastic pipe while walking across a slippery rock face when Johnson fell onto the sharp point of a tree that had been cut with a machete by cardamom farmers. The tree pierced his bicep, causing a nasty injury and a lot of pain. Johnson considers himself lucky, because if the wound had been any worse, he would have had a days-long trip to find a hospital.

Despite Johnson’s injury, the trip was not without its funnier moments. McMahan, at 35 the youngest of the three explorers, describes the relief they felt when they were able to stay in the top of a barn one night in Vietnam, after camping in the wild for days.

“We were so happy to have this dry place to sleep. We were about to go to bed when all of a sudden, they cranked up the karaoke downstairs,” McMahan said, laughing. “It was totally unexpected. They went on till way after midnight.”

While Johnson and McMahan agreed this 40-day sojourn was too long, they did come back with seeds of some promising plants —- a hydrangea with a bloom measuring 18 inches across, a butterfly bush with white leaves, a Solomon’s seal that is 6 feet tall and a magnolia vine with lush chains of red berries.

Asked why he continues to go on these grueling trips (this was his sixth), McMahan replied, “It’s a passion. I love the outdoors, and I love meeting the people and the thrill of finding new plants or ones that were thought to be extinct in the wild.”

mtate27@bellsouth.net

MARTHA’S PICK: Buddhist Tree

Botanical name: Neolitsea sericea

About the plant: This elegant, broadleaf evergreen tree has silky, golden new leaves that contrast strikingly with rich, green foliage. Female plants will produce red fruit. Although Neolitsea sericea is a widely used street tree in the islands off Japan and China, it is endangered there in the wild. Scott McMahan grew the seeds collected on a 2002 trip to Japan. Mature size is 20 feet high by 15 feet wide. The unusual tree is “probably our most asked about stock plant,” says Tiffanny Fischer of McMahan Nursery.

Use in the garden: An ornamental tree to use as a specimen or backdrop for flowering trees and shrubs.

Planting and care: Plant in sun in well-drained soil.

Source: McMahan’s Nursery, 5727 Cleveland Highway, Clermont, GA 30527; 770-983-3666; www.mcmahansnursery.com