Emily Dickinson and Japanese Flowers: Her Herbarium and Perry's Expedition to Japan

In Emily Dickinson's herbarium there are species of Japanese origin, although it was almost impossible for an American to get hold of them until the country was forced to open by Commodore Perry in March 1854. By considering various circumstances, such as Dickinson's visit to Washington, D. C. when the plants collected during the Perry expedition arrived there in February 1855, the building of conservatories on both the Capitol Hill grounds and Dickinson Homestead the same year, and also the relationship between Edward Dickinson and the American Board as well as Daniel Webster and others, and by examining 15 species common to the 411 species in her herbarium and the 351 collected during the expedition, I conclude that there is a strong possibility that Emily Dickinson obtained the species from Perry's expedition to Japan.