Reexamination of plant names in the literature published during the Japanese Imperialism Period with special reference to Hwangjeong and Wiyu

Abstract

The plant names Hwangjeong and Wiyu were written in Chinese characters in Hyang-yak-jibseong-bang during the early Chosen dynasty. However, soon after, Hwangjeong and Wiyu were written in Korean characters as Jukdae and Dung-gul-re, respectively. However, since under the Japanese imperialist period in Korea, the taxonomic identities of these two Korean names have been incorrectly understood, with scientific names incorrectly assigned as well to these two names thus far. The results of the present study prove that Hwangjeong is Polygonatum sibiricum and that its Korean name should be Jukdae, its initial Korean name, and not Cheung-cheung-gal-go-ri-dung-gul-re, as used recently. Meanwhile, during the Japanese imperialist period, Wiyu was termed P. officinale or P. japonicum with the Korean name of Dung-gul-re. However, the correct scientific names were shown to be synonyms of P. odoratum.