From 1856 to 1868, George Tyson was a partner of Russell and Company, a firm that had engaged in the tea and opium trade, and the most powerful American commercial house in China. Originally from Boston, Tyson is credited with helping to introduce steamboats to the Yangtze River, and like John Murray Forbes, his better-known predecessor in Russell and Co., when he returned to the United States he joined the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, eventually rising to become Director and General Auditor.

Prior to October 1865, Tyson collected these 300 exquisitely detailed watercolors of Japanese plants painted by local artists in Nagasaki. Each watercolor is identified by name and month of blooming, some with brief additional descriptive notes. An index at the front of the volume provides transliterations of the Japanese names.