An E. Asiatic genus consisting, so far as is known, of the one species described below. The generic name commemorates E. I. Ides, a Dutchman who travelled in China in the 18 th century.
From the Supplement (Vol. V)
In the first printing of the present edition, as in earlier ones, it was stated that I. polycarpa was first made known to Europeans by R. Oldham, the Kew collector, who found it in Japan in 1962-3. In the article accompanying the plate in the Botanical Magazine (n.s., t.649), Desmond Meikle points out that this is incorrect. Although Maximowicz did not describe the species until 1866, he had collected it in Japan in 1860-1 and recorded the fact in an article published in Gartenflora in 1861. Furthermore, at least on the continent of Europe the original commercial stock derived from the seeds he collected.