⑭Illustrated guides

Hisui studied the forms of plants by sketching from life, observing how branches and leaves grow and noting the shapes of buds. He also acquired botanical knowledge, such as flower names and the genus of plants, from illustrated guides. His guides contain handwritten notes about blooming seasons and alternative names, as well as marks indicating completed sketches, suggesting that he regularly looked up the names and species of plants he found by the roadside. He evidently collected unidentified plants and compared them with the guides back at home, and some pages contained pressed flowers corresponding to the illustrations in the books.