Captured 8/15/2009 at the beautiful Huntington Library, Art Collections, & Botanical Gardens in beautiful San Marino, California. Bonsai (Japanese: 盆栽, lit. 'tray planting') is the Japanese pronunciation of the Sino-Japanese word "盆栽". It is an Asian art form using cultivation techniques to produce small trees in containers that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees. Similar practices exist in East Asian cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penzai from which the Japanese version Bonsai originated, and the derivative miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese Hòn Non Bộ. The Japanese tradition dates back over a thousand years. Source: Wikipedia free encyclopedia.