Is it true that people didn't know that plants could grow where they weren't native until the mid-18th century?

by agnostic_reflex

To quote from the book I am reading: "...it was not known until the mid-eighteenth century that trees and plants could be grown in places other than where they were native."

The Scents of Eden, Charles Corn, xviii of the prologue

This seems highly unlikely to me... is this just in reference to western Europeans?

Ragleur

Surely not. Think of all the plants brought back from the New World during the Columbian Exchange. As early as the 16th century things like tomatoes and potatoes were beginning to be introduced. And think about the colonies, too...surely if the Europeans wanted to found new settlements in the Americas, they weren't counting on relying on native crops.

Searocksandtrees

This might be worth x-posting to /r/Botany or /r/AskScience (Biology)