AND OTHER CHINESE PLANTS. 61 
This is in a great measure due to the abundance of the Pine-tree, 
which is by far the commonest tree in the island. Generally 
speaking, the shrubs and trees have a stunted appearance, and 
that luxuriance which one associates with the tropics is entirely 
wanting. This is accounted for by the poorness of the soil, which 
is nearly all disintegrated granite, and makes it all the more 
remarkable that so large a number of species should be found on 
such a small island. Showy flowering shrubs and creepers are 
exceedingly numerous and the flowers are produced in the greatest 
abundance. In every month of the year the hillsides are bright 
with something or other. 
Perhaps there are more shrubs in flower in April and May 
than at any other time, but even in December and January there 
are such things as Lurya japonica, Eurya Macartneyi, aud 
Litsea citrata in flower. Eurya japonica is a most evil-smelling 
plant when in flower, and it is not at all uncommon to hear 
people complain of the bad drains when they pass a specimen of 
it, as it has exactly that kind of smell. That it will give some 
people **drain-throat" I can testify, having suffered from it 
myself in this way. 
The New Territory, in which is included the island of Lantao, 
leased to Great Britain by China in 1898 has an area of about 
300 square miles, or ten times the area of Hongkong. The 
general features are those of Hongkong on a larger scale, as 
there are several mountain-ridges split up into numerous peaks, 
the highest of which is Tai-mo-shan, 3000 feet. Between these 
ridges are several valleys which are highly cultivated. Looking 
at the southern boundary of the New Territory from Hongkong, 
it appears almost as barren as Aden, but on closer inspection it 
is found that there are numerous ravines in which there is a 
considerable amount of vegetation. Lantao is an island some- 
thing like Hongkong, the highest peak of which rises to 
3050 ft. Many of the ravines are well-wooded and will, no 
doubt, yield many interesting plants when thoroughly explored, 
and the same may be said of the ravines on the mainland. 
Rubus hexagynus, an Indian species, has been found on Tai-mo- 
shan, but nowhere elsein China. Rhododendron Championi was 
considered to be confined to Hongkong until it was discovered 
on one of the hills in the New Territory last year. Uncaria 
hispida was found in Lantao a few years ago and in Hongkong last 
year, but it is not known from elsewhere in China. Gironniera 
