Saffron and Turmeric 315 



latter possibly confounded again with Curcuma. 1 It is curious that 

 in the entire Pen-is* ao literature the fact has been overlooked that under 

 the same name there is also preserved the ancient description of a tree. 

 This fact has escaped all European writers, with the sole exception of 

 Palladius. In his admirable Chinese-Russian Dictionary 2 he gives 

 the following explanation of the term yil-kin: "Designation of a tree 

 in Ki-pin; yellow blossoms, which are gathered, and when they begin 

 to wither, are pressed, the sap being mixed with other odorous sub- 

 stances; it is found likewise in Ta Ts'in, the blossoms being like those 

 of saffron, and is utilized in the coloration of wine." 



A description of this tree yii-kin is given in the Buddhist dictionary 

 Yi ts'ie kin yin i 3 of a.d. 649 as follows: "This is the name of a tree, 

 the habitat of which is in the country Ki-pin M SC (Kashmir) . Its 

 flowers are of yellow color. The trees are planted from the flowers. 

 One waits till they are faded; the sap is then pressed out of them and 

 mixed with other substances. It serves as an aromatic. The grains 

 of the flowers also are odoriferous, and are likewise employed as aro- 

 matics." 



I am inclined to identify this tree with Memecylon tinctorium, M. 

 edule, or M. capitellatum (Melastomaceae), a very common, small tree 

 or large shrub in the east and south of India, Ceylon, Tenasserim, and 

 the Andamans. The leaves are employed in southern India for dyeing 

 a "delicate yellow lake." The flowers produce an evanescent yellow. 4 

 In restricting the habitat of the tree to Kashmir, Huan Yin is doubtless 

 influenced by the notion that saffron (yil-kin) was an exclusive product 

 of Kashmir (see below). 



The same tree is described by Abu Mansur under the name wars 

 as a saffron-like plant of yellow color and fragrant, and employed by 

 Arabic women for dyeing garments. 6 The ancients were not acquainted 



1 A third identification has been given by Bretschneider (Chinese Recorder, 

 1871, p. 222), who thought that probably the sumbul (Sumbulus moschatus) is meant. 

 This is a mistaken botanical name, but he evidently had in mind the so-called musk- 

 root of Euryangium or Ferula sumbul, of musk-like odor and acrid taste. The only 

 basis for this identification might be sought in the fact that one of the synonymes 

 given for yii-kin hian in the Pen ts'ao is ts'ao Se hian ifL Jj$ ^ ("vegetable musk"); 

 this name itself, however, is not explained. Saffron, of course, has no musk odor; 

 and the term ts'ao Se hian surely does not relate to saffron, but is smuggled in here 

 by mistake. The Tien hai yii hen U (Ch. 3, p. I b, see above, p. 228) also equates yii- 

 kin hian with ts'ao Se hian, adding that the root is like ginger and colors wine yel- 

 low. This would decidedly hint at a Curcuma. 



2 Vol. II, p. 202. 



3 Ch. 24, p. 8 (cf. Beginnings of Porcelain, p. 115; and above, p. 258). 



4 Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of India, Vol. V, p. 227. 

 6 Achundow, Abu Mansur, p. 145. 



