CASSIA PODS AND CAROB 



44. In his Pen ts'ao Si i, written during the first half of the eighth 

 century, C'en Ts'an-k'i has this notice regarding an exotic plant: 

 "A-lo-p'o M i&fft (*a-lak-bwut) grows in the country Fu-lin (Syria), 

 its fruit resembling in shape that of the tsao kia -4b 3*$ (Gleditschia or 

 Gymnocladus sinensis), save that it is more rounded and elongated. 

 It is sweet of taste and savory." 1 



In the Ceh lei pen ts'ao 2 we read that "a-lo-p'o grows in the country 

 Fu-§i 1$ jfi"; that is, Bhoja, Sumatra. Then follows the same descrip- 

 tion as given above, after C'en Ts'an-k'i. The name p'o-lo-men tsao 

 kia §1 M. P3 -fb 3& is added as a synonyme. Li Si-cen 3 comments that 

 P'o-lo-men is here the name of a Si-yii M M ("Western Regions") 

 country, and that Po-se is the name of a country of the south-western 

 barbarians; that is, the Malayan Po-se. The term p'o-lo-men tsao kia, 

 which accordingly would mean "Gleditschia of the P'o-lo-men coun- 

 try," he ascribes to C'en Ts'an-k'i, but in his quotation from this 

 author it does not occur. The country P'o-lo-men here in question is 

 the one mentioned in the Man Su* 



A somewhat fuller description of this foreign tree is contained in 

 the Yu yah tsa tsu, b as follows: "The Persian tsao kia (Gleditschia) has 

 its habitat in the country Po-se (Persia), where it is termed hu-ye- 

 yen-mo & *f ft IK, while in Fu-lin it is styled a-li-k'u-fa M M * f£. 6 

 The tree has a height of from thirty to forty feet, and measures from 

 four to five feet in circumference. The leaves resemble those of Citrus 

 medica (kou yuan ffi} mk) , but are shorter and smaller. During the cold 

 season it does not wither. 7 It does not flower, and yet bears fruit. 8 

 Its pods are two feet long. In their interior are shells (ko ko M Wi). 

 Each of these encloses a single seed of the size of a finger, red of color, 



1 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 31, p. 9 b, where the name of the plant is wrongly 

 written a-p'o-lo. The correct form a-lo-p'o is given in the Cen lei pen ts'ao. 



2 Ch. 12, p. 56 (ed. of 1587). 



3 Pen ts'ao kan mu, Ch. 31, p. 9 b. 



4 See below, p. 468. 



6 Ch. 18, p. 12. Also Li Si-gen has combined this text with the preceding one 

 under the heading a-p'o-lo (instead of a-lo-p'o). 



6 The Pen ts'ao kan mu (Ch. 31, p. 9 b), in quoting this text, gives the Po-se 

 name as hu-ye-yen and the Fu-lin name only as a-li. 



7 This means, it is an evergreen. 



8 This is due to erroneous observation. 



420 



