356. BOTANICON SINICUM. 
together, This passage seems to imply that the ics, 
a thorny plant, as Luce states. pad 
At Peking the names jf) F hing tsz* or Ff HR king Ce 
applied to Vitew inc’sz, Lam., a very common shrub in 
neighbourhood of Peking; and the plant figured un: 
king tsz‘ in the Kiu huang [LV, 4] is without doubt the san 
Vitex. V. incisa is extensively employed in basket making, 
and the name king tao (king twigs) refers to this use. I 
is also used for fuel and for burning charcoal. — It is a hant- 
some shrub; in the plain the stem is generally not th 
than the little finger, but in the mountains, when allowet 
to grow, it becomes a tree. I have seen trees of V. in 
the trunk as thick as one’s arm. It has no thorns. 
leaves are compound, generally five leaflets deeply toothed 
The leaves have a strong smell of Artemisia. It flower 
August; small blue flowers in branche. panicles. 
well represented in Ch, [XX XIII, 27]. ; 
P. [XXXVI, 56-62] describes under the name of 
several species of Viter and also other plants. it 
CHEN states that the names king and ch‘u (for Vi 
derived from the names of the ancient State in which th 
plants grew abundantly. The character jp) king is 3% 
have originated from Jf] hing (punishment), for in 
times king stayes were use] in corporal punishment. 
! P; speaks first of the HE jf) mow king (male hing) 
ealled i ipl huang king (yellow king), the chéu or 
of the Classies. It grows abundantly everywhere 
mountains, The people cut it and use it for fuel. ‘ 
cut for many years it becomes a tree of considerab 
The heart of the wood is square. The branches: grow bu 
The leaves are compound ; five, s sometimes seven, leaflets 
: inserted _ a common leaf-stalk. ‘The leaflets a are er: 
