— 212 — 



collected. A. vON Rosthorn acquired it, 1891, and it was described by KOCHS ') 

 as vve will see fa.tlier. It was a shrub, „welcher von Eingeborenen in 

 „einem Urwalde gefunden vvurde und in dem dortigen Dialecte Ye ch'a 

 ,Juia shii heisst" (i. e. ,,wild tea-flower-bush", as prof. De Groot kindiy 

 told me). The value of this spécimen, found near a tea-centre, is rather 

 doubtfiil, even though this centre is a very remote one, and though the 

 plant was reported to grow in virgin forest — Ihe more so, as von Rost- 

 horn's herbarium contains some genuine tea plants from Nan-chuen as 

 well (nrs. 1269 and 1940), and virgin forests do not exist in the Red Basin 

 of Nan-chuen! 2) We need not delude ourselves as to the absolute relia- 

 bility of the ,, Eingeborenen"' (viz. a Chinese coilector who had been sent to 

 Nan-chuen 3)); and a town like Ciiung-king, situated on the Yang-tse-kiang, 

 may be considered as taking part in world traffic. The tea seed may be 

 transported up-, as well as down-stream! 



And the proof that tea cultivation extends even beyond Chung-king, 

 is furnished by the prospérons brick-tea manufacture of Ya-chow. Cooper 

 says on this subject^): „The tree from whicli this peculiar kind of tea is 

 „manufactured grows chiefly along the banks of the Ya-ho 5), and unlike 

 „that which produces the tea exported to Europe, is a tall tree, often 15 

 „feet high. with a la.ge and coarse leaf". Judging from this descrip- 

 tion, one should feel inclined to say that this plant bears some resemblance 

 to the Assam tea plant! 6) Now this is the more remarkable because Von 

 Rosthorn's arbuscle resembles the Iiidia plant as well, regardless as to 

 whether his plant was truly wild or had run wild or was cultivated. We 

 bave to face the undeniable fact that in the province Sze-chuen a plant is 

 to be found that is more closely allied to the large-leaved tea of British 

 India, than the typical China plant is. 



') J. KoCHS 19C0. p. 588. 



2) See E. C. Ab:indanon 1906, p. 116 („I1 n'y a pas, pour ainsi dire, un seul morceau 

 „de terrain dans le Sc-Tchouan qui ne soit déboisé et cultivé"). A most 

 striking confirmation of this view is contained in a paper of VON RoSTHORN himself 

 entitled „0n the tea cultivation in Western Ssuch'uan" 1896 (not accessible to me 

 but cited by A. Kiefer 1902, p. 7). He says: ,,I can but say that I hâve seen no wild 

 tea bushes, and that al! inquiries in this respect hâve confirmed my observations. 

 Only one third o} the tea that is boiind for the Tibetan markct consists of genuine 

 tea leaves. Tlic rcmaining two thirds are leaves from other plants. Tlie présence of 

 the latter has probably given rise to the supposition that tliere exist wild tea plants 

 in thèse régions.'' Italics are mine. Perhaps it is in this sensé that we hâve to under- 

 stand a référence of P- Lefèvre-Pontalis (1892, p. 19 of the abstract) to ,,(des 

 ,, exploitations) que le voyageur anglais Babér dit avoir vues au Sse-Chuen, où il faut 

 „chercher 1' arbuste à thé au milieu de la brousse pour s' apercevoir de sa présence." 



3) L. DiELS 1901, p. 183. 



•î) T. T. CooPER 1871. p. 171. 



') F. VoN RiCHTHOFEN 1912- p. 259, says that the tea from Sze-chuen is not very good, 



exccpt that from the mountain Ming-shan in Kiung-tshôu, on the Ya-ho; a „jâhr- 



licher Tribut an Thee" is sent from there to the emperor. 

 ^) The herbarium spécimens from Western Sze-chuen generally (thongh not universally) 



présent a large-leaved type of tea, but this is always a Chinese type (perhaps to 



be identified with var. macrophylla Von Siebold; see ch. V). 



