MATERIA MEDIGA OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE. 457 
Pie lu :—The sin i grows in Han chung, Wei hing [both 
in Shen si, App. 54, 384] and Liang chou [App. 187]. The 
tree resembles the tu chung [see 317] and is more than 10 feet 
high. The fruit [the unopened flower-buds are meant, v. infra] 
is like the tung t‘ao (winter peach) but smaller. It is gathered 
in the 9th month. The heart and the outer hairs (the down) 
are removed [before use], for they are injurious to the lungs 
and excite coughing. 
Tso Hune-Kina :—It is now produced in Tan yang 
{in An hui, App. 328] and in Mid China. It resembles a 
small peach, is of a pungent taste and aromatic. 
Su Kone [7th cent.]:—T‘ao Hung-K1nc does not mean 
the fruit of the sin é¢ tree, but its unopened flower-buds, 
which are gathered in the first and second months. The 
Pie lu is mistaken in stating that the fruit is gathered in the 
9th month. 
Cu‘En Ts‘anc-K‘t [8th cent.]:—The unopened flower of 
the sin i forms a globe, not unlike a small peach. It is 
covered with hair. It is also called HE Pk hou t‘ao (monkey 
peach). When the flower first opens it resembles a hair- 
pencil (the pencil-like tuft of stamens), whence the name 
AS SE mu pi (tree pencil). As the flowers appear very early 
in the year the people in the south call them 2 FH yin ch‘un 
(welcoming the spring). 
Han Pao-suena [10th cent.]:—It is a tree of great 
dimensions. Its leaves resemble those of the shi (Diospyros), 
but are narrower and longer. It blossoms in the first and 
second months. The unopened flower resembles a small 
downy peach. The flowers are white, tinged with purple. 
The tree does not produce seeds, but at the end of summer It 
flowers again. There is one kind which has leaves and 
flowers like the common sin i, but its flowers appear in the 
3rd month and fall off in the 4th. This tree produces red 
ae 
