488 BOTANICON SINICUM. 
seven inches long. It is round, thick, jointed (t.e. con- 
tracted between the seeds), has a thin skin and much flesh 
and is of a strong taste. 
Su Sone [11th cent.]:—Now the best is produced in 
Huai chou and Meng chou [both in Ho nan, App. 93, 220]. 
The tree is tall. The Pen king recommends the chu ya 
tsao kia, T‘ao Hune-Kine the pods which are two feet long, 
and Su Kune those which are only six inches long, All 
these sorts are used in medicine ; the boar-tusk pods are 
useful in tooth-ache. The young sprouts (leaves) are eaten 
as a vegetable. : 
Lt Sut-cnen:—The tsao is a tall tree. The leaves “ 
resemble those of the huaz (Sophora). They are thin, long ee 
and pointed. Many thorns in the axils of the branches. oe 
It blossoms in summer. Small yellow flowers. There are as 
three kinds, distinguished according to the pods. One kindhas 
small pods resembling the tusk of a boar, another has long, 
thick and fleshy pods containing much fat and viscid matter. 
The third sort is long, thin, dry and meagre. It does not = 
contain any viscid matter. The fat and fleshy sort is the 
best. As the tree is beset with thorns it is difficult to ascend. 
The people therefore at the proper time surround it with 
bamboo baskets. Then during one night all [it is not a 
clear whether the thorns or the ripe pods] will drop. A — 
strange thing! When sometimes a tree does not produce — 
fruit, the people bore a hole in the trunk, fill it with three 
or five pounds of cast iron, and cover it with mud. Then 
it will produce fruit. Other names for the tree: & FE 
wu st (black rhinoceros) and We JJ hiian tao (suspended 
sword). The thorns are known under the name KJ {‘ié 
ting (clayus ceelestis). 
Ch., XXXII, 33:—Tsao kia. Good drawing, Leaves 
and long pods. Gleditschia sinensis, Lam.—See also Kt 
huang, LVI, 3. 3 
