244 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[August, 



ATURAL MISTORY AND ^CIENCE. 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE FLORA OF 

 HOKKAIDO. 



BY M. LOUIS BOHMER, 



Horticulturist to the Kaitakuska, Yedo, Japan. 



[Continued from page 212.] 



Leaving the forest towards Yubuts we struck 

 several rivers running in an easterly direction 

 and found large numbers of the Liliuni tigrinum, 

 the bulbs of which are a favorite vegetable with 

 Japanese. A Lychnis, with much laciniated 

 petals and of a bright red color grows here 

 among the grass ; it looked so handsome that I 

 collected a number of living plants. Yubuts is 

 situated on the sea-shore, and vegetation natur- 

 ally becomes less varied. A large leaved creep- 

 ing Rubus (Raspberry), bearing clusters of large 

 red fruit grows everywhere in the neighborhood. 

 The fruit at first sight looks very tempting, but 

 has little flavor to recommend its cultivation. 



Following the coast on our way to Akkehi I 

 found little of interest until I reached Sam. The 

 sandy levels on the sea-shore are frequently 

 covered with a wild rose, Rosa rugosa. It has 

 large dark-green leaves and single purple flowers 

 measuring 3 inches in diameter, and bears a red 

 round fruit which is much relished by Ainoes 

 and Japanese. If preserved in sugar they would 

 make a fine desert fruit. Vitis labrusca, the wild 

 grape, is also found growing near the sea-shore. It 

 has long dark -green leaves which are of light- 

 brown color underneath, and bears bunches of 

 fruit which are dark-blue when ripe. The growth 

 of the vine is not as luxuriant as it is in the 

 woods near Sapporo and other places, but this 

 can be accounted for by the soil which here is of 

 a much poorer description. Small oaksnvith an 

 undergrowth of Lespedeza (a leguminous plant), 

 much prized by the Japanese and often mentioned 

 in their poems under the name of Hagi, and a 

 grass, Eulalia Japonica, growing about 5 feet high 

 together with an Artemisia, are all I remarked. 

 The latter three are cut together and made into 

 hay, which is used by the natives for feeding 

 their horses in winter. A pretty looking fern is 

 growing on the branches of the oak trees. 



Near Saru is one of the head-quarters of the 

 Ainoes, consisting of seven villages with a popu- 

 lation of about five hundred inhabitants. Their 

 occupation is principally fishing and hunting; 

 but I found some traces of agricultih-e, or rather 



garden culture, along the banks of the river on 

 the good rich soil. Millet and beans formed the 

 principal crops. Wild Hops grow frequently in 

 this soil ; the specimens I saw looked very much 

 like foreign ones, and I think would improve by 

 cultivation. Foreign hops imported there would 

 certainly succeed well if the Ainoes could be 

 induced after projjer instruction to devote them- 

 selves to this profitable article of commerce. Of 

 all the localities I have seen during my stay in 

 Hokkaido, none seems, in my opinion, more 

 fiivorable to the cultivation of hardy foreign 

 fruit as far as both position and soil are con- 

 cerned., 



I was much surprised to find even in this re- 

 mote locality some small traces of ornamental 

 gardening. These gardens are only found at the 

 government stations, and planted by officials in 

 former years. The plants consisted principally 

 of those growing in the neighboring mountains, 

 such as Rhododendron, small firs, and the dwarf 

 growing Taxus cuspidata, which is often trained 

 into difl'erent shapes. In some of these gardens 

 I even found some of the favorite trees imported 

 from Yedo, the Plum Clierry, Pine, Cryptomeria, 

 and among herbaceous plants the Chrysanthe- 

 mum was most conspicuous! 



On the road to Urakawa I met with an appar- 

 ently leafless Orchid. It had pink flowers at the 

 time, but I could not ascertain from my travel- 

 ling companions whether it ever made leaves, 

 nor could I find any traces of them. At the 

 same place I found a number of Lilies which 

 were pointed out to me as the "black Lily;" 

 unfortunately the flower had already passed, and 

 I had no opportUTiity of identifying this plant. 

 Mr. Lyman, who started earlier for the east coast, 

 had seen it in flower, and tells me that the flower 

 is of a dark-J.)lue color. The plant which gener- 

 ally goes under the name of " black Lily," in 

 Yedo, and of which I have seen drawings, diflTera 

 materially in the structure of the leaves, and I 

 am inclined to think that the Yesso Lily is a 

 species as yet unknown. I therefore collected a 

 large number of bulbs to be sent to Yedo, in 

 order to see whether it really is a novelty or not. 



Here I had to leave behind the artist who had 

 been attached to our expedition ; he fell sick and 

 had to return ; a great disappointment to me, as 

 I had counted upon him to preserve in drawings 



