182 



THE GARDENER'S MONTHLY 



[June, 



mucilage resembling fish spawn. The flowers 

 are white, like a small Nymphaea. Leaving the 

 eea-shore we struck and followed the valley 

 .towards Kuromatsunai. The valley is remarka- 

 ble for its rich growth of plants, Maple, Alder, 

 Chestnut, deciduous Oak and Ash, forming the 

 principal timber trees ; less frequent are Birch, 

 Elm and Aralia. The undergrowth is composed 

 of a close growing Arundinaria, which is com- 

 monly called Bamboo grass, and gives a favorite 

 food for horses and deer. Among climbing 

 shrubs I more particularly remarked the mag- 

 nificent Schizophragma hydrangoides, which I 

 do not think has as yet been introduced into 

 foreign gardens, but which I dare to point out 

 AB one of the future leading novelties for our 

 parks. The general appearance of this creeper 

 is striking, and with its white sterile flowers re- 

 sembles much a white Clematis at a distance, 

 although it is a true Hydrangea ; the rich green 

 tint of its foliage is one of its great attractions. 

 Among other climbing plants, I found Euony- 

 mu8 radicans a plant now well known, which 

 covered the trunks of trees in the same manner 

 as Ivy, and is evergreen like its rival. Taxus 

 cuspidata is frequently found in shady places, 

 and is the only Conifer growing in these districts. 

 The soil here is black mould, the substratum of 

 which is a dark brown loam. 



The Japanese had several settlements here, 

 and seemed to do well. They cultivated various 

 grains and vegetables, especially wheat, which 

 grows here of superior quality : barley, millet 

 and buckwheat are also produced in small quan- 

 tities, but must be remunerative to the growers 

 as their general appearance leaves an impression 

 of their doing well. Lilium Thunbergianum 

 was here cultivated to a great extent, in com- 

 pany with Dioscorea batatas, for the sake of 

 their edible bulbous roots. The settlers are all 

 Japanese ; very few Ainos are met with here, 

 but these do not represent a fair type of this 

 singular people, as they are entirely dependent 

 on the good will of the Japanese settlers. Their 

 huts and their way of living cannot be compared 

 in any way with those of the same tribe living 

 at what may be considered their head-quarters. 



On the pretty stream, on which Kuromatsunai 

 is situated, I found on the .stones a singular Lily, 

 which is new to cultivation, named by Professor 

 Gray, Lilium medeoloides, from the collections 

 in 1862. It is a singular Lily, and resembles 

 much a Fritillaria ; and is called by the Japan- 

 ese, "Kuruma yuri," on account of its leaves 



being verticillate — "kuruma," wheel — "yuri," 

 Lily. It bears flowers, generally single, with 

 petals much recurved, of a scarlet color. There 

 was nothing of any marked interest beyond what 

 I had observed hitherto, until I reached Otashuta, 

 excepting magnificent trees of Magnolia hypo- 

 leuca, which, being in flower, presented a beauti- 

 ful appearance. 



The formation of the ground from Otashuta by 

 Iwanai and Tomari to Otarunai seems to me 

 not very favorable for agricultural purposes, if I 

 may judge from the general vegetation. At 

 Iwanai there is a plain of some extent, but even 

 there, although the position of the ground seems 

 to be favorable, nothing but plants growing on 

 a soil of a poor description could be seen, such 

 as the Pteris aquilina (Brake fern) a few 

 shrubby Oaks and others. The young shoots of 

 the Brake fern, Jap. " Warabi," are much 

 prized by the natives as an article of food ; the 

 fronds are gathered when still undeveloped and 

 used in soups, etc. 



It struck me that sheep would thrive well in 

 this valley, as I have seen similar grounds used 

 for that purpose in the north of Germany, at a 

 latitude of about the same degree. 



At Tomari, going up to the coal mine at 

 Kayanoma, I discovered the Hydrangea spicata, 

 remarkable in its appearance on account of the 

 large spikes of white flowers, entirely different 

 from any Hydrangea I ever saw; another Hy- 

 drangea, I fell in with, was of a beautiful sky- 

 blue color, not shrubby like the former, and of a 

 much smaller size, growing in shady situations. 

 It is as far as I can ascertain, Hydrangea acumi- 

 nata of Siebold and Zuccarini. Among the rocks 

 I observed two different kinds of Clubmoss, 

 growing side by side, like those well known in 

 America, and always used by the bouquet 

 makers of New York and other large towns in 

 the United States. 



A fern called Lomaria Japonica is frequent 

 here, and makes a very pretty effect with its vari- 

 ously and deUcately tinted fronds ; they consist 

 of the sterile ones growing close to the ground, 

 eight or ten in number, out of the centre of 

 which two or three fertile fronds rise perpendicu- 

 larly. 



Shakotan is a place famous for the production 

 of a peculiar kind of Bamboo (Arundo), used 

 by the Japanese for stems of pipes and writing 

 brushes. The place where the reeds grow is 

 situated fiv€ miles up the stream from the village. 

 It grows abundantly round the stream, and no 



