1876.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



2T5 



GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON 

 HOKKAIDO. 



BY M. LOUIS BOHMER, 



Horticulturist to the Kaitakuska, Yedo, Japan. 

 [Concluded from page 24>.] 



Descending towards the seashore, a pink and a 

 white Scabiosa, in company with a Platycodon 

 (Campanulacese), is growing in sunny places. 

 Approaching the vicinity of the seabeach, the 

 rocks are studded here and there with a small 

 Compositea, of which the flowers are sometimes 

 red and sometimes white. I also noticed several 

 different kinds of Sedum and Saxifraga. From 

 here we ascended again the mountains where I 

 found some trees I had not seen before. Fore- 

 most among them is Styrax abassia, a tree pecu- 

 liar to the Japanese islands, with large round 

 leaves and clusters of fine w'hite flowers. It 

 growls about 15 feet high, and has a smooth light 

 red bark. A Carpinus, with flowers like those of 

 a Hop, almost three inches long, was in full 

 bloom. Kalopanax richinifolium {mig.), a large 

 species of Aralia, which is often found in the 

 forests, attains here its greatest size. It is a 

 handsome tree, especially when in flower, and 

 has almost a tropical appearance. The trunk 

 sometimes has a diameter of from three to four 

 feet, and as the wood is easily worked it is used 

 for various purposes, especially by Ainos for 

 their canoes, which are made by hollowing out a 

 portion of a trunk about 20 feet long. The Japan- 

 ese name is Sen noki, or Harigini. The Ainos call 

 it "Yoshi-ni." 



Clerodendron trichotomum, a shrub with large 

 leaves and racemes of white flowers relieved by 

 a red calyx, grows here with great vigor, although 

 I did not expect to find it so far north. It is 

 really a handsome shrub, and would form a val- 

 uable addition to foreign parks, as it is perfectly 

 hardy here. A pink-flowering Andromeda, which 

 I had not seen before, grows in patches in stony 

 ground. A pretty flowering herbaceous plant 

 with blue flowers, which I believe to be a Ly- 

 simachia, frequently occurs here ; and the beau- 

 tiful Prinnda Japonica I found for the first time 

 in its wild state on the sides of small mountain 

 streams. Four years ago this plant was intro- 

 duced into England, and on account of its ele- 

 gant habit has sprcal through foreign gardens 

 with great rapidity, and promises to be one of 

 the leading plants for open air cultivation. The 

 mountains rise here to about three thousand 

 feet, and those facing the sea are generally 



THE FLORA OF | scantily supplied with vegetation, while those 

 more inland are covered with thick forest up to 

 their summit. On the former Birch and Alder 

 of small size are met with, and also small Oak. 

 A species of Arundo, a favorite food of the deer, 

 covers large spaces of the open ground. The 

 deer are said to collect here in large numbers 

 during the winter season, and are killed by the 

 natives for the sake of their skins. I Avas in- 

 formed that no less than thirty thousand deer 

 were killed. last winter at Hore-idzumi, where 

 large plains covered with this reed 'occur. 



Following the road, we had again to descend 

 to the seashore, and on the way w^e passed 

 through most luxuriant vegetation. There must 

 be a considerable amount of moisture in this 

 neighborhood, as I found no less than three 

 difl"erent ferns growing on trees. Hydrangea, 

 Actinidia, Euonymus and the wild grape grow 

 luxuriantly, and give the forest almost a sub-trop- 

 ical appearance. 



From Berufune to Kusuri the road leads 

 through a plain about a hundred feet above the 

 level of the sea. This plain is nmch intersected 

 by small rivers, on the banks of which a gigantic 

 umbelliferous plant was in flower, a species of 

 Angelica, similar in habit to those found so fre- 

 quently in Siberia. They often attain a height 

 of 15 feet, with a hollow stem of at least 6 inches 

 in diameter ; some of the white umbels measured 

 18 inches across. Apparently it has a preference 

 for moist localities, as I only found it growing in 

 places where water is abundant. It is the largest 

 repiesentative of this widely-spread family that I 

 have ever seen. 



■Polygonum cuspidatum is frequently met 

 growing in company with these umbelliferous 

 plants. It is a beautiful species, of tall growth, 

 whose fertile flowers, which are of a light pink 

 color and produced in large clusters, have a very 

 good effect, and w'ould form a valuable addition 

 to park scenery in Europe or America. It 

 sometimes grows to a height of 10 feet, and the 

 stems are often used by Ainos as walking-sticks, 

 probably because they are hollow, light and 

 comparatively strong. This plant belongs to the 

 buckwheat family, another remarkable instance 

 of the size herbaceous plants sometimes attain to 

 under favorable circumstances. The plains con- 

 tain very little of interest, excepting a number of 

 vigorously growing Aconitum, the roots of which 

 are used by the Ainos for poisoning their arrows 

 in order to kill wild beasts. They make a decoc- 

 tion of the root, and soak in it their arrow-heads. 



