92 PLANTS DA VIDIANS. 



mountains, loftier even than the one which he himself ascended, 

 and which he fomid to be 16,500 feet in height. The slopes here 

 are still thickly wooded up to 11,500 feet. The climate is hard 

 and disagreeable, damp and very foggy. The winters are cold, 

 with much snow, which remains in sheltered valleys till May or 

 June. During the rest of the year it rains almost every day, and 

 the atmosphere is so charged with moisture that, according to the 

 inhabitants, a gun shot will bring on a shower in calm weather! 



Such a climate is naturally favourable to the growth of plants 

 like ferns, conifers, and rhododendrons. The latter are the woody 

 plants found at the greatest altitude, and fifteen to twenty species 

 were observed, which with their magnificent flowers gave a charming 

 aspect to the landscape from April to July. At Moupine Abbe 

 David saw a number of trees, unknown to him and probably new 

 species, which with rhododendrons, box, aralias, and bamboos, 

 form impenetrable thickets, the home of the Amherst Pheasant. 

 Here, at an altitude of 6500 feet, was found the curious tree 

 named Davidia by Baillon,- growing with a fine species of cherry, 

 a gigantic hazel, an oak with cork bark, and various LaurinecB. 

 Many species of Ficus were met with, some of them large trees, 

 others tall climbers, and one a creeper, with good-sized, very sweet 

 fruits, which are only produced on those parts of the plant that 

 are hidden under the sand or stones. It was here also that Abbe 

 David found the pyramidal poplar, unknown in the rest of China, 

 and the weeping willows are spoken of as the finest he had ever 

 seen. Besides the ordinary tea-plant, another species called 

 " White Tea " is also cultivated at Moupine and in Szechuen. It 

 is a taller shrub than the common kind, with elongated and some- 

 what downy leaves. 



As to the herbaceous flora of Moupine, although proportionately 

 less rich than the arborescent, it is far more interesting than in 

 North China, where monotony is the prevailing characteristic. It 

 is also to be noted that the few European genera and species repre- 

 sented in the northern flora no longer appear in Thibet, except as 

 introduced plants. To conclude this notice of Moupine, a curious 

 circumstance mentioned by Abbe David may be quoted in his own 

 words: — "When the virgin forests are burned to make agricultural 

 clearances, the denuded land produces spontaneously, among other 

 plants, a great quantity of Sinajds with oleaginous seeds, of which 

 the natives gather two or three good crops without any trouble. As 

 this species of Sinajjis (which is largely cultivated throughout 

 China) is never found in the woods, it may well be asked whence 

 and when came these seeds which have retained their germinating 

 power for an incalculable number of years ? " 



Turning to the systematic part of the book, we have space only 

 for a few notes that have suggested themselves during a cursory 

 examination of its pages. 



We observe with interest that Clematis Davidiana Dene, is con- 

 sidered only a variety of 0. tubulosa Turcz., which the present 



* Adansonia X. 114. Placed by Baillon provisionally in Combretacece. Hist. 

 des Plantes, vi. 282. 



