1919] WILSON, PHYTOGEOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF KOREA 37 



stoiit trunk, clothed with thick, dark bark which flakes off, and a broad 

 crown of no particular shape made up of massive branches. Curiously, the 

 wood and bark of the very different B. chinensis Maxim, is almost iden- 

 tical with that of B. Schnidtii Rcgel, but the tree is always small and is 

 found in lower altitudes and on any kind of soil. On the Diamond INIts. I 

 saw the best examples of B. chinensis Maxim. Of true Maples only Acer 

 piciiim Thunb. grows to any real size and this calls for no special comment. 

 Another {A. pseudo-sicboldianum Kom.) makes a poor looking tree of me- 

 dium size but is abundant and in autumn its foliage assumes wonderful tints 

 of orange, scarlet, and crimson and is responsible for much of the autumn 

 beauty of forest and wood. In open country and especially by riversides 

 and in swamps A. ginnala ^Slaxini. is abundant as bushes or low, shapeless 

 trees. Its leaves have considerable economic value, being gathered in 

 late summer and after sun drying packed in bales and exported to China 

 where blue, black, and khaki color dyes are prei)ared from them. Of 

 the eight Maples two are Negundos and both make strikingly handsome 

 trees. The oldest known of the two is A. mandshuricum Maxim, which 

 grows 80 ft. tall, has a shapely crown and a straight trunk clothed with firm, 

 pale gray, slightly fissured bark. The other, A. triflorum Kom., is of much 

 the same size, has thicker branches and a thin, papery^ gray-brown bark 

 which shreds off. The autumn tints of both are yellow, orange, and salmon, 

 and singularly beautiful. Of the Oaks Q. mongolica Fisch. is the best and 

 its wood the most valuable and when the soil is good, as on Xemonrei in the 

 Diamond Mts., makes a fine tree in habit and size resembling the White 



(Q 



As usually seen, however, in 



Korea the Mongolian Oak is not attractive, being of moderate size only 

 and frequently stagheadcd. The less abundant Q, rjlandulifcra Bl. is usually 

 abetter looking tree, and in the autumn its ruddy tinted foliage renders it 

 most conspicuous. Of the Cornels besides the well known Cornus housa 

 Buerg. and C controversa Hemsl., both strikingly beautiful in summer 

 when in full flower, the less known C. coreana Wanger. deserves mention if 

 only on account of its bark which on adult trees is almost black, and 

 deeply fissured into tiny squares like that of Diospyros virginiana L. The 

 Korean Cornel grows GO ft. high and has a trunk from 4 to 5 ft. in girth; the 

 leaves arc opposite, but the flowers and fruit are similar to those of C, con- 



troversa Hemsl, 



^jn 



long known as a cultivated tree in Japan, is endemic in Korea where it Is a 

 tree often 3;5 ft. tall with a trunk from 4 to 5 ft. in girth and thin pale gray 

 bark which scales off in loose papery sheets. The common Elm is Ulmus 

 japonica Sarg. but nowhere did I see large trees of this species such as are 

 common in Hokkaido; indeed, the largest Elm in Korea is U. pimiila L, 

 which in the valleys of the north is often 80 ft. tall and has a trunk as 

 much as 12 ft. in srlrth. 



ri'\ 



Trees with conspicuous flowers and striking objects in the landscape are 

 Prunus mandschurica Koehne, distinguished among Apricots by its large 

 size and by its thick, corky black bark which is red beneath, a Cherry 



