FROM THE SOCIETY'S GAPxDEN. 239 



soil, and is easily increased by cuttings. It flowers in April and 

 May, and is not only a distinct, but rather neat-looking plant. 

 Wiiere a choice collection of hardy slirubs is grown it deserves 

 a place, 



April 21, 1848. 



17. Citrus JAPONicA. Thimb., Fl. Japonica, p. 292. Slehold 

 and Zuccarini, Flora Japonica, vol. i. p. 35, t. 15, fig. iii. 



Received from China, by Mr. Fortune, under the name of 

 the " Kum-qaat." 



Mr. Fortune has furnished the following memorandum re- 

 specting this plant : — 



" This species, long known to botanists and to those who have 

 visited Canton, was one of the plants which Mr. Reeves recom- 

 mended me to send home to the Horticultural Society. In the 

 south of China great quantities of it are grown in pots, and hence 

 it is met with, as a common plant, in the well-known nursery 

 gardens at Fa-tee. It is, however, evidently of a more northern 

 origin, for I met with numerous groves of it on the island of 

 Chusan and elsewhere in that part of China, where it grew in 

 far greater perfection than it does about Canton. It seems also 

 to be largely cultivated in Japan, where it has been seen and 

 described by Japanese travellers, such as Thunberg and Sie- 

 bold." 



" The Kum-quat groves of Chusan are formed on the sides of 

 the lower hills, in those situations where the tea-shrub (Thea 

 viridis) flourishes. The plants are arranged in rows, about four 

 feet apart, and do not attain to a larger size than about six feet 

 in height ; from three to six feet is the size which they are usually 

 met with. A small kind of orange is also found in these grovesj 

 but gQod oranges, such as those known in the south as ' Manda- 

 rins ' and ' Coolies,' are entirely unknown ; indeed, the Chusan 

 winters would be far too cold for them. This sliows, therefore, 

 that the Kum-quat is of a much hardier nature than any of the 

 plants belonging to the orange tribe with which we are acquainted 

 in gardens." 



" The fruit ripens late in the autumn, being then about the 

 size of a large oval gooseberry, having a sweet rind and a sliarp 

 acid pulp. It is largely used by the Chinese as a preserve, and 

 very frequently finds its way to England as presents to those 

 who have friends in China. Preserved in sugar, according to 

 the Ciiinese method, it is excellent." 



" In China the Kum-quat is propagated by grafting on a 

 prickly wild species of Citrus, which seems of a more hardy 

 nature than the Kum-quat itself. This fact should be kept in 



