87 



OBSERVATIONS ON THE " RICE PAPER TREE" 

 (TETBAPANAX PAPTEIFERUM) NOW NATUR- 

 ALISED IN SYDNEY, N. S. WALES, 



By George Bennett, M. D. F. L. S., &c. 



The tree wliich produces the pith which is manufactured into 

 that delicate material known as " Rice Paper," belongs to the 

 Araliacece, or ivy worts, and is the Tetra'panax papyriferum, or 

 Aralia papyriferay of botanists. It is a native of the island of 

 Formosa, and was supposed to be procured only from the 

 northern part of the island, but it has recently been ascertained 

 that it is found wild, and is also cultivated abundantly in dif- 

 ferent parts of the island, where it grows on the hills. In N. 

 S. Wales it thrives luxuriantly on low land, and attains a 

 greater and more rapid growth when planted in good soil. It 

 was found that when a tree cultivated in the Botanic Garden 

 at Sydney, had been planted in poor soil, the trunk was of 

 small diameter, and a greater length of time was required to 

 develope the pith to a size sufficient for use ; whilst a tree 

 planted in the garden of Mr. Wildman, at Paddington, near 

 Sydney, in a clay and loam soil well manured, in one year and 

 ten months had attained the elevation of two feet ten inches, 

 from the base of the main trunk to the crown of foliage, the 

 whole of which would, to all appearance, be available for pith, 

 the circumference of the trunk of the tree was equally the 

 same in every part of the stem, and measured seven and a 

 half inches. The tree had just produced (May 26th, 1865) 

 twelve fine flowery spikes for the first time, but the blossoms 

 were not yet expanded. The cellular tissue or pith in the 

 main stem, is the portion of the tree used in the preparation 

 of the exquisitely beautiful substance named " Rice Paper," 

 so well known in Europe as an excellent material for drawings 

 of specimens of natural history, more particularly butterflies 

 and other insects. 



For many years the popular opinion that prevailed respect- 

 ing this peculiar substance was that it was manufactured from 

 Rice, hence it became known as " Rice Paper ;" but when it 

 was submitted to microscopic examination, the question was 

 decided against the commonly received opinion by the delicate 

 medullary portion of a Dicotyledonous stem being displayed. 

 The Rice Paper Tree is named Tong-Shue by the Chinese, and 

 is extensively cultivated on the island of Formosa in large 

 plantations, and is propagated principally, if not entirely, from 

 suckers, which every year — as we find in the trees growing in 

 Sydney — are thrown up in great numbers. 



The names of the places where this plant is chiefly cultivated 



