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It is said that in China gum-jum is used by both rich and poor 

 and that in many sections there is scarcely a family that does not 

 use this article of food. Also, the product is used to some extent 

 in other countries. During certain years as many as 4000 pounds 

 have been brought from China into the port of New York City 

 for consumption. 



The following statement is quoted 2 from a publication called 

 "The Principal Articles of Chinese Commerce," compiled by the 

 Inspectorate General of Customs, Shanghai, 1930. 



"LILY FLOWERS, DRIED, (Chin-chen-ts'ai or Huang-hua- 

 ts'ai). Lily flowers (dried) are the dried flowers of Hemerocallis 

 graminea and of Lilium bulbiferum. Dr. Stuart says: 'They con- 

 sist of inferior, tubular perianths of the unopened flower, en- 

 closing six introrse stamens, with the three-celled, superior ovary, 

 and simple stigma characteristic of liliaceous plants.' As they 

 appear in the Chinese market, dried lily flowers are dark brown- 

 ish yellow in colour, translucent, wrinkled, more or less twisted, 

 in lengths of 4 or 5 inches, and covered with a whitish mould or 

 bloom ; they have an agreeable odour and a sweet, mucilaginous 

 taste and are used by Chinese chiefly as a food, particularly as a 

 relish with meat dishes. The Chinese also use them in medicine, 

 considering them to be antifebrile and anodyne and to possess 

 stimulating and intoxicating properties. 



"Lily flowers are produced chiefly in Szechwan and along the 

 Yangtze Valley ; they form a staple product of North Kiangsu 

 and are usually packed for the market in large mat-covered bales 

 weighing from 300 to 400 catties." 



It may be noted that mention is here made of the fact that the 

 dried flowers of daylilies are also utilized to some degree as a 

 medicine in China. 



The writer has not yet learned which, if any, type of daylily 

 provides the best flowers for food. The dried flowers available 

 for examination appear to be of a type of daylily {Hemerocallis) 

 with narrow perianth-tube, narrow segments, and pale yellow 

 coloring, and in the material examined to date there have been no 

 flowers of Lilium. However, living plants obtained from 



2 For this reference the writer is indebted to Mr. Julean Arnold, Com- 

 mercial Attache, United States Department of Commerce, at Shanghai, 



China. 



