i8 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



stems which develop among and around the larger culms. This 

 Bamboo has a small core and very thick wood. It is used in 

 household carpentry, for furniture, ornamental vases, boxes, 

 and scaffolding, and has a hundred and one other uses. 



Another species is the Nan chu [Dendrocalamus giganteus), 

 the largest growing of all the Bamboos found in western 

 Szechuan. This is confined to the warmer parts of the province, 

 where it forms wide-spreading groves. The stems grow 60 

 to 80 feet tall and are 10 or 12 inches thick. The core is 

 very large, the wood thin and light. It is commonly used 

 for constructing the rafts which ply on the shallow but 

 turbulent rivers of western Szechuan. It has also many 

 other uses and is especially prized for making chop-sticks. 



Yet another very commonly cultivated species is Bambusa 

 vulgaris, sometimes called the Kwanyin chu, which produces 

 pale-coloured stems 30 to 50 feet tall. The wood is thin 

 and is used for a variety of purposes, but is less valuable than 

 any of the foregoing. The young shoots of these large-growing 

 Bamboos are cut just as they appear above the ground, and 

 eaten as a vegetable, the flesh being white, firm and crisp. 



Apart from Bamboo the most common timber for all- 

 round use is that derived from the " Sha shu," or " China 

 Fir" {Cunninghamia lanceolata). This coniferous tree is widely 

 spread throughout warm-temperate parts of China and is 

 especially partial to red sandstone. It is particularly abundant 

 in the Yachou Prefecture and on the mountains bordering the 

 north-west corner of the Chengtu Plain. It grows from 80 

 to 120 feet tall, and has a straight mast-Hke stem ; after 

 the trees are cut down this Conifer reproduces itself by 

 sprouts from the old stumps. The bark is commonly 

 employed for roofing purposes. The wood is light, fragrant, 

 and easily worked. For general building purposes, house- 

 fittings, and indoor carpentry it is the most esteemed of all 

 Chinese timbers ; also it is in great request for cofiin-making, 

 the fragrant properties of the wood being considered to act 

 as a preservative. For ordinary cofftns several logs are 

 dressed and fastened together laterally to form a thick, wide 

 plank called " Ho-pan," four of which, with two end pieces 

 added, make a coffin. All who can afford it have such coffins 



