26 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



cultivated in Hupeh and Szechuan from river-level to 9000 

 feet altitude. Freestone and clingstone varieties and oval and 

 flattened kinds occur ; those from the vicinity of Ichang are 

 of delicious flavour and are probably not excelled anywhere in 

 the world. The climate more than anything else is responsible 

 for this, since the trees are little cared for and generally covered 

 with the San JosI scale-insect. The trees are grown in orchards 

 or in small groups around houses, but sub-spontaneous bushes 

 are met with everywhere by the wayside and on cliffs. An oil 

 is extracted from the kernels in northern China, but not in 

 the western parts of the Empire, as far as my observation goes. 



The Peach was introduced into Asia Minor and Europe 

 from Persia somewhere about 300 B.C., but it has been cultivated 

 in China from very remote times and was probably carried 

 to Persia by way of the old trade route via Bokhara. Whilst 

 it is now accepted that China is the original home of this 

 invaluable fruit, it is by no means certain as to what particular 

 plant represents the wild type. A species found in northern 

 China and known as P. Davidiana is generally regarded 

 as the source of origin of the cultivated peach. From this 

 view I, however, dissent. My opinion is that the species are 

 distinct, and that the type of the garden peach is no longer 

 to be found in a wild state. The nearest to it is the sub- 

 spontaneous form, plants of which are abundant on the cliffs 

 and by the waysides all over western Hupeh and Szechuan. 

 In this connexion it may be of interest to record that in the 

 neighbourhood of Tachienlu I discovered a new species of 

 Peach which has since been named P. mira. This plant is a 

 typical freestone Peach in every respect, but has a small, 

 smooth, ovoid stone. It is now in cultivation, and, coming 

 as it does from a very cold climate, may eventually prove the 

 progenitor of a hardier race of cultivated Peaches. 



The Apricot (P. Armeniaca) is generally supposed to 

 be a native of Armenia, as its name implies, from whence it 

 was introduced to China, where it has long been cultivated ; 

 but Maximowicz regarded it as spontaneous in the mountains 

 near Peking. The Apricot tree grows to a large size (40 to 

 50 feet), but the fruit, known as " Hun-tzu," is fibrous and 

 very harsh in flavour. There is room for the improved 



