62 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



Rivers, where it is grown as an article of export for other parts 

 of China. Both long and round (heart-shaped) forms of Capsi- 

 cum (C. annuum) are cultivated in the plains, and especially 

 the plain of Chengtu. These chillies and capsicums con- 

 stitute the most important relish used by the Chinese. In a 

 green state the latter are fried and eaten with rice and cabbage. 

 When ripe they are pounded up in a mortar, and with water 

 added foim a sauce. Roasted and ground into meal they are 

 used for seasoning purposes. The ripe chillies and capsicums 

 are also boiled in oil, and impart to it their pungent flavour. 

 Oil so treated will keep for an indefinite period. The true 

 Chinese pepper, known as " Hua-chiao," is the ground-up fruit 

 of Zanthoxylum Bungei. This is a thorny shi^ub cultivated 

 every^^'here in small quantities, but it is only in the Min Valley 

 that I have noted it extensively grown for export. 



As previously mentioned, bamboo shoots are eaten both 

 fresh, dried, and salted. When cooked as a vegetable or made 

 into a salad, these shoots are very fair eating, but it is ridiculous 

 to compare them with asparagus, as some writers have done. 

 In the warmer parts of China it is the young shoots of Bambusa 

 arundinacea and B. vulgaris that are employed. They are 

 also an article of export to other parts of China, and can 

 usually be bought in a dried state in most of the large cities. 

 In mountainous districts the young succulent shoots of other 

 species of Bamboo are eaten. In the west, one of the commonest 

 of these is the lovely Arundinaria nitida. 



Celery {Apium graveolens) , " Ch'ing-ts'ai," and Lettuce 

 {Lactuca Scariola), " U'sen," are commonly cultivated. The 

 celery is never bleached, and it is the stem of the lettuce rather 

 than the leaves that is in request. The leaves and young shoots 

 of the following plants are used as vegetables : Cedrela 

 sinensis, " Ch'un-tuen shu " ; Pistacia chinensis, " Huang- 

 nien-ya " ; Chrysanthemum segetum, " Tung-hao " ; Malva 

 parviflora, " Mao-tung-han-ts'ai " ; M. verticillaia, " Tung-han- 

 ts'ai " ; Chenopodium album, " Hui-t'ien-han " ; Acroglochin 

 chenopodioides, " Yeh-han-ts'ai " ; ipomcea aquatica, " Weng- 

 ts'ai " ; Anaphalis contorta, " Tak'ing-ming-ts'ai " ; Corian- 

 drum sativum, " Yen-ts'ai " ; Taraxacum officinale, " Ku-ts'ai"; 

 Beta vulgaris, " T'ien-ts'ai " ; Lactuca denticulata, " Wo-sheng- 



