38 A NATURALIST IN WESTERN CHINA 



Just beyond Peh-yang-tsai we passed through copses of 

 small Oak {Quercus variabilis), where the Jew's ear Fungus is 

 cultivated. The culture is as follows : Oak saplings, about 

 6 inches thick, are cut down, trimmed of their branches, and 

 cut into staves 8 to lo feet long. These are allowed to lie on 

 the ground for several months, where they become infested with 

 the mycelium of the fungus. They are then stacked slantingly 

 in scores or thereabouts, and the fructifications of the fungus 

 develop. These are ear-shaped and gelatinous and are by the 

 Chinese esteemed a delicacy. I tried them, but did not find 

 them very palatable, and the experiment resulted in a bad 

 stomach-ache ! 



On leaving these plantations the road descends to a ravine 

 along which it meanders for a mile or two. Many shrubs were 

 in flower in the ravine, and I gathered amongst other things 

 specimens of a new genus, allied to Holboellia, with fragrant 

 yellow flowers. (I subsequently secured seeds of this plant, 

 since named Sargentodoxa cuneata, and succeeded in intro- 

 ducing it into cultivation.) At the head of this ravine a 

 steep ascent through woods of Oak and Birch leads to a 

 cultivated area where there are two or three scattered houses 

 and many Tea bushes. Near one house the Chinese Coffee 

 tree {Gymnocladus chinensis) occurs ; the pods of this tree are 

 saponaceous and are esteemed for laundry purposes. 



From the Tea plantations the road leads through Pine 

 woods, now by an easy, now by a heavy grade, but always 

 ascending, and we were all glad when our destination (Hsin- 

 tientsze) was reached. Near this place are some fine old woods, 

 rich in a variety of deciduous trees and shrubs. I noted a 

 Horse Chestnut {Msculus Wilsonii), two kinds of Beech, 

 Styrax Hemsleyanum, Meliosma Veitchiorum, the Davidia, and 

 many different kinds of Maple and Oak — all of them large 

 trees. In the margins of the woods Viburnum ichangense was 

 particularly fine, and many Cherry trees, with both pink and 

 white flowers, common. In moist shady places in the woods 

 a blue Primrose (P. ovalifolia) carpets the ground for miles. 

 The yellow- flowered Stylophorum japonicum, an Epimedium, 

 and various species of Corydalis are abundant in and near the 

 woods. 



