IN QUEST OF FLOWERS 41 



A fine morning followed yesterday's rain, the country looked 

 refreshed, and the air was laden with fragrance from the myriad 

 flowers on every side. The coolies grumbled loudly over the 

 extortionate charges at the inn, and several hours elapsed before 

 they recovered their cheerfulness. The day's journey com- 

 menced in a steady ascent to the top of a ridge followed by the 

 usual precipitous descent. Hereabouts Staphylea holocarpa, a 

 small, very floriferous tree, with both white and pink flowers, 

 is very common and most strikingly beautiful. Another in- 

 teresting plant is Salix Fargesii, a dwarf- growing Willow, 

 having large very dark green leaves. A small torrent marks 

 the foot of the descent, and from this point on v/e occupied 

 several hours in an exhausting climb to the summit of another 

 ridge, finally crossing over at 7300 feet altitude. In the ascent 

 a new Spruce, having short square leaves and small cones, was 

 discovered, and many small trees of Hemlock Spruce were 

 noted. Near the head of the ridge, on cliffs. Box [Buxus 

 microphylla) is very common, and a rosy-red flowered Primrose 

 is abundant in grassy places. A dwarf Bamboo forms dense 

 thickets on the top of the wind-swept ridge. 



The descent quickly leads into copses of Birch, and later into 

 fine woods composed of mixed deciduous trees and shrubs and 

 a few conifers. In these woods we spent a profitable time, 

 collecting in all specimens of some fifty different kinds of woody 

 plants. We saw one or two large trees of Davidia and many 

 of Tetracentron. Cherries in variety are plentiful, and were a 

 wonderful sight — nothing but masses of pink and white. Three 

 kinds of Rhododendron were collected, and six in all noted. 

 Maples in variety are very common, but one large tree of Acer 

 griseum, with its chestnut-red bark, exfoliating like that of the 

 River Birch, was the gem of all. Various PomacecB and one or 

 two species of Lauracece make up a fair percentage of the small 

 trees. Viburnums in variety. Honeysuckles, Diervillas, Deutzias, 

 Philadelphus, and Neillia sinensis are everywhere abundant. 

 In rocky, more open places Viburnum rhytidophyllum with its 

 long, thick wrinkled leaves looked particularly happy, and 

 in places exposed to the sun a Crab Apple (Malus sp.) with 

 pink flowers was a sight for the gods. On wet, humus-clad 

 rocks Pleione Henryi luxuriates, and herbs in endless variety 



