188 A HANDBOOK OF CONIFERS 



Var. glauca. 

 Leaves glaucous or blue-green in colour. 



The Chinese fir is widely distributed in the mountain valleys 

 of Central and S. China, and was originally discovered in the 

 Island of Chusan in 1701. It was introduced by William Kerr 

 to Kew in 1804. Mr. E. H. Wilson found the tree in large forests 

 at altitudes of 2,500-4,000 ft. in Omei Shan, and it is also plentiful 

 in Ichang and W. Szechuen. 



Wilson 1 gives a good deal of information about this species. 

 He describes the timber as the most useful, next to bamboo, for 

 all round work in China. The wood is light, soft, fragrant, pale 

 yellow or almost white, easily worked, durable, and used for 

 housebuilding, indoor carpentry, masts, planking for native 

 craft, box-making, and largely for coffins. In some parts of 

 China, trees buried by land-slides many years ago are dug out 

 in an excellent state of preservation, but the wood is often much 

 darker coloured than the ordinary timber. It is considered to 

 be superior to newly felled timber, and the best boards are in 

 request for coffins. Wilson states that the wood for a coffin may 

 realize from 400-1,000 ounces of silver, and that selected thick 

 planks are worth from £12 to £60 each. Wood produced by 

 ornamental trees in Britain is clean, light, and fragrant. 



In the Kew Re])ort for 1878, p. 30, a list of Chinese coffin 

 woods, compiled by Mr. Cecil C. Smith, who at one period was 

 Colonial Secretary at Hong Kong, is given. Unfortunately the 

 names of the trees producing the wood are not given, although 

 from the accompanying descriptions several appear to be 

 Cunninghamia sinensis. They are as follows : — 



1. Pine from the upper four districts of Ting-chow, in 



Fokkien. Price £10 to £150 each. 



2. Pine from the Tsing-lan (River), in Ting-chow, in Fokkien. 



Price £6 to £100. 



3. Pine from Lan-chow, in Kwang-si. Price from £4 to 



£60. 



4. Pine from Fu-chuen, in Kwang-si. Price from £4 to £40. 



5. Pine from Foo-chow, in Fokkien. Price £4 to £40. 



6. Pak-heung or Fragrant Cedar from Kwang-si. Price 



£34. 



7. Yan-sha from Szechuen. Price £80. 



8. Wai-muk (or Mast End) from Kwang-si. Price £2. 



9. Pine from Tung-kong (Eastern River), in Wai-chow, in 



Kwangtung. Price £1. 

 10. Pine (common kind), named Sz-ni-luk, from Sz-ni, in 



Kwangtung. Price £15. 

 The value of all these woods, in the estimation of the Chinese, 



^A Naturalist in Western China (1913.). 



