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  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  1943 
  

  

  others. 
  Because 
  these 
  plants 
  from 
  China 
  have 
  found 
  their 
  way 
  

   into 
  cultivation 
  in 
  all 
  parts 
  of 
  the 
  world, 
  horticultural 
  and 
  agricul- 
  

   tural 
  literature 
  is 
  full 
  of 
  valuable 
  accounts 
  of 
  interest 
  to 
  students 
  

   of 
  Chinese 
  botany. 
  Much 
  of 
  the 
  literature 
  is 
  highly 
  technical 
  and 
  

   would 
  be 
  of 
  little 
  interest 
  to 
  the 
  general 
  reader. 
  Very 
  little 
  of 
  a 
  

   popular 
  nature 
  has 
  been 
  written 
  on 
  the 
  plants 
  as 
  a 
  whole 
  ; 
  indeed 
  the 
  

   subject 
  is 
  so 
  vast 
  and 
  there 
  is 
  so 
  much 
  even 
  yet 
  unknown 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  

   a 
  difficult 
  task 
  to 
  treat 
  the 
  flora 
  as 
  a 
  whole. 
  Everyone 
  in 
  China 
  who 
  

   is 
  interested 
  in 
  plants 
  longs 
  for 
  a 
  manual 
  by 
  which 
  he 
  can 
  learn 
  the 
  

   scientific, 
  Chinese, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  the 
  common 
  English 
  names 
  of 
  the 
  

   trees, 
  shrubs, 
  and 
  herbs 
  about 
  him, 
  but 
  no 
  one 
  has 
  yet 
  undertaken 
  to 
  

   write 
  such 
  a 
  comprehensive 
  work. 
  For 
  a 
  few 
  restricted 
  areas 
  there 
  

   are 
  such 
  books, 
  but 
  they 
  are 
  of 
  little 
  use 
  outside 
  their 
  boundaries. 
  A 
  

   few 
  years 
  ago 
  Dr. 
  E. 
  D. 
  Merrill 
  and 
  the 
  writer 
  compiled 
  A 
  Biblio- 
  

   graphy 
  of 
  Eastern 
  Asiatic 
  Botany, 
  listing 
  over 
  21,000 
  titles 
  of 
  books 
  

   and 
  papers 
  on 
  the 
  plants 
  of 
  China 
  proper, 
  Manchuria, 
  Mongolia, 
  

   Tibet, 
  Japan, 
  Formosa, 
  Korea, 
  and 
  eastern 
  Siberia. 
  It 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  

   extensive 
  regional 
  plant 
  bibliography 
  ever 
  published. 
  By 
  means 
  of 
  

   its 
  extensive 
  indexes 
  one 
  can 
  find 
  a 
  great 
  mass 
  of 
  information 
  on 
  

   many 
  subjects. 
  For 
  further 
  details 
  on 
  the 
  principal 
  works 
  on 
  Chi- 
  

   nese 
  plants, 
  see 
  pp. 
  360-361. 
  

  

  FLORAL 
  REGIONS 
  OP 
  CHINA 
  

  

  The 
  great 
  number 
  of 
  species 
  of 
  plants 
  in 
  China, 
  numbering 
  over 
  

   15,000 
  seed 
  plants 
  and 
  ferns 
  alone, 
  along 
  with 
  the 
  great 
  diversity 
  in 
  

   the 
  vegetation, 
  ranging 
  from 
  the 
  steaming 
  Tropics 
  of 
  Hainan 
  Island 
  

   to 
  the 
  cold, 
  wind-swept 
  Mongolian 
  deserts 
  and 
  from 
  the 
  China 
  

   Sea 
  to 
  the 
  eternally 
  snow-capped 
  peaks 
  of 
  Tibet, 
  makes 
  the 
  task 
  of 
  

   gaining 
  a 
  general 
  concept 
  of 
  China's 
  flora 
  a 
  difficult 
  one. 
  The 
  aver- 
  

   age 
  person 
  in 
  most 
  parts 
  of 
  China 
  sees, 
  besides 
  the 
  well-tended 
  plants 
  

   in 
  cultivated 
  and 
  usually 
  irrigated 
  fields, 
  a 
  limited 
  amount 
  of 
  wild 
  

   vegetation. 
  This 
  consists 
  largely 
  of 
  scattered 
  trees 
  among 
  the 
  culti- 
  

   vated 
  fields 
  (pi. 
  1, 
  fig. 
  2) 
  or 
  along 
  roadsides 
  and 
  paths 
  or 
  an 
  occasional 
  

   grove 
  in 
  or 
  near 
  a 
  village 
  (pi. 
  4, 
  fig. 
  1). 
  Striking 
  oases 
  of 
  luxuriant 
  

   vegetation 
  hide 
  the 
  temples 
  and 
  monasteries 
  scattered 
  about 
  the 
  

   countryside 
  or 
  nestled 
  in 
  mountain 
  valleys. 
  One 
  will 
  notice 
  also 
  

   that 
  most 
  of 
  these 
  mountains 
  and 
  hills 
  are 
  covered 
  with 
  grass 
  or 
  small 
  

   shrubs 
  (pi. 
  1, 
  fig. 
  1), 
  or 
  bear 
  scattered 
  pine 
  trees 
  of 
  no 
  great 
  size 
  

   (pi. 
  2). 
  But 
  if 
  one 
  travels 
  into 
  the 
  interior 
  on 
  the 
  divides 
  between 
  

   the 
  major 
  rivers 
  and 
  away 
  from 
  tillable 
  lands, 
  he 
  may 
  find 
  genuine 
  

   forests, 
  even 
  dense 
  primeval 
  jungles. 
  

  

  The 
  most 
  outstanding 
  feature 
  of 
  the 
  Chinese 
  landscape 
  to 
  a 
  new- 
  

   comer 
  from 
  the 
  west 
  is 
  the 
  barren 
  and 
  treeless 
  appearance 
  of 
  the 
  

   hillsides 
  throughout 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  country. 
  Reforestation 
  is 
  the 
  most 
  

  

  