A BOTANICAL TRIP TO FORMOSA 



Bv HARLEY HARRIS BARTLETT, 



Collahoratur, Dhisioii of Plants, U. S. National Jlliisciiiii 



The flora of Formosa, rich in endemic species, has Ijeen made 

 known for the most part through the pubhcations of Japanese botan- 

 ists. In the early years of the Japanese occupation, before the 

 aborigines of the mountains had been brought under complete con- 

 trol, botanizing was carried on only with difficulty and danger. In 

 consequence, few duplicates were collected, and the herbaria at 

 Taihoku, the Formosan capital, and Tokyo are the only ones that 

 adequately represent the flora. American herbaria lack Formosan 

 plants almost entirely, except for the collections of Wilson of the 

 Arnold Arboretum and some grasses collected by Hitchcock. I there- 

 fore felt that it would be decidedly valuable to secure even the small 

 amount of material that could be got in a brief trip, and so made use 

 of the five weeks preceding the Third Pan-Pacific Science Congress 

 at Tokyo in a botanical trip to Formosa. 



The western half of Formosa is flat, fertile, densely populated and 

 tame. The formerly turbulent, semi-barbarous Chinese population 

 has been efficiently organized by the Japanese ; railroads have been 

 built ; rice, sugar cane, banana and other cultures have been sys- 

 tematically developed. Consequently the chief interest of this part 

 of the island is in its advanced and scientific agriculture. The eastern 

 half is rough and wild. Head-hunting by the Malayan aborigines has 

 been suppressed, and the Japanese have made wonderful progress in 

 gaining the confidence of the natives. They have established schools, 

 improved living conditions, and seem to be dealing very wisely with 

 the tribes. 



I arrived in Kilung on September 22, 1926, and went at once to 

 Taihoku. On board the SS. Fiiso Mani I had made friends w^ith 

 Professor Masakazu Sato, plant biochemist of the Taiwan Agricul- 

 tural College. He introduced me to Dr. Kintaro Oshima, the Head 

 of the College, and Director of the central agricultural experiment 

 station, and through the latter I met Vice-Governor Goto. Plans for 

 a trip in the savage districts were soon made and approved. Dr. 

 Oshima very kindly arranged that Mr. Kindi Yamada, Expert in 



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