VEGETABLE KINGDOM. I 5 



Actinidia chinensis (:^ \% or -^ |IB, Yang-t'ao) and Actinidia 

 rufa (^ \^ f^^, Mi-hou-t'ao). In the south of China the char- 

 acters ^ ^t'^^ are used for the fruit of the Averrhoa carambola^ 

 1497, or "Chinese gooseberry" as it is called by Europeans. 

 But this usage is evidently only a local one, and the plant so 

 designated by the Pentsao is certainly not the carambola, but 

 Actinidia. It is described as a clambering plant, growing in 

 hilly districts, with a round, furry leaf and a greenish fruit 

 about the size of a hen's egg. The fruit is edible, and in the 

 mountainous districts of Shensi, where it grows plentifully, it is 

 greatly relished by the monkeys. Hence the name by which 

 it goes in the north. The bark is used to make paper, and 

 when removed in one piece from near the root and placed in 

 hot ashes, it is converted into a firm tube, which is used for 

 pencils. The fruit is useful for quenching thirst, and this and 

 the juice of the stalk are of some repute in the treatment of 

 "gravel ". A decoction of the branches and leaves is used for 

 the cure of mange in dogs. 



ADENOPHOR A.— Several Campanulaceous plants, the 

 roots of which bear some resemblance to ginseng, and for which 

 they are sometimes fraudulently substituted, are found among 

 the flora of China. These are Adenophora verticillata (^ ^, 

 Sha-shen), Adenophora polyviorpha^ var. alternifolia (^ ^ \»^ 

 ^, Hsing-yeh-sha-shen), Adenophora tracheloides (^ ^, Ti- 

 ui), Codonopsis laticeolata (j^ ^ ^1 T'u-tang-shen), Glos- 

 socomia lanceolata (^ ^, Yang-ju), Platycodon grandiflormn 

 (1^ SI) Chieh-keng), Wahlenbergia marginata (|g ^ tl^ ^, 

 Hsi-yeh-sha-sheu), and others. 



The Pentsao counts Sha-shen (j^? :^) among the five gin- 

 sengs ; the other four being Jen-shen ( A ^)} Hsiian-shen (^ 

 §>, Tan-shen (^fj ^), and K'u-shen (^ ^). It also says that 

 it is white in color, from which it gets the name of Pai-shen 

 (fe ^\ £^nd grows best on sandy soil, from whence its principal 

 name {^ •^). The juice of the root is milky, and is vulgarly 

 called ^ 1^ 15 t Yang-p'o-nai), "sheep mother milk". This 

 root is also sometimes called ^ |L (Yang-ju) and Jfe ^ (Ti- 

 hwang). It occurs ( 1078) in tapering pieces, from four to eight 

 inches in length, with a whitish-brown, wrinkled exterior, and 



