14 MASSAl BUSETTS HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 



being through one vast alluvial plain. Here and there a few hills 

 crop out ami at Kiukiang the Luschan Mountains approach the 

 river making a break in the monotony. As Ichang is approached 

 the country begins to act broken up and by the time the town is 

 reached we arc fairly among the mountains. 



These mountain ranges vary in Central China from the low 

 foothills around Ichang to peaks S000 to 10,000 feet high, the latter 

 themselves being spurs from the gigantic snow-clad ranges of the 

 Chino-Thibetan borderland. In such a mountainous country, 

 affording such altitudinal extremes and favored with a copious 

 rainfall, a rich and varied flora is to be expected. Few, however, 

 realize the enormous richness of the Chinese flora. The most 

 competent authorities estimate it as containing no fewer than 

 15,000 species, half of which are peculiar to the country. These 

 figures speak for themselves and yet fail to give a truly adequate 

 idea of the profusion! of flowers. The wild mountain fastnesses 

 of Central and Western China are simply a botanical paradise, 

 with trees, shrubs, and herbs massed together in bewildering, 

 chaotic confusion. On arrival in a new and strange country it is 

 difficult to recognize the plants one is familiar with under cultiva- 

 tion in our gardens and many months necessarily elapse ere one is 

 in any sense familiar with the common plants around. During 

 the ten years I have travelled in China I have collected some 05,000 

 specimens, comprising about 5,500 species, and sent home seeds of 

 over 1,500 different plants. Nevertheless, it was only during the 

 latter half of my travels that I was able to grasp an intelligent idea 

 of the flora of China and properly appreciate its richness and mani- 

 fold problems. 



Now in the heart of China there are two ways of travelling: — 

 on the rivers, by means of specially constructed boats, and overland, 

 by means of sedan-chairs and porters. 



By river: — The boat shown in the illustration is the kind 

 ordinarily used for travelling on the upper Yangtsze. Such boats 

 are styled house-boats by foreigners residing or travelling in China. 

 Travelling up river is painfully slow, the journey to Chungking 

 from Ichang •'about 400 miles) occupying a month on the average. 

 But the time is well spent. Immediately to the west of Ichang the 

 world famous Yangtsze gorges commence. These extend westward 



