AGRICULTURAL INDUSTRIES. 2^7 



above all the other evergreens except conifers. It is found with 

 the winter-green oaks on the south-eastern coast of Hondo as far 

 as the 36th parallel, and as a large bush on the Bay of Yedo. The 

 northern limit of its natural growth on the coast of the Japan Sea 

 is the hill-country of Northern Echigo, about 38° N. latitude. I 

 found it there in the pine and bush forests as a bush i m. high. 

 In Southern Kiushiu trees of 10 m. high and r4 m. circumference are 

 frequently seen. I found this size, however, only among cultivated 

 trees. I saw here often also the parasite, Viscum articiilatiint, Burm. 

 on its branches. In its wild state the camellia blossom is a simple 

 red flower which never opens to the full, but remains half closed, 

 like a tulip. This variety is cultivated solely for the oil, and 

 only as far as the Tsugaru Straits. Both the single and double 

 camellias are found in gardens and temple groves, the latter, how- 

 ever, in fewer varieties than with us. The blooming season begins 

 according to the latitude, in January or February, and lasts until 

 April. The colour of the wood changes gradually from a light 

 grey or pink to darker shades. The bark resembles that of the 

 beech tree. 



134. Camellia Sasanqiia^ Sieb., Jap. Sasan-kuwa, a large bush 

 (see p. 152) whose leaves and flowers are very much like those of 

 the tea-bush. The blossom time is late autumn and December, as 

 in the case of the tea-shrub. 



135. Camellia tJieifera, Grifiith {Thea Chinensis, Sims.), Jap. Cha, 

 Cha-no-ki (see p. iioff.). 



136. Stuartia monadelp/ia, S. and Z., Jap. Saru-name and Saru- 

 suberi. 



137. Stuartia serrata^ Maxim., Jap. Saru-name and Saru-suberi, 

 like the foregoing, which however is much more frequent. The home 

 of this plant is in the mountain forests, 1,000 to 1,500 m. above the 

 sea, e.g., in the mountains of Nikko, on Mi-kuni-toge, and elsewhere. 

 It grows to a tree from 6 to 12 m. high, has a smooth bark, but sel- 

 dom a straight trunk. Among the other members of the moun- 

 tain forests it is distinguished by casting off its bark in small pieces, 

 as the plane tree does with us. In this respect it resembles the 

 Lagerstroemia indica of the gardens, whence comes the common 

 name, Saru-suberi, or monkey-slider. 



Among the other deciduous Ternstroemiaceae, the well-known 

 ornamental bush, StacJiyiirus prcecox, S. and Z., Jap. Mume-fuji, can 

 scarcely be considered as a wood-furnishing tree, and there remains 

 only the species Actinidia to be mentioned. Its character differs 

 widely from that of the other members of this family. We have to 

 do here with only a few simple-leaved, deciduous climbing plants, 

 which belong for the most part to the mountain forests, and only 

 resemble the evergreen Ternstroemiacese in their blossom. Their 

 fruits are juicy and sometimes edible berries (p. 92). Their 

 brownish wood, like that of most climbing and creeping shrubs,^ is 



^ Many of them bear the Japanese surname, Tsuru, Tsuta and Katsura, 

 II. S 



