210 HYSON SHRUB, THE SINGLO SHRUB 



a.d. 1688, containing an account of a considerable 

 number of plants and flowers, under the article 

 " Tea" it is said, " The teas produced in Kiang 

 Nan are Sung lo (Singlo), Fu Long, Tien Chy, 

 Yang Sien, &c. The colour is of a bluish green, 

 and very fragrant in flavour. It is said that if 

 Singlo tea be dried with the Chu Lan flower it will 

 improve its flavour. However, it cannot be said 

 that this flavour is so good as its natural one." 



Here again we find the Singlo tea ranking first 

 among the teas produced in Kiang Nan, and it 

 is remarkable that the custom of scenting the green 

 tea with the Chu Lan flower obtains only with the 

 Hyson tea in the present day. This circumstance, 

 therefore, together with the excellence of its flavour, 

 described as being very fragrant, and not to be 

 improved by any factitious means, when combined 

 with the previous observations on the same sub- 

 ject, seems to indicate a care in the cultivation and 

 manipulation of this tea, which bears a greater 

 relation to Hyson tea than any kind of Singlo or 

 Twankay tea known as such in the present day. 

 Thus, as far as this question can be decided from 

 the works of the Chinese, it appears that the best 

 tea grown in the province of Kiang Nan was ori- 

 ginally considered Singlo tea, deriving its name 

 from a hill or mountain so called in the district of 

 Hieu Ning, one of the Hyson districts of the pre- 

 sent day. 



I shall now add the statement of one of the 



