

PLANTS CULTIVATED FOR THEIR FRUITS. 177 



give information on this head for Cochin-China. "With 

 regard to China, I will quote the following passage from 

 Dr. Bretschneider/ which is interesting from the special 

 knowledge of the writer : " Oranges, of which there are 

 a great variety in China, are counted b}^ the Chinese 

 among their wild fruits. It cannot be doubted that most 

 of them are indigenous, and have been cultivated from 

 very early times. The proof of this is that each species 

 or variety bears a distinct name, besides being in most 

 cases represented by a particular character, and is 

 mentioned in the Shu-hing, Rh-ya, and other ancient 

 works." 



Men and birds disperse the seeds of Aurantiacere, 

 whence results the extension of its area, and its naturali- 

 zation in all the warm regions of the two worlds. It 

 was observed ^ in America from the first century after 

 the conquest, and now groves of orange trees have sprung 

 up even in the south of the United States. 



Shaddock Citrus decumana, Willdenow. 



I take this species first, because its botanical character 

 is more marked than that of the others. It is a larger 

 tree, and this species alone has down on the young- 

 shoots and the under sides of the leaves. The fiuit is 

 spherical, or nearly spherical, larger than an orange, 

 sometimes even as large as a man's head. The juice is 

 slightly acid, the rind remarkably thick. Good illus- 

 trations of the fruit may be seen in Dubamel, Traite des 

 Arhres, edit. 2, vii. pi. 42, and in Tussac, Flore des Antilles, 

 iii. pis. 17, 18. The number of varieties in the Malay 

 Archipelago indicates an ancient cultivation. Its original 

 country is not yet accurately known, because the trees 

 which appear indigenous may be the result of naturaliza- 

 tion, following frequent cultivation. Roxburgh says that 

 the species was brought to Calcutta from Java,^ and 

 Rumphius * believed it to be a native of Southern China 



Bretschneider, On the Study and Value of Chinese Botanical Works, 

 p. 55. 



' Acosta, Hist. Kat. des Indes, Fr. trans. 1598, p. 187. 

 " Roxburgh, Flora Tndica, edit. 1832 iii. p 393. 



* Rumphius, Hortus Aiuheinensis, ii. p. 98. 



