110 POPULAR GEOGRAPHY OF PLANTS. 



the fruits, it may be said that they are far from equalling 

 in their flavour the pleasant aromatic taste of those which 

 grow in China and other Eastern countries ; a circumstance 

 for which it is difficult to account in a country lying in the 

 Warmer Temperate Zone. The Yine, for instance, is seldom 

 grown, because it has been found that the grapes do not 

 ripen well ; ' ' Easpberries are not very agreeable to the taste, 

 and Strawberries are entirely insipid, and not fit to eat." 



There is the same unaccountable deficiency of scent in 

 the flowers ; which, though of the same kind as those grow- 

 ing in other countries, fall as far short of them in this re- 

 spect, as they exceed them in the exquisite beauty of their 

 colours. Some of the most remarkable of Japanese plants 

 are Nandina domestica (Nat. Ord. Berberidacece) , made use 

 of like the Bamboo for decorating the temples ; the curious 

 Aralia Japonica (Araliacece) , Daphne odora (Thymelacea) , 

 Bignonia grandiflora (Bignoniacetf) } Magnolia obovata (Mag- 

 noliacea), Lilium Japonicum (Liliacete), the well-known Py- 

 rus Japonica (Rosacece), and Corchonis Japonicus (Tiliacets) . 



The climate of the countries on the eastern limit of this 

 zone becomes so much colder, that Pekin has an average 

 temperature no warmer than our own, though it lies in the 

 same latitude as Naples. The same diminution of heat is 



