9 



and Acanthaeeae abound, and here and there may he seen the great 

 white trumpets of Lilium longiflorum or the blue cups of Platycodon. 

 Large areas of such exposed slopes are again not infrequently 

 occupied by thickets of dwarf bamboos. Above these slopes, among 

 the rocks and gullies of the higher peaks, Thalictrum and other 

 genera typical of more temperate conditions show themselves, while 

 down the torrent sides may be gathered various species of 

 Utricularia, Gesneraceae, Drosera, Ammannia, and Eriocaulon. 



Turning now to the wood flora, much remains to be discovered 

 as to the constituents of the primeval forests which are said to 

 survive in the interior in several parts of the province (see B. C. 

 Henry's Lingnam and Cap. Cauquil s L' Hinterland de Quang-tcMou 

 in the Rev. de Geogr. Iv. 175). Meanwhile our knowledge of the 

 subject depends upon the records of the examination of a few 

 patches of forest preserved by the Chinese around their temples 

 and villages for aesthetic or religious purposes. One such wood on 

 low ground in Hongkong was carefully examined by Lo Quai, an 

 officer of the Botanical and Forestry Department, and the consti- 

 tution of this wood may be taken as an isolated example of such 

 formations. On an acre were found 31 trees of Aquilaria grandi- 

 flora, 24 Sterculia lanceolata, ] 8 Aporosa leptostachya, the same 

 number of Poupartia Fordii, 10 Antidesma Bunius, 8 Nephelium 

 Longana, 4 Eugenia Millettiana, 3 Garcinia multiflora, 2 each of 

 Bischofiajavanica, Cinnamomum Burmanni, and Ardisia quinquegona, 

 and single trees of Litsea sebifera, Helicia erratica and Ficus 

 chlorocarpa. The ground in such woods is covered with Scitamineae, 

 Liliaceae, Piper aceae, and various grasses and ferns, while huge lianes 

 climb over the trees and hang in weird festoons into the semi- 

 darkness of the underwood. These lianes comprise various species 

 of Derris and Dalberqia, besides numerous Apocynaceae and 

 Asclepiadaeeae. On the higher ground the woods are formed of 

 Oak, Holly, Pine, Symplocos, Cordia, Ficus and various Araliaceae, 

 Hamamelidaceae and Lauraceae. 



Wood borders and hedges in the province frequently contain 

 subarborescent Rubiaceae, Rhamnaceae, Rosaceae, and Saxifragaceae 

 and support the smaller climbers such as various Cuciirbitaceae, 

 Convolvulaceae, Vitis, Smilax and Millettia. 



The general character of the flora of the province is distinctly 

 tropical, shrubby and arborescent evergreens predominating. 



Of the constituents of the flora the most important is that which 

 is common to the greater part of South China ; a distinguishable 

 element is shared with E. Fokien, Formosa and Japan ; another in 

 common with Yunnan and Cochinchina is chiefly Indian, while a 

 smaller constituent is Malayan and Australian. 



It is probable that many of the districts of the province contain 

 a considerable endemic element in their vegetation. The small 

 island of Hongkong, for instance, has quite a large number of species 

 unrepresented in the neighbouring parts of China and about 100 that 

 are actually endemic* The same character has been noticed to a 

 smaller degree in other parts of the province. It is possible that 

 the drastic climatic conditions, so largely modified by peculiar local 



* Tutoher in Journ. Linn. Soc. xxxviii (1904) 58. 



