BOTANY AND THE ZOOLOGY OF CHINA 141 



Cruciferae family. It is a marshy plant with pinnate leaves, 

 5-6 cm. in length, with small white flowers. The water cress 

 is cultivated by the Chinese on the more humid soil and in 

 irrigated paddies. Its young stalks with the leaves are used 

 as food. It is planted from seeds and from cuttings. 



The water chestnut or the ground- chestnut. (Scirpus 

 tuberosus, Eoxb., or Eleocharis tuberosa, Schults) (*P ?!£). 

 See PL I, Fig. 5 and PL III, Fig. 1. Water chestnuts 

 belong to the Cyperaceae family. It is a kind of water plant 

 with oblong leaves and flowers of small spikes. Water 

 chestnuts are largely cultivated at Foochow among the rice 

 paddies and ponds. They are planted in the third and fourth 

 months and harvested in winter, when the rice fields are 

 usually dry. Water chestnuts are planted from the tubers, 

 in rows, the plants about one feet apart. Each water chest- 

 nut planted in spring gives 3-5 tubers in autumn, which are 

 dug up, washed in water, and preserved in a humid atmos- 

 phere. The water chestnut is eaten raw and cooked. A 

 starch is prepared from them. 



The ivater-calthrop or chestnuts (Trapa natans L.) (M). 

 The water calthrop belongs to the Onagraceae family. It is 

 a floating plant growing in ponds and irrigated fields in 

 China. At Foochow it is cultivated in ponds and the nuts 

 being ripe in autumn are eaten raw and cooked. The nuts 

 of Trapa at Foochow are twice bigger than the nuts of this 

 plant in North China. 



Lotus (Nelumbium speciosum L.) (§i $:. ££). The lotus 

 is a water plant of the Nymphaeaceae family growing wild 

 and cultivated in China. At Foochow it is cultivated in 

 ponds or in small paddies. It is planted from the rootstocks 

 in February and in March in rows; in June and July the 

 lotus is in flower; in August the young rootstocks are cut 

 down and eaten; in September and in October all the roots 

 are harvested and sent to the market. In summer and in 

 autumn a kind of arrow-root is made from the rootstocks. 

 They are eaten raw and also cooked in different ways. The 

 seeds are eaten raw. From the ripened seeds a kind of flour 

 is made. The large leaves are dried, pressed and are used 

 for wrapping paper in shops. 



EXPLANATION OF THE PLATES. 



Plate I. 



The brown taro or the white taro and the bamboo taro. 



The white round taro, the autumn and the mountain taro. 



The red taro. 



The water chestnut or the ground chestnut. 



The taro like the fibre of the palm Chamaerips excelsa Thunb.. 



The Chinese arrow-grass (Sagittaria Chinensis). 



Fig, 



, 1. 



>> 



2-3. 



>> 



4. 



>» 



5. 



>> 



6. 



it 



7. 



