Synopsis Composacearum Nikkoensis. 



by 

 J. Matsumura 



et 

 G. Koidzumi. 



INTRODUCTION. 



By " Nikko " is meant in general that region lying to the 

 north-west of the province Simotsuke, and extends over the dis- 

 tricts both of Siwoya and Kami-Tsuka. In altitude, it ranges 

 from 613 meters in the small town of Hachiesi, to 2483 meters 

 in the alpine zone of Mt. Nantaisan. There are many volca- 

 noes in Nikko. Mt. Nantaisan or Kurokamiyama, a dormant 

 volcano, presenting an exquisite scene approaching closely 

 truncated conical form of Mt. Fuji, soars almost in the center 

 of this district. Many other volcanoes, such as Tarosan, 

 Omanakosan, Komanakosan, Akanagisan, Nyohosan, Shirane- 

 san, and Kesamaruyama, stand vigorously surrounding this 

 great volcano. The main drainage system of the clear valley 

 of Daiyagawa consists of the Chuzenji lake, which located just 

 at the foot of Mt. Nantaisan, flows eastward to join with the 

 river Kinugawa. It is neither necessary to enter in detail into 

 the physiographic features nor into a full description of the 

 fine and beautiful scenery, since those accounts of this district, 

 with an excellent map, will be found in late Mr. Y. Saito's 

 paper entitled ''the geology of Nikko volcanic group" in 

 " Publications of the Earthquake Investigation Committee, 

 No. XXVII. (1900) ". However, we are of a great interest to 

 investigate the florula of Nikko, for the reason that the vegeta- 

 tion of that region is not only very rich, but also several in- 

 teresting plant-formations are found. 



The enumeration of the composite plants of Nikko, have 

 previously been made by one of us, viz. in J. Matsumura's "List 

 of Plants found in Nikko and its vicinity (1894) ". Since the 



