THE ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN— III. 



short rough hairs. The flowers are white, and much re- 

 semble tea blossoms in size and appearance. All three 

 produce edible berries. So far these three are alike, but 

 bevond this they must be described separately. 



AcTiNiDiA voLUBiLis, Planch. [T7-ocho<;tigma vulubilis , 

 Sieb. and Zucc). Jap., S/iii-a-l-tu/ii-dzuni, Sani-inoiiio. 

 The last name means ' ' monkey peach. " This is the tallest 

 of the three species. It attains a height of from sixty to 

 seventy feet, and old vines often measure two feet in cir- 

 cumference. These vines are said to be exceedingly tough, 

 and for this reason are often used by mountaineers as 

 cables in constructing a sort of suspension bridge across 

 chasms in the mountains. The flow of sap in these vines 

 in the spring is said to be so strong that woodsmen often 

 tap the vines to quench their thirst when out of the reach 

 of water, the sap being sweet and pleasant to the taste. 

 I confess that I give these statements from hearsay, but 

 neither seems at all improbable. There is one fact, how- 

 ever, that I can testify to from experience, and that is 

 that the fruit is very delicious. I am indebted to Pro- 

 fessor Haight, of Sapporo, where the vines are quite 

 abundant, for several clusters of the fruit. A cluster of 

 this fruit is represented natural size in Fig. 4, which 

 will convey a good idea of the size and shape of the ber- 

 ries. The berries are green when ripe, with many brown- 

 ish dots, and on the whole somewhat resemble large-sized 

 green gooseberries. They ripen just before or soon after 

 the first frost. The flesh is also green, soft and jelly-like 

 throughout, and contains numerous small brown seeds. 

 When fully ripe it has a delicate sub-acid taste, and an 

 aroma which reminds one of the guava. As is the case 

 with other fruits, the Japanese have the unpleasant habit 

 of gathering the berries green and drying them over a hot 

 fire. Thus treated they are sour and unpalatable, in fact 

 very like what unripe gooseberries might be when roas- 

 ted ; but if allowed to ripen they have but few rivals. 

 However, when they are dried as above they can be kept 

 like raisins or other dry fruit for an indefinite length of 

 time. There is one drawback to the general introduction 

 of this vine with a view to cultivate it for its fruit, and 

 that is that the species is dioecious. The staminate and 

 pistillate flowers grow on different plants, and it would, 

 of course, be necessary to grow both kinds in close prox- 

 imity to each other to produce fruit. But whether fruit 

 can be had or not it commends itself for culture as an 

 ornamental vine. Its aspect is pleasing, it is very hardy, 

 a rapid grower, and, in short, it possesses all the qualifi- 

 cations which render it suitable for places where tall- 

 growing vines are desired. 



AcTiNiDiA ARGUTA, Plauch. [Trocliosligma arguta, Sieb. 

 and Zucc). "Iz.-^. , Sarti-naslii , " monkey pear. " Itdiffers 

 from the above in that it does not grow so tall or require 

 so much space to ramble over, and hence it can be em- 

 ployed to cover arbors or verandas very successfully. 

 And what is more, it will bear severe pruning well. I 

 have, in fact, seen it grown with excellent success and 

 bear fruit as a Inish, the tall, slender young shoots which 

 ran skyward each summer, being cut back before spring 

 to four or five feet above ground. This would so curb 

 their ambition that the side shoots which they sent forth 

 the following summer were only short branches two and 

 three feet long, which were in turn duly shortened. This 

 process persisted in, the plant would form an upright bush 

 with but occasionally a few tall shoots from the roots or 

 from near the base of the stems. There were several 

 bushes of this kind in the botanical gardens at the Impe- 

 rial College of Agriculture. 



It has another point to recommend it. The flowers 

 are perfect, and each plant will thus produce fruit by it- 

 self. The fruit is so nearly like that already described 

 that it is difficult to point out the differences. 



AcTiNiDiA POLYGAMA, Plauch. [TrocJiosHgiita polygama, 

 Sieb. and Zucc). '^■a.-^., Maiatahi. Like the two preceding 

 ones, this vine is a native of the north and perfectly hardy 

 anywhere in America. It has already been introduced 

 here and is known at least to nurserymen and amateurs 

 in horticultural matters. I have been informed by a 

 former colleague of mine. Dr. H. Mayr, who has trav- 

 eled much in the Hokaido (the northern island) that 

 there the foliage of this vine turns to a brilliant red in 

 late summer, brightening its surroundings and becoming 

 an object of great beauty. If it would do the same here 

 it would be a strong recommendation in its favor. I have 

 seen one vine on the nursery grounds of the J. T. Lovett 

 Company, Little Silver, New Jersey, and the only one 

 of any size I have seen in this country, but there the foli- 

 age does not turn to the brilliant hue characteristic of 

 its home habits. While many of the flowers are stami- 

 nate, a large number on each vine are usually perfect, so 

 that flowering vines generally bear some fruit. A twig 

 with leaf and flowers and a fruit are illustrated nearly 

 natural size in Fig. 6, page 147. The fruit is neither so 

 large nor so good as are the fruits of the two preceding 

 species, and it will also be noticed that it differs from them 

 in shape, being somewhat club-shaped. A flower some- 

 what enlarged is also shown. The vine has the peculiar 

 property of attracting cats, like valerian. 



Kansas Agricultural College. C. C. Georgeson. 



