2o6 



THE ECONOMIC ILANTS OF JAPAN— IV. 



dark green above, gray below. This narrow-pointed 

 leaf at first sight reminds me of the willow. Possibly 

 this resemblance may have given rise to the name, Yan- 

 agi-ifhigo, which means "willow berry." The plant be- 

 longs to the same family as the mu\he.rTy (Urlicacece), 

 and the fruit resembles the mulberry in form, but smaller 

 and yellow in color. It is very similar to the fruit of 

 the paper mulberry (Broussonetia), both in color and 

 size. The berries are juicy and pleasantly fruity in 

 flavor, but without any decided acidity or sweetness. 

 They are borne in small clusters on short, pendent 

 stems, along the sides of the shoots, where they hang 

 like little yellow ornaments. They ripen toward the 

 close of the summer. It is a bush that 

 it might be well to experiment with in 

 this country. The bark yields a tough 

 fiber, which, however, I do not think 

 is utilized by the Japanese, although 

 it is stronger than that of several other 

 plants which they grow solely for their 

 fiber. 



The Juneberry, Amhl.\nchier Can - 

 ADENSis, Torr. and Gray, var. Japon- 

 ICA, Miq. (Jap,, Zaifiiri-boke, Shide- 

 zakura), is also indigenous to northern 

 Japan, and its fruit is gathered and 



island, and is also familiar to northern people in this 

 country. The low, creeping stems terminate in a whorl 

 of leaves, and bear a small, round berry. C. officinalis 



eaten. It is so well known in this country that it needs 

 no description here. 



They also eat the berry of Viburnum dilatatum, 

 Thunb.; Jap., Ganiazumi. It is a bush of close, upright 

 growth, with opposite, broadly oval or often cordate 

 leaves, somewhat rough and with smooth margin. The 

 buds are large and conspicuous. It is not cultivated. 

 It has no merit as a berry bush. 



The berry-like fruits of the three following species of 

 cornus are also eaten, viz: Cornus Canadensis, L. 

 (The Bunch-berry or Low Cornel) ; Jap., Gozen-tachi- 

 hana. C. officinalis, Sieb. andZucc. ; Jap., San-shityti, 

 C. KousA, Buerger {Benthamia Japotiica, Sieb. and 

 Zucc); Jap., Yania-boshi. 



The first named plant is common in the northern 



Fig. 2. Aki-gumi {Elccagnus mnbellata). 



is a handsome tree, which yields a long-stemmed, ob- 

 long, red fruit, an inch long and half an inch in diam- 

 eter. It is sometimes cultivated for its fruit. It would 

 however, be worth more for ornament than for its fruit 

 in this country. The same species has been named C. 

 sanguinea by Thunberg and C. ignorata by K. Koch. 



