268 



777^ ECONOMIC PLANTS OF JAPAN— V. 



yellow plum (see cut, page 271), and consists of a thin 

 outer layer of flesh, which covers a smooth, hard-shelled 

 and slightly pointed nut about the size of a large hazel- 

 nut. The kernel in this nut is the only edible portion of 

 the fruit. The outer fleshy covering is so acrid that in 

 picking out the nuts the fingers have to be protected 

 with gloves against its biting, smarting action ; and it 



Fig. 



IcHO OR Ginkgo. Full Size 



has at the same time a strong and disagreeable odor, 

 which is developed when it begins to decay, soon after 

 ripening. 



The nut is called Giniian, hence Giiinan-iio-ki , one of 

 the names of the tree, in which no indicates the possess- 

 ive case and ki means tree. The kernel has none of the 



objectionable features of the fleshy portion of the fruit/ 

 It is rich and pleasant, though slightly resinous in taste. 

 It is eaten fresh, and also used in cooking. These nuts 

 are quite abundant in the city markets, and can be had 

 at nearly all times of the year. They are, I believe, en- 

 tirely exempt from insect pests. The tree is hardy in 

 the northern states, and can be propagated from seed and 

 . ,-t^n^ cuttings, and it can 



also be grafted on 

 its own stocks. 



Another nut much 

 prized by the Japa- 

 nese, though by no 

 means so common 

 as the Cinnan, is the 

 seed of Torreya 

 NUciFERA, Sieb. and 

 Zucc. (JTaxus nuci- 

 fera^ Kaempf. ; Cary- 

 otaxus nucifera, Zuc- 

 carini); Jap., Kaya. 



This is a hand- 

 some small conifer, 

 which at times at- 

 tains a height of 30 

 feet, but more com- 

 monly it is smaller 

 than that, and even 

 grows as an under- 

 brush in the moun- 

 tains of central 

 Japan. The needles 

 are broad, two-ranked (although the buds are not 

 two-ranked), three-quarters of an inch to an inch 

 long, and with two longitudinal white stripes on 

 the under surface. In the fall this tree yields an 

 abundant crop of seeds the size of acorns, which 

 are eaten raw and also used in cooking. Most of the 

 crop, which is gathered by mountaineers and woodsmen, 

 is, however, put into the oil-press and the oil extracted, 

 and used chiefly in cooking and sometimes for illumin- 

 ation. The tree is seldom cultivated. The wood is hard 

 and is used for coopering, turning and the manufacture 

 of small articles. 1 



QuERCUS cuspiDATA, Thuub. ) Jap., Shii, Shii-no-ki. 

 This oak may very properly be classed among the Japa- 

 nese nut trees. It bears a small, oblong and pointed 

 acorn, which is entirely free from the bitterness and as- 

 tringency that characterize most acorns. It is called 

 Shii-no-jni, that is, the fruit of the Skii. These acorns 

 are sold on the fruit stands and peddled about the street, 

 and are eaten either raw or roasted like peanuts. The 

 tree is common in the forests of southern and central 

 Japan, and is much cultivated in many places, especially 

 about Tokio, where it is grown not only for its nuts, but 

 for hedges and ornament. It is an evergreen oak, and 

 is the hardiest of all the evergreen oaks indigenous to 

 Japan. Left to itself, it becomes a large, stately tree. 

 The leaves are entire, narrow, though more or less ovate, 



