354 



Report on the Tea Plant of Upper At-.sam. 



[Oct. 



These facts which may appear foreign to some, I have considered it 

 proper to state, because they indicate that Pines are occasionally more 

 influenced by peculiarity of soil tlian by mere low temperature, and 

 hence tend to diminish our surprise at the occurrence of a fir in associa- 

 tion with Tea. 



The existence of the second species of Abel, the Pinus lanceolata, 

 now the Cunninghamia Sinensis of Mr. Brown, is not of such import- 

 ance. This species, with some others of other genera, is remarkable 

 for the dilated leaves in opposition to the usual acerose or scaly forms of 

 other Coniferoe. These broad-leaved species are more equatorial, and 

 vary more in their geographical distribution, with the exception of Salis- 

 buria adiantifolia or Gingke of the Japanese, which does not appear to 

 straggle lower than 32° N. L. In proof of this, Cunninghamia was first 

 met with by Abel on his return from Pekin, near the Poyang Like, 

 lat, 80o N. and Loureiro informs us, that it is abundant in the southern 

 provinces of China. A Dacrydium is found in Penang. The Dammar 

 Pine or Agathis loranthifolia is found in the Eastern Archipelago and in 

 Penang. Podocarpus Horsfieldii occurs also in Penang, and was met 

 with by Captain Hannay in the third Kioukdweng or defile of the Ira- 

 waddi, as far north as 24" 30'.* 



Podocarpus neriifolius is found in Nepaul and in Amboyna, and P. 

 Macrophyllus in Nepaul and at Singapore. 



The remaining species of Coniferoe, which are natives of China, be- 

 long to the genus Thuja and Cupressus, the greater portion being 

 found likewise in Japan. From this we may, perhaps, infer that they 

 are natives of northern China, whence they straggle southwards. Abel 

 mentions Thuja as being abundant in lat. dH^ N. and Sir G. Staunton 

 does not seem to have noticed it below 3'io N. L. Loureiro indeed men- 

 tions, that two species of Cupressus and one of Thuja are found in 

 Cochin China, but of these Thuja is cultivated. 



But regarding these Coniferoe, and especially Pinus Chinensis, a 

 question arises ; are they not cultivated rather than actually wild, at 

 least in many of the places in which they were observed by the embas- 

 sies ? It must be observed that both firs and oaks are generally mention- 

 ed as occurring in plantations, and Sir G. Staunton expressly states, 

 " every mountain, either too steep or too xQcky to be apjolied to any other 

 use, is planted to the top in various kinds of pines." If we take into 

 account the industry of the Chinese, and the fact of their applying every 

 available spot to some cultivation or another, this opinion cannot be far 

 from the truth. 



* Dr. Wallich is my authority for this. 



