398 
MR. FORTUNE S MISSION TO CHINA 
where tliey flower shortly afterwards, and are 
then discarded as useless, as the climate of the 
south of China is too hot for them. ; this trade 
therefore is not unlike that of Dutch hyacinths 
in Europe. 
' ; The mountains near Canton, which I 
visited in company with the late Mr. Lay, as 
well as those of Hong Kong, were very gay 
at this season with the flowers of the beautiful 
Enkianthus reticulatus, Azalea squamata, and 
various other species. This part of China, 
however, had little to increase my collections, 
and on the 26th of March I started again for 
the northern provinces. 
" The whole of this season was spent in the 
Chusan, Ningpo, and Shanghae districts, my 
principal object being to see all the plants of 
these places in flower, and to mark those 
which I wanted for seed. In order to do 
this effectually I was obliged to visit each 
district three or four times during the summer 
and autumn. 
" The Flora of Chusan and all over the 
mainland in this part of China is very different 
from those portions of the south which I have 
already described. Almost all the species of 
a tropical character have entirely disappeared, 
and in their places we find others related to 
tilings found in the temperate parts of the 
world. I here met for the first time the 
beautiful Glycine sinensis wild on the hills, 
where it climbs in hedges and on trees, and 
allows its flowering branches to hang in 
graceful festoons by the sides of the narrow 
roads which lead across the mountains. The 
Ficus nitida, so common around all the tem- 
ples and houses in the south, is here unknown, 
and many of those beautiful flowering genera 
which, as I before remarked, are only found 
on the top of the mountains in Hong Kong, 
here have chosen less exalted situations ; I 
allude more particularly to the Azaleas which 
abound on the hill-sides of this island. Most 
persons have seen and admired the Azaleas 
which are yearly brought to the Chiswick 
fetes, and which, as individual specimens, 
surpass, in most instances, those which grow 
and bloom on their native hills; but few can 
form any idea of the gorgeous and striking 
beauty of these Azalea clad mountains, where 
on every side, as far as our vision extends, 
the eye rests on masses of flowers of dazzling 
brightness and surpassing beauty. Nor is it 
Azaleas alone which meet the eye and claim 
our attention : clematises, wild-roses, honey- 
suckles, the Glycine sinensis, noticed above, 
and a hundred other things, mingle their 
flowers with them, and make us confess that, 
after all, China is indeed the ' central flowery 
land.' There are several species of Myrtaceous 
and other Ericaceous plants, which are also 
common on the hills, but no species of heath 
has been ever found ; and I believe the genus 
does not exist in this part of China. 
" The tallow-tree (Stillingia sebifera) is 
abundant in the valleys of Chusan, and large 
quantities of tallow and oil are yearly extracted 
from its seeds. The Laurus camphora, or 
camphor-tree, is also common, and attains a 
very large size, but, so far as I know, no cam- 
phor is extracted or exported from the island. 
Thea viridis — the green-tea shrub — is cul- 
tivated in some parts rather extensively ; but 
if we except a small quantity of tea which is 
annually sent over to Ningpo and the adjoin- 
ing towns on the mainland, the whole of the 
produce is used by the natives themselves. 
Every small farmer and cottager has a few 
plants on his own premises, which he rears 
with considerable care, but seems to have no 
wish to enter on its cultivation on a larger 
scale for exportation. Indeed it is question- 
able if it would pay, as the soil is scarcely rich 
enough; and although the shrub grows pretty 
well, it is far from being so luxuriant as it is 
in the larger tea-districts of the mainland, 
which I afterwards visited. 
11 The forests of different varieties of Bamboo 
are very striking, and give a kind of tropical 
character to the scenery of this part of the coun- 
try. I do not know anything more beautiful 
than the yellow bamboo, with its clean straight 
stems and graceful tops and branches waving 
in the breeze; it always reminded me of our 
young larch forests in England. The Piuus 
sinensis noticed in the south is also common 
here: it seems to he an exception to the 
general rule, being found over all the country, 
and in every degree of latitude. The Cun- 
ninghamia sinensis is also found in abundauce ; 
and besides these there are several species of 
Cypress and Juniper found growing around 
the tombs of the rich, which are scattered over 
the valleys and hill sides. 
"The fruits of Chusan are of very little 
importance ; nearly all the peaches, grapes, 
pears, plums, oranges, &c, which are seen in 
the summer season in the markets, are brought 
from the mainland. There are two fruits, 
however, cultivated on the island, which are 
of considerable excellence ; the one is called 
by the Chinese Yang-mae ; it is a scarlet fruit 
not unlike an arbutus or strawberry, but 
having a stone like a plum in its centre; the 
other is the Kum-quat, a small species of 
citrus, about the size of an oval gooseberry, 
with a sweet rind and a sharp acid pulp. 
" The new plants of the island were seen in 
flower this season for the first time. Early in 
the spring the hill-sides were covered with a 
beautiful Daphne with lilac flowers (Daphne 
Fortuni), and the Azalea ovata, certainly one 
of the finest and most distinct species which I 
have introduced. Weigela rosea, one of the 
