Mr. Sampson may be right in assuming, 
that the name Tsung has become to 
some extent a sort of generic term in popular 
language for Palms in general. As the 
character Tmng is said in the Pen-ts‘ao to [ 
be derived from another character meaning j 
horse-hairs, I think, the Chinese apply it to 
all Palms, which yield liorse-hair-like fibres, 
namely Chamaerops, Livistouia, R hap is, 
Caryota. Mr. Sampson is also correct in 
stating, that the names Tsung-lii and the 
synonym Ping-lii relate not to one only, but 
to several Palms. The Chinese themselves 
distinguish several species of Tsung-lii. But j 
it seems to me that, nowadays at least, these 
names relate more especially to the Hemp- 
palm, Chamaerops Fortuni. This is proved j 
by the geographical distribution pointed out j 
for the Tsungvlii or Ping-lii in the above 
quoted geographical works. The Chamaerops 
is the most Northern genus of Palms. Ch. 
liumilis , the African and European repre- 
sentative of this genus, extends as far as 
Nice to the North (43^° of lat.) Ch. Pal- 
metto grows in Northern America, namely 
in Georgia. A third species is found in Japan 
and was described by Thunberg (1784) as 
Chamaerops Excelsa but mentioned much 
earlier by Kaempfer (1712.) Some 20 years 
ago Fortune detected in Northern China the 
Chinese Hemp-palm, named in the system 
Chamaerops Fortuni. But some botanists 
believe, that this is only a variety of Chamae- 
rops excelsa. Fortune mentions repeatedly 
this beautiful Palm in his writings on China 
and gives also a good drawing of it. Fortune,, 
in visitingthe Tea countries in China, met with 
the Hemp-palm in the Northern provinces, 
namely in Chekiang, on the island of Ohusan 
and in An-hui. He states, that near Niugpo 
the hills are covered with it. Fortune says 
further, that in the countries, where this tree 
is found, the Chinese agricultural labourers 
use the coarse brown fibre, obtained from 
the hairlike bracts (!) for making ropes, hats, 
b 'd-bottoms, and also the garment called So-s 
known as, “raincloaks” by Euro- 
peans, worn in wet weather and protecting 
perfectly from the rain. These accounts 
given by Fortune agree perfectly with the 
above description of the Tsung-lii from 
Chinese sources. The Chinese say, that the 
Tsung-lii is a tree of 10 to 20 feet in height. 
According to Fortune the Hemp-palm grows 
to about 12-20 feet in height. All species 
of Chamaerops are more or less dwarfish 
palms. There can be no doubt, that the j 
Palm tree Tsung-lii or Ping-lii mentioned 
by the Chinese authors as growing in the 
Northern provinces, namely Chekiang, An- 
hui, Hunan, Kiangsi, can be other than the 
the Palm described by Fortune. But it is 
possible, that in Southern China, where the 
Chamaerops is not indigenous, (Fortune,) the 
name Tsung-lii is applied to other Fan- 
palms, which give fibres. Mr. Sampson 
states, that in the province of Kwang-tung, 
under the name of Tsung-lii, two kinds of 
Fan-palms are cultivated, a coarse leaved= 
Lmistonia chinensis R. Br., and a fine-leaved. 
Tin latter is commonly, though whether 
correctly or not, Mr. Sampson is not prepar- 
ed to say, said to be the Chamaerops excelsa, 
Ihbg. Mr. Sampson says further, that the 
fine leav d species ( Chamaerops, ) when 
distinguished from the coarse (Livistonia) is 
termed P-u-lciii, the latter char- 
acter giving its name to the fans, Kui-shan , 
into which its leaves are made. I am not 
aware, whether in China fans are made from 
tiie leaves of Chamaerops ; Fortune does 
not mention it, and the Pen-ts‘ao says also 
nothing about the manufacture of fans from 
the leaves of this Palm. But the Pen-ts‘ao 
as well as the Kuang-kiin-fang-pu describe 
P-u-k'ui as a peculiar Palm, growing only in 
Southern China, from the leaves of which 
fans are made, and distinguish it clearly 
from the Tsung-lii. 
At the end of the article Tsung-lii the 
Pen-ts‘ao states: But the y|j| P^u-Pui 
is a different palm. Li-shi-chen does not 
agree with the ancient Dictionary Shuo-wen 
( 100 A. D. ) which considers the P'u-k'ui 
identical with Tsung-lii. Li-shi-chen gives 
the short description of the P‘u-k‘ui, consist- 
ing of 13 characters, as found in the Nan 
fang ts‘ao mu clbuang ( 4th century). J he 
P’u-k‘ui resembles the Ping-lii (Chamaerops) 
but the leaves are finer. Fans can be made 
from them. The P‘u-khii grows in si in 
Lung-cPuan , (Province of Ivuang-tung, Hui- 
chou-fu). 
I think the P‘u-k‘ui must be another Palm 
than the Chamaerops. The leaf fans made 
from the leaves of the P‘u-k‘ui palm, and 
known in commerce under the name of 
J|| K'ui-shan, (Cf. Dr. Williams’ Commer- 
cial Guide p. 119) form an important article 
of trade. Mr. Sampson states: “The leaf 
fan is said to have been first introduced into 
use among the elite of the Northern prov- 
inces, during the Tsin dynasty ( A. D. 
265-419) when the barbarian people of the 
South are stated to have attached great value 
to the products of the Tsung tree; the wind 
from these fans was supposed to be peculiar- 
ly agreeable ; and it appears, that at that time 
these leaves came into special repute, for it 
