54 
H. Takeda 
wild Cryptomeria, until the cone was obtained and closely examined. 
Then the plant proved to he a new genus and was accordingly 
named Taiwania cryptomerioides in honour of this beautiful island. 
The systematic position of this genus was suggested to be between 
Athrotcixis and Cnnninghamia; further investigations, both ana¬ 
tomical and cytological, are much to he desired. 
Higher up on the mountains we first get the shrub-zone and 
then at an elevation of 12,000 feet and upwards various plants of 
alpine and arctic character, such as Arabis, Artemisia, Cerastium, 
Deschampsia, Festuca, Fragaria, Geutiana, Gnaphalium , Leouto- 
podium , Luzula, Potentilla, Shortia, Sibbaldia, Trisetum sub- 
spicatum, and so forth. 
If we go down to the southernmost part of the island, we shall 
everywhere meet with nothing hut real tropical plants, and the 
vegetation shows a close relationship to that of the Philippines, 
India, and Java. Certain elements belonging to Cochin-China and 
of southern China will also be detected. 
Roughly speaking, there are some 2,500 species (belonging to 
some 770 genera) of higher plants known, 17% of which are endemic ; 
and many more will be discovered in the future in this island which 
promises so much to the enthusiastic botanist. 
VI. —Cultivated Crops. 
A few words may perhaps be added on this subject. The most 
important plant is undoubtedly the rice-plant, Oryza sativa, with a 
great many cultivated varieties and races. The plant is grown 
throughout the country with the exception of Saghalien and the 
Kuriles. Particularly in Central and S.W. Japan, every possible 
piece of land is converted into rice-fields, which present a very 
striking feature to the eye familiar only with European scenery. A 
rice-field is, in a word, a muddy swamp divided up by low narrow 
banks into more or less square areas. The plant is raised in the 
nursery and seedlings of about a span high are transplanted from 
this into the rice-field proper. In the summer the rice-field is of 
a delightful green colour; in the autumn it turns somewhat golden, 
as the grain ripens and the plant withers. In the winter, after 
the harvest, the rice-field looks quite desolate, but often furnishes 
the best shooting-ground for snipe and other game-birds. Some¬ 
times the rice-plant is also grown in dry fields where water is not 
available. 
In Saghalien and the Kuriles, the temperature is very low 
during more than half the year, so that cultivation is hardly to be 
