characteristic of the fruits of the different species of Callicarpa which are better known in gardens in England than in their native land. The fruits of Dianella, in the lily family, are a deep and glorious purple. Many berries are black, a common. example being those of Raphiolepis the so-called Hong Kong hawthorn. The only wild Jasmine has glossy black fruits as has also the commonest of the wild Persimmons.
Some fruits have very characteristic shapes. Those of Desmos resemble bunches of strings of threaded peas. They start green, change to yellow, and not content with that colour rapidly turn orange, red and purple and finally when ripe are almost black.
Numerous plants have fruits either poisonous, or edible, or useful for medicine or dyes. Strophanthus and Strychnos are Edible both common here; Cerbera is abundant near the sea. fruits include those of a wild Jack fruit, Artocarpus, which when ripe resemble misshapen apricots, and are delicious. The fruits of the Rose-myrtle contain raspberry coloured flesh in which are enclosed numerous seeds: they can be made into excellent jelly. Several species of Persimmon are wild but their fruits are too astringent to be eaten. A wild banana bears fruits filled with very hard black seeds surrounded by a little sweet pulp. Several species of bramble are abundant, one of which has bright red black-berries which though palatable are hard to collect as the vines are very prickly.
There are numerous plants which closely resemble their English relatives. Old Man's Beard, the common clematis of the English hedgerow, has five close relatives here. All possess white flowers with the fragrance characteristic of the genus. They are the only common representatives of the buttercup family which is abundant at home. Four wild violets occur in the Colony; like the English dog violet they are scentless, but they are attractive and easily recognized. The one English honeysuckle has five relatives here, with white or yellow flowers; most have flowers larger than the wild woodbine. They are fragrant and have the attractive Chinese name of "kam ngan fa", gold and silver flower, given because of their change in colour with age from white to yellow. The wild roses of England have several cousins here including a species with large white flowers common in the New Territories and now com- pletely naturalized in some of the Southern States of U.S.A. where it is known as the Cherokee Rose.
One very beautiful Iris grows wild in many parts of the Colony, probably further south than any other true iris is to be found wild. The flowers are nearly three inches across, pale violet-mauve with deep violet, orange and yellow markings.
A very lovely Lily grows wild on the hillsides, with individual flowers as much as seven inches long; the white segments may have a purple stripe on the inner surface, and the anthers when split disclose bright orange pollen. By the sea grow a wild Crinum with white fragrant flowers and
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