THE HONGKONG GOVERNMENT GAZETTE, 26TH AUGUST, 1882.
GOVERNMENT NOTIFICATION.-No. 339.
701
The following Report from the Superintendent of the Botanical and Afforestation Department, is published for general information.
By Command,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Hongkong, 26th August, 1882.
FREDERICK STEWART,
Acting Colonial Secretary.
No. 1.
CASSIA LIGNEA,
(Cinnamomum Cassia, Blume.)
I. INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.
The botanical origin of Chinese Cassia bark-Cassia lignea of commerce-being involved in considerable mystery and uncertainty, and the subject exciting a lively interest in the scientific and commercial worlds, the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Colonies, the EARL OF KIMBERLEY, at the instance of Sir JOSEPH D. HOOKER, who, exercising his usual keen interest in scientific subjects and what may appertain to the welfare and advancement of the Empire, was anxious to have the question finally solved, appointed that I should, if possible, visit the Cassia districts and report on the subject. For this purpose I was temporarily spared from my usual duties and proceeded to the Cassia districts up the West River-Sai Kong-in the month of May last.
repre-
It is with pleasure that I take this opportunity of expressing my grateful thanks to the sentatives of the houses in Hongkong and Canton of Messrs. RUSSELL & Co., for their kind courtesy in supplying me, before I commenced the journey, with ample samples of Cassia bark, "buds" and leaves, and much valuable information which considerably facilitated the work which I had in hand.
In addition to the information gained, I was enabled to obtain and bring back to Hongkong about 1,700 young cassia plants from the districts of Loting, Taiwa, and Lukpo, a large number of which will be available for distribution to other Colonies for the trial or establishment of them in suitable places where it might be expedient for the cultivation of cassia to be attempted. Like most of the order of Lauraceae, to which the cassia belongs, the seeds must be sown very shortly after they mature or otherwise they rapidly lose their vitality; the season for sowing the seeds having past a little before my arrival in the districts, I was consequently not able to procure fresh seeds, except a very small quantity of a late maturing batch, which were sown in a box the same day they were obtained. They began to germinate at once and from them we have now a small lot of healthy plants.
The period of my visit was timed so that I might be in the districts at the season when the trees were flowering--so as to obtain authentic specimens for the certain identification of the trees, and that I might also witness the operation of obtaining and preparing the bark of the trees.
A complete set of the instruments used in decortication was obtained, and has since been sent to Kew, while a duplicate set is retained for our own establishment.
II. DESCRIPTION OF, AND NOTES ON THE CASSIA TREE.
6
12
Bark
Cinnamomum Cassia Blume (Yuk Qwai she). A medium sized, stiff ornamental tree.* on old trees about inch thick, burnt umber colour, and almost covered with lichens; bark on six years old trees and branches inch thick lighter in colour than the older bark. Young branches four sided, compressed, and, together with panicles and leafstalks, clothed with fine yellowish down. Leaves opposite on the older and flowering branches 4-6 rarely 10 inches long, and 12 to 24 inches wide, coriaceous, elongate oblong, base slightly acute, three nerved, smooth and shining above with a slightly sunken network of veins of a light coppery colour (which are very pretty when seen through a lens) on a ground of olive green, glaucous beneath-not so apparent in dry as fresh leaves-and very minutely pubescent. Leafstalks three to six lines long, one line thick. Lateral nerves reaching the apex, sunken above in the upper part of the leaf, strongly raised beneath, springing in the upper leaves,
*The largest seen in the Cassia districts was about 40 feet high. with a trunk about 3 feet in circumference, which was said to be 50 years old. This was about 4 miles South West of To Shing.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.