RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1961
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/vd6724704
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch

RASHKB and author

Vol. 1 (1961)

ISSN 1991-7295

27

FLOWERS OF HONG KONG

Synopsis of a lecture delivered on November 2, 1960, based on Mr. F. A. Nixon's collection of colour transparencies.

B. T. CHIU, B.Sc.

The flora of Hong Kong is of a mixed nature; partly tropical, partly subtropical, and partly temperate; and is famous for its exotic flowering trees and shrubs. The majority of us know little about it, because literature on the flora is scarce and hardly accessible to the layman. Bentham's "Flora hongkongensis" (1861), Dunn and Tutcher's "Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong" (1912), and most of Herklots' work of the thirties and 'forties are out of print. We are privileged in being given this opportunity in viewing examples of Hong Kong flowers at their best selected from each month of the year: some familiar, others rare; some native, others introduced; and a few very special ones, indigenous to Hong Kong. Special tribute is due to Mr. Nixon for his magnificent achievement as a photographer, and for his pursuit of the flora through the years into every corner, however perilous, of the countryside.

The following transparencies were projected:

TREES

Delonix regia (Flame of the Forest)

Bauhinia blakeana (orchid-like Bauhinia)

B. variegata (deciduous Bauhinia)

Cassia fistula (Golden shower)

C. nodosa (Pink and white shower)

Erythrina indica (Coral Tree)

Crataeva religiosa (Spider Tree)

Aleurites montana (Wood or Tung Oil Tree)

Camellia japonica (Camellia)

C. hongkongensis (Crimson Hong Kong Camellia)

C. granthamiana (White Hongkong Camellia)

Jacaranda ovalifolia (Jacaranda)

Spathodea campanulata (African Tulip Tree)

Paulownia tomentosa (Paulownia)

Rhodoleia championi (King of Hanging Bells)

SHRUBS

Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (Rose of China)

H. schizopetalus (Fringed hibiscus)

H. mutabilis (Cotton rose)

Rhododendron simsii (Red Rhododendron)

R. pulcherrimum (Purple Rhododendron)

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RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1963
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/4m90m091v
# FLOWERS OF HONG KONG

## BAUHINIA BLAKEANA, DUNN.

Family: Caesalpiniaceae (or a subfamily in Leguminosae)

洋金鳳科

Common names: Red flowered Camel's Foot

Hong Kong Bauhinia

Hong Kong Orchid Tree

49

This Hong Kong Bauhinia was first discovered by the fathers of the Missions Etrangères at Pokfulum near "the ruins of a house on the seashore" and was first described in 1908 by Mr. T. S. Dunn, Superintendent of Gardens and Forestry Department, who named it blakeana in honour of Sir Henry Blake, Governor of Hong Kong until 1903, for his keen botanical interest during his governorship. This has been regarded as the most beautiful and spectacular of all Bauhinias. The flowers are fragrant, large, 5-6 inches in diameter, and orchid-like with rhodamine purple petals overlaid with deep crimson streaks or patches. The inflorescences of dense racemes terminate the branches and take months to unfold and hence the blooming season lasts from October to April. Each flower remains blooming for several days and is shed completely, never maturing into fruit nor seed. Its origin is still unknown and no similar plant has been found elsewhere in the world.

The medium-size tree is an evergreen, with long spreading and graceful branches bearing handsome, large bilobed leaves, characteristic of the genus, and named after two brothers, surnamed Bauhin, who were herbalists. This was to describe their inseparable relationship. The outline of the leaf blade is comparable to that of the foot of a camel and hence one of its common names. The leaves are of a dark bluish green, with a soft felty appearance and the leaf blade traversed by 13 palmate main veins. The branches are tender and break easily and are always more severely devastated after typhoons than any other trees. Their sprouting power, however, is excellent, reviving quickly with numerous new shoots, within a short time.

The attractiveness and worth of Bauhinia blakeana is becoming increasingly known. It is cultivated in the Colony as well as in other subtropical parts of the world: Amoy and Canton in China, and Los Angeles and Florida in U.S.A. where there is a hot, humid summer and a cool, dry winter. Since no seed is produced, propagation is by grafting and air layering.

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RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1986
https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/jq08c7063
73

assistant, Mr. S.T. Dunn, who was in turn succeeded by his assistant, Mr. W.T. Tutcher in 1910. Both Dunn and Tutcher carried out extensive botanical work and were co-authors of "The Flora of Kwangtung and Hong Kong". Tutcher wrote "Gardening for Hong Kong" which served as a useful manual for horticulturists unfamiliar with the peculiar seasonal conditions of Hong Kong. They also organized repair and maintenance work to the buildings of the Botanic Gardens and Tutcher introduced electric lighting into the Gardens in 1913 for evening functions.

Mr. H. Green succeeded Mr. Tutcher in 1919. He arranged the layout of some of the flower-beds and relaid the old paths and channels with cement granite. A granite memorial in the shape of a 'Pai Lau' was erected in 1928 at the top of the main entrance steps on the old Garden in memory of the Chinese in the service of the British Government who died during the Great War 1914-1918. Then in 1931 the lower portion of the Gardens was taken over by the Public Works Department for the construction of a service reservoir. Work was completed in 1933 and the area was recovered with black soil, turfed and reopened to the public.

Mr. Green retired in 1937 and the vacant post was taken up by Mr. F. Flippance after a series of quick changes of appointments. By this time the activities of the Department had expanded so much that forestry in fact accounted for 65 to 70% of its work, the rest being botanical, gardening, and agricultural. In fact, afforestation work on the hills was carried out by the Gardens Department as early as 1876 but it was not until 1880 that planting on any large scale was undertaken and the Department had since been renamed the Botanic and Afforestation Department. The Botanic Gardens remained in good condition until the Second World War broke out.

During the Second World War the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong resulted in extensive structural damage to the Botanic Gardens the site of which was badly cut up to provide earthworks for gun emplacements and defensive trenches. Much of the shrubbery was destroyed as were a number of the larger trees; additionally the surrounding railings and gates were removed to provide ease of access to military personnel and equipment. There are no

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