May 2—On April 12 we referred to the horse chestnut bursting into leaf: today, we have to record the tree in full flower. There is a fine specimen on the Avenue Joffre frontage of Pahsienjao Cemetery. Albizzia julibrissim, one of the late starters, has begun to grow at last; this tree, named after an Italian naturalist, is a native of China. One of the species of this tree produces wood having a very fine grain and it is used in West China for mirror frames and other special work. The tree is a member of the sub-family Mimosoideae so this probably accounts for its local name—mimosa. We notice that one of our most beautiful flowering trees is now in flower. This is a native of Japan named Caesalpinia japonica. The tree is armed with recurved prickles which make it extremely useful for many locations: the foliage is quite pretty, but the laburnum-like flowers are the chief attraction. In writing about our caesalpinia we are reminded that the "weeping tree" of the Canary Islands was named C. pluviose by early botanists. This tree was once referred to as vegetable marvel in transpiration as "water fell like copious rain from its foliage and a pool formed at its base." It is still known s rain tree by many people. We saw the true "May" tree in flower today, it was Crataegus Ozxyacantha, a much less thorny tree than the common hawthorn—C. monogyna. Fruit is now being produced on the Chinese Hackberry Celtis sinensis. We are very fond of this tree in the Winter, the leafless branches appear quite picturesque against the sky: "Tommy" tells me that the tree is grown especially to provide boys with ammunition for. their pea-shooters. We came across a very interesting plant today which we were surprised to find growing in a Shanghai garden. It had triangular stems and a head of grass-like leaves which could almost be referred to as filaments: the plant was Cyperus papyrus and it is of much historical interest as from it was made the paper of the ancients, Pieces of the inner bark of the stem were carefully peeled off and laid on tables; other pieces were then laid over these at right angles to them and the whole was moistened with water and pressed; after pressing, the paper was dried in the sun. There is a glutinous matter in the stem and this undoubtedly helped the pieces to adhere together. Some writers tell us that the ark of Moses was formed of the Papyrus plant and that it is probable that he was laid among this Egyptian bulrush. Cyperus alternifolious is a very common, pot plant here and this should not be confused with We notice that
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.