Untitled - Library

75
autumn, attaining a height of 5-6 inches. Jt blooms in late
spring, and its seeds ripen in early summer. This is one of the
earliest
maturity of graminous plants.
28O. Poa fertilis, Host., Jap. Ichigo-tsunagi, Niramigusa
; a biennial graminous plant growing with everywhere and
attaining a height of 1-2 fts. in summer. It resembles very mueh
the former in form, but is larger.
no-Jiiyi ;
281. Paspalum thunbergii, Knnth., Jap.
a biennial graminous plant much found wild, attaining a
height oE 1-2 fts. in summer. The panicles
branches on a stalk.
consist of several
Note. Those mentioned in the above Chapter are only a
few of the wild forage plants. There are great many other
forage
plants.
CHAPTER XII.
PLANTS FOE LUXURV.
Tin's Chapter includes those plants
which are next in importance
to food-yielding plants and rather resemble spices and
condiments in qualit}'. They are indispensable for the luxury of
mankind.
Some of them are wholesome, but others not so.
282. Thea chinensis, Sim., Tea, Jap. Cha-no-ki ; an
Though it grows
everygrten shrub of the order Ternstaemiaccse.
wild in mountains, it is extensively cultivated. It attains a height
of 6-7 fts. in the wild state, but the cultivated plants are generally
cut down and trained to a height of 2-3 fts. In late autumn the
white flowers are produced, and the fruits ripen in the autumn of
the following year. In early summer the young leaves are gathered
for Clia (tea) which in prepared by steaming, rubbing, rolling, and
drying up. It is prepared in many different ways, giving various
t- as as Seii-cha, Matcha, Ryoku-cha, (green tea), Ko-cha, (red or
black tea), etc.
Oil is pressed out from the seeds.