A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton.

  • John Barton
Date:
1827
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A lecture on the geography of plants / By John Barton. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    64/120 (page 54)
    Chinese in their gardens from time immemorial; but of what place it is a native seems doubtful. The various species of China Rose are of still more recent introduction into this country. The Chinese Chrysanthemum, which produces its variously coloured and beautiful blossoms after almost all our other flowers are past, was intro- duced in 1795. From China we are also said to derive the Radish and Endive. The Tea-tree is cultivated almost exclusively in China and Japan; and from the first of these countries our whole supply (amounting yearly to about three hundred and fifty thousand chests) is derived. It appears probable, how- ever, that this plant might be raised in other parts of the world, if allowed to supply the English market: at present, the permission to import tea is restricted to the East India Com- pany. Though now in such general use among all ranks as to be considered almost a necessary of life, little more than a hundred and fifty years have elapsed since tea was first intro- duced into England. The tree whose dried leaves form so considerable an article of com- merce, is described as an evergreen of moderate height, producing white flowers like those of the Myrtle.