Download A Chinese belief regarding Phyllocactus Hookeri, Walp.

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A CHINESE BELIEF REGARDING PliYLLOCM::TUS
HOOKERI, WALP.
It is not possible that Phyllocaci1!s H oolce?"i, a Brazilian
member of the Cactus family, can be a plant which was treasured
in China in the time of the S ung Dynasty (96 0 to 1278 A. D.);
but from information very kindly supplied to t he Gardens by ~Ir .
Tan 1'ang Niah, J. P., President of the Chong Cheng School in
Singapore, it seems that in his nati ve Amoy it is now idelltified
with t he" Kheng-fa" plant of the Cbinese classics.
" The Kheng-fa was held a yery precious plant in the time
of the Sung dynasty, and there was known but a single ind ividual
of i t which grew in the H an-tho-chhi temple in Yang-chow, whe,a, .
they said, it hac1 been plan ted during the 'r ang dynasty (618 to
954 A. D. ) . Its leayes were by report tender and smooth, with a
shining brightness, and its petals thick and pale yellow . . ·Its
f ragrance was exceptionally sweet. This treasure t he emperor
Yan-chung, of the Sung dynasty, r emoved to his forbidd en garden,
where after a year it showed symp toms of death : but wben it \vas
taken back to Yaug-chow it reyived. Finally during the Chi-yuan
years 0:F. t he Yuan dy nasty which followed the Sung dyna sty it
withered and di ed. A priest Kam-yu-sui plan ted in its place :f
Ch ll-pat-s in plant; and so clmin g t hi s .dyn{lsty what was known
as t he K heng-J'a was in truth the Chu-pat-sin."
Now, let it be remarked that at t he end of the Sung d.l'liasty ,
the chief occupatio)) of the T aoist priesthood in China w'as a
search "1'01' medicinal herbs which would bestow immortality :
,wd it is reasona.ble to consider the aboye story as connected there-with .
M,.. 1'an Tang Niah flowered t he plan t of Phyllocact1is
!Ioolcer; that he had received from Amoy, in May 1922. Since
t hen others have obtained P hyllocactus plants in ·S~gapore, who
offer the fl owers as a drug of immense yal ue. In t heir belief of
its yul ue is pro bably another echo of the long-ago search for a.
ch ug bestowin g imlll ol'tality.
A med icinal value of any ki nd howevel' is extremely questionable; and the repu te of it r.ests in al l probab#ty on no more than
the pl ant's slow gl'owt h.
I. H.
B URR ILL.
CLEOME CHELIDONII. LINN. F., IN THE
MALA Y PENINSULA.
In the lal'ger t own s of the Malay P eninsula Chinese al'e to be
fo und who prescribe various fresh herbs to such sick as may
consult t hem ; allC1 receutl~' in t he sho p of Olle of 'these in P enang
two species of C'l eome weTe deteeted h.1' Mr. Mohamed Haniff, the
owner d istinguishill g them ilS " lek tan chhau " and" it tau chhau."
1'be first proved t o be Cleome viscosa, a plant whose virtues
are h"u OWll in the East. The other proved to be Cleome chelidonii ;
t