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the south cape of the island. He is perhaps the latest European botanist who
c a r e f u l l y s t u d i e d t h e i s l a n d . At that time, the collections were almost limited
to the lowlands. Nothing was obtained 3000 ft. elevation above, on account
of the hostility of the savages living in the mountains. The mountainous
districts were, therefore, left absolutely unexplored.
It was not until the acquisition of Formosa by Japan in 1897, that
Japanese botanists began to pay attention to the botany of the island. Since
that time, many collectors have been sent to the island from the Imperial
University. Thus, in 197, an extensive collection was made by T. Makino,
and C. Owatar i ; in 1897-1898 again by C. Ow a r i ; and in 1899-1900, by
K. Myake. During 1896-1898, collections were also made by Tashiro,
Niinami, Handa, Kawai, Nagasawa, Kawakami, Satake, Ueno, Yokoyama
and S. Yano. These collections were sent to the Tokyo Herbar ium, and were
studied by Prof. J. Matsumura, whose papers are to be seen in the earlier
numbers of the Tokyo Botanical Magazine. In 1904, the Rev. U. Faurie
made a botanical excursion in the island, and sent an extensive collection
to the herbarium. But, botanical study in the island did not make any great
progress, until in 1904 the Government of Formosa decided to carry out a
botanical survey of the whole island.
Previous to this survey, in 1900, the present author visited it for plant
collection in the northern part. After coming back, as he wished thouroughly
to study its botany and to write an illustrated flora of the island, he considered
it desirable to recommend the government a botanical survey which
might be very profitable from the discovery of economic plants. In 1903,
with this intention, the present author assked Baron Goto, then the civil
Governer of the island, to grant an annual allowance for a botanical sur vey,
which was agreed to, and begun in 1904. The survey was under the
supervision of the late Mr. T. Iwai, then the director of the Bureau of P r o ductive
industry. Mr. T. Kawakami was engaged to collect plants, with
several assistants such as Messrs. Nakahara, Shimada, Mori, and Sasaki,
and the present author was devoting himself to the investigation of the
material sent by the collectors to the Tokyo herbarium. Thus, the collections
have been increasing year by year.
It was under these circumstances that, in 1905, the present author
write Enumeratio plantanim Formosanarum in conjunction with Prof. J.
Matsumura. This work enumerated 1990 species, belonging to 701 genera,
and included all the flowering plants and vascular Cryptogams known to
us up to date. These was added, in this work, 561 species and 38 genera to
numbers given by Dr. Henry in his « List of plants from Formosa » which
was the first work on the island-flora and has been of great service to the
present writer. In this governmental survey, together with pure scientific
researches, some studies on economic plants were undertaken, and some
notes such as « New rubber vine of Formosa » were published. At that time,
the botanical survey did not extend to any higher regions than an elevation
of 3,000 ft., owing to the hostility of the savages. Fortunately, however, the
Government of Formosa has been gradually successful in getting into the
mountains. In Gctober 1905, the botanical survey was extended by Messrs.
T. Kawakami, G. Nakahara and S. Nagasawa, tot Mt. Morrison, the highest
peak in the island. In 1906, another ascent was made by Messrs. T. Kawakami
and U. Mori, and again by Mr. G. Nakahara, on the same mountain. During
1906-1907, several excursions through the central mountain-ranges were
made by Mr. U. Mori.
In 1908, the present author, as a result of his study of these collections,
published « Flora montana Formosae » (s) which contains 392 species belonging
79 genera, thus adding to our present knowledge of the island-flora 216
species and 37 genera, which include a considerable number of new species,
and a new genus Taiwania, belonging to Coniferae.
Previous to this publication, the author had considerable collections
from the mountains made by the lamented Mr. N. Konishi, who made several
excursions to the mountains for many years. He was the discoverer of
Taiwania, and a new species of Cunnighamia, which was named C. Konishii
in commemoration of his great botanical services. Much more has been
expected from him, but last year he went to the island of Hainan, where
he was taken with a bad fever. After suffering for some months, he died
much to the sor row of the present author and a great loss to the botanical
world.
Although Formosa has been explored from time to time, still there is
a considerable area which remains as yet untouched. As the flora is here
extremely rich and contains very many novelties, the botanical study of the
island is as yet far from being complete. Since the publication of the mountain
flora, the present author has had considerable collections from the hilly
regions. These materials were brought to Kew by the author, who is at
present time working at the Kew-Herbarium. His work at Kew is nearly
completed, but he has found a considerable number of novelties yet to be