Garnering international attention
Not long after starting out on the trail, we see Formosan rock macaques (Macaca cyclopis) on some stone steps, playing, scratching themselves, and provocatively jostling each other. Huang reminds everyone not to feed or touch them since several diseases are transmissible between macaques and humans. If a young monkey does jump on you, she advises, don’t panic or shout. Simply squat down slowly beside a tree, and the macaque will return to the branches of its own accord.
Taiwan macaques first received international exposure after the British consul in Taiwan, Robert Swinhoe, sent specimens back the British Museum, which determined that the species was endemic to Taiwan. Likewise, Chinese yam (Dioscorea doryphora) and dye fig (Ficus tinctoria)—both common in Shoushan—also first received international notice after Swinhoe sent specimens to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. In Taiwan he collected specimens of more than 200 plant species, over 200 bird species, more than 400 insect species, and many snail species. Thus began the field of natural history in Taiwan.
Another Brit, Augustine Henry (1857-1930), was also an important early figure in the study of Taiwan’s natural history. While he worked as a customs physician in Dagou, he first identified and collected 94 species that are endemic to Taiwan, including Taiwan amorphophallus (Amorphophallus henryi, a.k.a. Henry’s voodoo lily), which is challenging to collect given its short blooming period. It flowers in April or May, emitting a malodorous scent that attracts flies and other insects to help it pollinate.
Walking along the North Shoushan Trail is like a trip through time, as Huang leads us through stories from natural history. Banyan trees, which were already growing here in the Qing Dynasty, employ aerial roots to expand their area and consequently are known as “trees that can walk.” Here too is Naves’ ehretia (Ehretia resinosa), which was collected by the British plant collector Charles Wilford (d. 1893). The chief distinguishing characteristics of the tree are its small white flowers and thick bark. It used to be a major source of firewood for local households. And there is towering thorny bamboo (Bambusa stenostachya), which is what Aborigines originally named the area after. The Makatao tribe used the plant for building stockades to keep out pirates.
Nevertheless, after Shoushan became a nature park, the cutting and trimming of plants was strictly forbidden in order to protect its precious natural resources.
Inside the British consular residence, numerous photos taken by Western adventurers provide images of Taiwanese ports in the 19th century.