Vegetation
At the head of the reservoir near the former Tai Wai Village, a "fung shui" grove contains a rich variety of more than 70 species of trees. It has been designated as a "special area" that merits special protection. To the west of the reservoir, both sides of the stream known as Tai Shing Shek Kan are covered with a rich variety of shrubs, grasses and trees, including several species of Camellia, Camellia granthamiana, which bears beautiful white flowers more than 12 cm in diameter, is a rare species found only a few decades ago. It is named after a former Hong Kong Governor, Sir Alexander Grantham.
During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in World War II, most of the trees in the park were cut down. Extensive reafforestation was carried out after the war. The main species was Pinus massoniana, whilst Pinus elliottii, Lophostemon confertus, Melaleuca quinquenervia and Acacia confusa were introduced later. The area has now become one of the major forest plantations in Hong Kong.
Read more about this topic: Shing Mun Country Park
Famous quotes containing the word vegetation:
“We love to see any redness in the vegetation of the temperate zone. It is the color of colors. This plant speaks to our blood.... What a perfect maturity it arrives at! It is the emblem of a successful life concluded by a death not premature, which is an ornament to Nature. What if we were to mature as perfectly, root and branch, glowing in the midst of our decay, like the poke!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“When the ground was partially bare of snow, and a few warm days had dried its surface somewhat, it was pleasant to compare the first tender signs of the infant year just peeping forth with the stately beauty of the withered vegetation which had withstood the winter ... decent weeds, at least, which widowed Nature wears.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“I would not have every man nor every part of a man cultivated, any more than I would have every acre of earth cultivated: part will be tillage, but the greater part will be meadow and forest, not only serving an immediate use, but preparing a mould against a distant future, by the annual decay of the vegetation which it supports.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)