“Look what I’ve found! A hidden gem!” exclaims a guide from the Alishan Ecotourism Association on Alishan’s Shui­shan Healing Trail. The visitors all take out their phones to photograph the lovely little plant growing on a slope.

This is Dichocarpum adiantifolium. Its leaves resemble those of maidenhair ferns, and its fruit is Y-shaped. Chang Kun-cheng, an associate professor of forestry and natural resources at National Chiayi University, confirms that in Taiwan, this plant has in recent years been found only at Guanwu in Miaoli County and on Alishan.

Shuishan Healing Trail

Launched earlier in 2023, the Shuishan Healing Trail is located near a disused section of the Alishan Forest Railway’s Zhushan Line. It’s the first forest trail in Taiwan to have the word “healing” in its official name. The Chiayi branch of the Ministry of Agriculture’s Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency (FANCA Chiayi) has installed bespoke wooden information posts along this new trail to identify zones for various therapeutic activities. In each of these zones, visitors are invited to commune with the woodlands by closing their eyes, taking deep breaths, unburdening themselves, or lying down on their backs, while they bene­fit from the high concentrations of phytoncides and negative ions in the air.

In the autumn, Alishan rewards visitors not only with the gorgeous foliage of maples and ginkgo trees, but also with the beauty of a gigantic Alishan hornbeam (Carpinus kawakamii) near the entrance to the Shuishan Trail. Its leaves turn marvelously golden as the year draws to a close. This is one of the iconic sights along the trail.

The white-whiskered laughingthrush (Trochalopteron morrisonianum) has distinctive white streaks above the eyes and next to the beak. Unafraid of humans, it flits about near the Mt. Ogasawara Observation Deck.

The Shuishan Healing Trail promises opportunities for forest bathing, helping to alleviate our stress, anxieties, depression, and other negative moods, as well as strengthening our mental and physical health and immunity. 

Scientific investigations into Taiwan’s alpine plants began on Alishan during the Japanese colonial era.

Alishan on the NT$1,000 note

To admire Alishan’s famous sunrises, most tourists travel to Zhushan either by the forest railway or by shuttle bus. If you’re not against walking an extra 800 meters, visit the Mt. Ogasawara (Xiaoliyuanshan) Observation Deck. From there, if in luck, you’ll catch a glimpse of the morning sun springing up from behind the island’s highest mountain range, Yushan. Weather permitting, you can see clearly four of Taiwan’s five major mountain ranges as soon as the rising sun has dispelled the dark of night: the Central, Yushan, Xueshan, and Alishan ranges. Wu Zhijing, chairman of the Alishan Ecotourism Association, exaggerates with a smile: “Here you can catch sight of two thirds of Taiwan.”

Apart from marveling at the lofty mountains, you may want to stop along the way at the little teahouse named Mountain Ali Tea No. 35 to enjoy a bowl of vermicelli with Alishan camellia oil while savoring mountain tea. Next to the teahouse a male Mikado pheasant, with its beautiful long tail feathers, roams the grassland foraging for food. A female pheasant follows him. Featured on the back of the NT$1,000 banknote, these endemic birds are under protection and do not seem to be bothered by the presence of humans.

Also on the NT$1,000 note, behind the Mikado pheasants, is Paris polyphylla, a perennial flowering plant with characteristic whorls of lance-shaped leaves. It can be found in the Alpine Botanical Garden on the way to Mt. Ogasawara.

Chang Kun-cheng was commissioned by FANCA Chiayi to investigate Alishan’s plant resources. He tells us that whereas horny-toothed ardisia (A. cornudentata subsp. morrisonensis) grows in many places all across the island, narrow-sepaled ardisia (A. cornudentata subsp. morrisonensis var. stenosepala), which is being grown in the Alpine Botanical Garden, is an endemic variety found only in the area between Alishan and Nantou County’s Xitou. With small pastel-white flowers and bright red berries, this highly ornamental plant lends itself to the festive mood of the Lunar New Year. Another flowering plant found here—the Alishan thistle (Cirsium arisanense), which is endemic to Taiwan—can be made into tea; this too appears on the NT$1,000 note.

Professor Chang Kun-cheng of National Chiayi University believes that serendipity has a vital role to play in our acquaintance with flora, including the discovery of new plants.

Alishan’s biodiversity

Chang spent two years carrying out systematic botanical research on Alishan and has compiled his findings into a book entitled A Guide to the Named of Alishan’s Plants (2020), which catalogues plants named after the mountain. He says that in addition to its distinctive railway culture, Alishan regales visitors with plants growing in various climatic conditions, encompassing both warm-temperate and cool-temperate zones, so here we can perceive transitions from broadleaf to mixed broadleaf and coniferous forests. Alishan is also home to tropical plants, vines, and ferns that are rarely seen in Western countries.

Taiwan is blessed with some 1,000 different fern species. More than 200 of these grow in the cloud forests of Alishan, from low to high elevations, testifying to the remarkable botanical diversity of the place. “Of the approximately 5,000 known native plants in Taiwan, as many as 120 are named after Alishan—second only to plants named after Taiwan itself,” Chang observes.

Photographers interested in rare Taiwanese flora are especially attracted by plant species that are unique to Alishan. For example, the Alishan Hotel and the Alishan Ecocenter each boast an enormous specimen of the Alishan pine (Pinus uyematsui)—to be found nowhere else in the world. Carefully observing the fallen cones under the pines, visitors will find that these actually differ from the cones of the Taiwan white pine (P. morrisonicola), whose scales curl inward. By contrast, the scales on the cones of the Alishan pine are straight. A closer look also reveals that their seeds are winged.

Chang says that gymnosperms (coniferous species) are no longer as widespread as they used to be across the world. As early as 1913, Japanese plant taxonomist Bunzo Hayata (1874–1934) had already discovered Pinus uyematsui, but many botanists since have identified this pine with P. morrisonicola. Chang’s investigation has helped restore the Alishan pine’s distinct identity, paying tribute to Hayata’s eagle eye and rigorous research at a time before the advent of many of the scientific tools used today.

Those who come to Alishan for walks along the Tashan Trail or the old Mianyue railway line will also enjoy the Ali­shan variety of Huperzia myriophyllifolia—another plant unique to this area. This scarce medicinal herb looks like a small green bottlebrush. Growing in solitude around Mianshan and Tashan, it has not mixed genetically with other populations. Threatened with extinction, it urgently requires conservation.

Every spring, tourists flock to Alishan to admire its cherry blossoms. From early spring to April, 40 different types of cherry blossom set the place ablaze. Alishan has the greatest number of Yoshino cherry trees (Prunus × yedoensis) in Taiwan. The species that blooms first on Alishan is the Taiwan cherry (P. campanulata). As for the Alishan cherry (P. transarisanensis)—the only cherry tree named after Alishan—it can only be found along the Tashan Trail.

Myriactis humilis is often found on high mountains, such as Alishan, Hehuanshan, and Yushan.

The endemic Alishan magnolia vine (Schisandra arisanensis) is called wuweizi (“five-flavor fruit”) in Chinese because its berries are said to contain five flavors: salty, sweet, sour, pungent, and bitter. (courtesy of Lu Bifeng)

Even without wind, Ainsliaea macroclinidioides trembles with ghostly motions. The blooms are exquisitely beautiful. (courtesy of Wang Qiumei)

Chang Kun-cheng says that the petals of Stellaria arisanensis evoke an image of five hares putting their heads together. (courtesy of Lu Bifeng)

The Alishan rhododendron (R. leptosanthum), which grows as a tree, is a delight to the eye. Its Chinese name—the Xi Shi flower—alludes to a legendary beauty in ancient China. (courtesy of Chang Kun-cheng)

The Alishan mahonia (M. oiwakensis) is known for its beautiful inflorescences of clustered flowers. (courtesy of Lu Bifeng)

Giant Tree Trail

While taking a walk along Alishan’s Giant Tree Trail, don’t forget to pay homage to a special tree named after the local village, Xianglin. This is the biggest Taiwan red cypress (Chamaecyparis formosensis) in the Alishan National Scenic Area. It won an online vote and was designated as Alishan’s “Second-Generation Sacred Tree” (its predecessor died after being struck by lightning in the 1950s). Also near Ciyun Temple is a monument commemorating Japanese silvologist Shitaro Kawai (1865–1931), who came to Alishan to study its flora. The abundance of cypresses here gave Kawai the idea of establishing a railway line to transport local timber—a project that accelerated the development and exploitation of Alishan’s plant resources.

As well as craning our necks to get a better view of the ancient trees, and of the peaks and clouds in the distance, Chang recommends that we pay attention to those smaller things along this classic trail that bear the name of Alishan. Alishan shell ginger (Alpinia pricei var. sessiliflora), for example, is known for its upright clusters of pale pink flowers and fruit. This shade-tolerant member of the ginger family is used for hedging and has an ethnobotanical significance. The indigenous people here, as well as other Alishan locals, crush its leaves to make tea. Some extract its oil to produce dietary supplements. The fibers of its stems and sheaths, when dried, can be woven into mats and ropes.

Elsewhere in Taiwan, shell ginger leaves are used to wrap rice dumplings, but traditionally Alishan locals, including the indigenous Tsou people, prefer the long, tapered, subtly fragrant leaves of the Alishan cast-iron plant (Aspidistra attenuata) for this purpose. Their dumplings, which can be bought in nearby Shizhuo in Zhuqi Township, are called “boar’s ears,” a local name for the plant. In Alishan Township’s Shizi Village, residents have cast-iron plants in front of their houses, and the Tsou people use the leaves to wrap food for hunters when they go into the mountains: these are called “hunters’ parcels.”

Along the trail, we also spot Alishan mahonia (M. oiwakensis). Both ornamental and medicinal, it flowers between August and January each year, flaunting masses of bright yellow blooms. Because medical services weren’t easily accessible in these mountainous regions, locals used to dry and pulverize Alishan mahonia, or steep it in an alcoholic liquor, to benefit from its manifold medicinal properties, including heat clearing. Mahonias derive their common Chinese name—“ten benefits”—from their role in traditional healing practices.

Alishan chrysanthemum (Dendranthema arisanense) can be made into tea. Different from ordinary chrysanthemum teas, it has a bracing scent and tastes refreshingly sweet.

As summer gives way to autumn, the yellow blooms of Alishan chrysanthemum constitute one of Alishan’s most beautiful scenes. (courtesy of Wang Qiumei)

Zhizhu bao dan, the Chinese name of the Alishan cast-iron plant, literally means “spiders hugging eggs.” Its fruit looks like a spider’s legs clutching an egg. (courtesy of Chang Kun-cheng)

Rice dumplings wrapped in the leaves of the Alishan cast-iron plant (Aspidistra attenuata) are called “boars’ ears.”

Serendipitous encounters

The Alishan chrysanthemum (Dendranthema arisanense) grows in habitats ranging from middle elevations to 2,000 meters above sea level. Tea made from it carries a delicate scent and is refreshingly sweet. According to Chang Kun-cheng’s analysis of its chemical composition, not only is the plant good for the liver and eyes, but unlike ordinary chrysanthemums, it also contains borneol and can help improve concentration. Researchers from National Chiayi University have collected wild samples from slopes in Alishan’s Shizilu Community and helped breed varieties that can grow at low elevations. Indigenous locals have been provided with seedlings, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute has explored the plant’s commercial potential by turning it into skin-lightening products.

From May onward, a dazzling array of plants will come into blossom. Oxalis griffithii subsp. formosana will be sporting its downward-­pointing triangular leaflets, the white petals of its tiny flowers graced with light purple streaks. Alishan gentian (Gentiana arisanensis)—also in full bloom during the summer months—grows in sun-­facing rocky places. Its corolla has a very special shape, with beautiful blue petals. Other summer-­flowering plants include Taiwan rhododendron (Rhododendron leptosanthum), Disporopsis fuscopicota var. arisanensis, and narrow-sepaled Alishan ardisia.

The old site of the Alishan Weather Station, which is now in the care of the Alishan Eco­tourism Association, is built of cypress, with characterful wooden structures graced by features such as weatherboards and angled windows, as well as two meteorological towers. Dubbed “the highest historic site” in Taiwan, it is guarded by a native juniper, a towering fir, and an old Yoshino cherry tree at the entrance, adding to the magnificence of the setting.

Chang Kun-cheng believes in serendipitous encounters with plants. It was by sheer happenstance—when he got lost or when he took an unexpected turn—that he discovered previously undocumented plants, such as the endemic cotoneasters Cotoneaster chingshuiensis and C. rosiflorus. Why not visit Alishan, admire its endemic flora, enjoy the local chrysanthemum tea, and savor the boar’s ear dumplings? These are all exclusively Alishanian experiences. You can never fully predict what you’ll come across here.

The Alishan variety of Huperzia myriophyllifolia can be found only on Alishan. (courtesy of Chang Kun-cheng)

In the language of flowers, the gorgeous Alishan gentian (Gentiana arisanensis) carries the message of “falling in love with you in your melancholy.” (courtesy of Chang Kun-cheng)