Seeds and Plants Imported
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Inoed May, im. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. BUREAU OF PLANT IND1 INVENTO] OF SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED BY THB OFFICE OF FOREIGN SEED AND PLANT INTRODUCTION DURING THE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31,1921. (No. 66; Nos. 52306 TO 52854.) WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1923. Issued May, 1M3. U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. BUREAU OF PLANT INDUSTRY. INVENTORY OF SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED BY THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN SEED AND PLANT INTRODUCTION DURING THE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31,1921. (No. 66; Nos. 52306 TO 52854.) WASHINGTON: GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE. 1923. CONTENTS. Pag* Introductory statement 1 Inventory 7 Index of common and scientific names 85 ILLUSTRATIONS. Page. PLATE I. An avenue of the Siamese maikrabao trees, which produce an oil very similar to that of the chaulmoogra tree. (Hydno- cdrpus anthelminthica Pierre, S. P. I. No. 52468) 32 II. The tocte, a native Ecuadorian walnut tree. (Juglans sp., S. P. I. No. 52611) 32 III. The chamburo, an interesting relative of the papaya. (Carica sp., S. P. I. No. 52716) 66 IV. Fruits of the babaco, one of the most valuable species of Carica cultivated in Ecuador. (Carica sp., S. P. I. No. 52721) 66 V. A red-fruited variety of the Andes berry. (Bubus glaucus Benth., S. P. I. No. 52734) 66 VI. The talipot palm of tropical Asia. (Corypha umbraculifera L., S. P. I. No. 52802) 66 VII. The chaulmoogra tree of Burma. (Taraktogenos kurzii King, S. P. I. No. 52803) 78 VIII. Fruits of the chaulmoogra tree. (Taraktogenos kurzii King, S. P. I. No. 52803) 7S m INVENTORY OF SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED BY THE OFFICE OF FOREIGN SEED AND PLANT INTRO- DUCTION DURING THE PERIOD FROM JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31,1921 (NO. 66; NOS. 52306 TO 52854). INTRODUCTORY STATEMENT. During the 73 working days of which this inventory is a record 549 new lots of plant immigrants arrived in Washington and were inspected, fumigated, labeled, and planted in the various gardens of the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. They came from all over the world, recommended for some particular purpose, and those which we are able to propagate will go out to the regions best suited to their culture and find their way into the hands of bona fide plant experimenters, who will do something with them. Forest trees,—To those who realize that it may not necessarily be our own native forest trees which will prove best adapted for forest purposes, the following new introductions will be of interest: The Canary Islands pine, Pinus cananensis (No. 52817), has been very successfully grown in South Africa and Chile as a timber tree, and its valuable hard wood may make it a species worth growing extensively in southern California. Of interest to lovers of fine conifers are the following: The char- acteristic spruce of the great Tianshan Mountain range of Turkestan, Picea schrenkiana (No. 52659); a variety of the Siberian fir from the Amur Kiver, Abies sibirica nephrolepis (No. 52623) ; a species from the Szechwan Province of China, Abies faxoniana (No. 52622) ; and a rare one from the Min Valley of China, Abies recurvata (No. 52624)—the last three presented by the Hon. Vicary Gibbs, of Elstree, England. It is to be hoped that we can find a place in this country for the Taiwania (T. cryptomerioides, No. 52570), which is, according to E. H. Wilson, who secured seeds and plants on his last expedition, the loftiest tree of the Formosan forest. It resembles a giant lycopod, reaches a height of 180 or even 200 feet, and has a girth of 30 feet. We are indebted to the Arnold Arboretum for propagat- ing material of this species. For the cool coastal regions of the Pacific coast the Chilean evergreen beeches (Nothofagus spp.) appear to be particularly well adapted, 2 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. and F. Albert, consulting forester to the Chilean Government, has sent in three of these species, the coigue (N. donibeyi. No. 52592), the roble (N. obliqua, No. 52593), and the rauli (N. procera, No. 52594), as well as a number of other Chilean trees and shrubs, in- cluding the tique (Aextoxicon punctatum, No. 52556), the beautiful tara (Gaesalpinia pectinata, No. 52587), and an attractive liliaceous shrub (Philesia magellcmica, No. 52596), remarkable in its ability to withstand the fumes from copper-smelting furnaces. The growing interest in hybrid trees for forestry work as well as for street tree planting will make the hybrid poplar (Populus insu- mowskiana, No. 52705), a cross between P. nigra and P. suaveolens, and the hybrid walnut (Juglans intermedia vilmoreana. No. 52681), sent in by Vilmorin-Andrieux & Co., of value to parks and forests. J. F. Rock, our agricultural explorer, secured in Bangkok, Siam, seeds of the giant forest tree Castanea diversifolia (No. 52387), which bears quantities of edible chestnutlike nuts; and from the same region he obtained Quercus junghuhnii and other species of oaks (Nos. 52440 to 52448), bearing sweet edible acorns in great clusters, which might take the place of the scrub oaks of the pinelands of Florida. We are so accustomed to think of the forests of Africa as track- less and inexhaustible that to learn of the threatened extinction in Rhodesia of the magnificent Milanji cypress (Callitris whytei, No. 52807), which grows to 140 feet in height at altitudes of 10,000 feet, comes as a distinct shock. It should make us realize, perhaps, that the virgin forests of the whole world are threatened by fire and the strangling grasses which man is taking into them. At least an effort can be made to save this cypress from extinction. Grains.—The rise of plant-breeding institutions is a thing of recent times, and it is encouraging to note that already a free exchange has begun of the seeds and plants which are being produced by them in various countries. From the two foremost institutions in the Nether- lands, those at Groningen and Bussum, have been received valuable collections (Nos. 52818 to 52840, 52842 to 52844) of their best selected strains of wheat, oats, barley, and flax, which can scarcely fail to be valuable in some of the cooler summer regions of America; where- as from the famous Australian plant breeder Pridham have come nine pure-line selections of the Hard Federation wheat (Triticum aestivvm, Nos. 52557 to 52565) which has proved to be an improve- ment over the old Federation and which has been grown commercially in Australia since 1914 because of its equal yields and the better milling quality of the grain. Professor Ducellier, of the School of Agriculture of Maison Carree, Algiers, has presented a collection of 11 varieties of Saharan wheats {Triticum spp., Nos. 52546 to 52556) JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1921. l 3 ^with yields comparable to the best European varieties. What will liappen to the black rice of Burma (No. 52751), which Mr. Rock found and used with keen relish as a breakfast dish at Moulmein, time only can decide. He declares it is a grain especially prized in Siam and when served as he used it is particularly delicious. What might it be when puffed? The fundi grass of Sierra Leone, Digitaria exilis- (No. 52736), which is grown by the Nigerian tribe as a supplemental food grain, may prove too expensive for production on a large scale because of the small size of its kernels; but, like the Abyssinian teff, it deserves to be thoroughly investigated as having possibly some particular use for invalids. Forage and fodder plants.—Fodder trees have received little at- tention in this country, though in the drier parts of India and Aus- tralia much use is made of them. Two new ones from New South Wales, the leopard tree, Flindersia maculosa (No. 52798), and the myall, Acacia pendvla (No. 52800), deserve study by the ranchmen of the extreme Southwest, where fodder grasses are scarce, since in years of unusual drought these trees can tide over the stock until rains come. They have nutrient values of 48.5 and 29, respectively, and will stand periods of prolonged drought. Vegetables.—Why should we not use the old-fashioned potherb Good King Henry, Ghenopodium bonus-henricus (No. 52789) ? It is extremely hardy and two weeks earlier than asparagus produces shoots that are easily blanched and have a delicious flavor. It is re- lated to our own lamb's-quarters, G. album, which is also excellent. Tomato growers may be interested in Mr. Harrison's giant tomato bush (No. 52334) which in the frostless region of Burringbar, New South Wales, produced in 12 months a plant 16 feet across and 11 feet high that bore 100 dozen fair-sized fruits. Nut-producmg plants.—Telfairia pedata (No. 52450), a cucurbit growing like a liana in the tropical forests of East Africa and pro- ducing immense fruits which are filled with large flat edible seeds, although brought to the attention of horticulturists in 1824 seems nowhere to have been cultivated. It deserves a thorough trial. There is something alluring in the idea of replacing the scrub oaks of the pinelands of Florida with the deciduous oaks of Siam (Nos. 52440 to 52448) which produce great masses of sweet edible acorns. Dye and. tannin plants.—Mr. Koch's account of the black dye made from a tropical species of persimmon, Diospyros moUis (No. 52510), a substance whose color is so prized by the Chinese that they ship into Siam yearly over $800,000 worth of silk and pay duty on it in order to have it dyed there, should attract the attention of the manufacturers of dyes.