14 SEEDS AM. PLANTS IMPORTED. 



21780 to 21782 Continued. 

 A collection of seeds, as follows: 



21780. Cannabis bath \ L. Hemp. 



"(No. 128, Dec. 8, 1907.) Seeds <»r a particularly robusl form of 



this well-known hemp. This form of cannabis is commonly cultivated 

 in association with maize by peasants and farmers on the mountains 

 north ;ind south of [chang :it altitudes between 3,000 and 5,000 feet. 



The plants v;iry from <'» to 1L» foot, and the lower pari of the stem is often 



4 inches in circumference. 



"This plant is cultivated exclusively for the oil which is expressed 

 from the seeds after grinding and steaming in the ordinary Chinese way. 

 This oil is used for illuminating purposes and is valued on accounl of its 

 noncongealing in the coldest of weather. The stems are used for fuel, 

 though ;i little fiber is occasionally used for making sundries for local use. 



•• It is the Tung ma (cold hemp) of these parts." ( Wilson.) 



21781. ACTINIDLA CHINENSIS Planch. Yang-taw. 



"(No. 347, Dec. 8, 1907.) A robust climber, 10 to 30 feet high; 

 leaves and young shoots covered with bright crimson villous hairs. 

 Flowers unisexual or hermaphrodite, buff-yellow to white, fragrant, 1 to 

 1£ inches across, produced in great profusion. Fruits abundantly pro- 

 duced, ovoid to globose, 1 to 24 inches long, 1 to li inches across, epicarp 

 membranous, russet-brown, more or less clothed with villous hairs. Flesh 

 green, of most excellent flavor, to my palate akin to that of the common 

 gooseberry but tempered with a flavor peculiarly its own. 



"The plant is common in thickets and margins of woods from 3,000 to 

 4,000 feet high in western Hupeh and Szechuam Also known from the 

 Hushan Mountains in Kiangsi Province and from Fokien. 



"The plant is highly ornamental, either in foliage or in flower. The 

 fruits are excellent for either dessert or making into preserves. 



" Introduced by me to the nurseries of Veitch & Sons, of Chelsea, Lon- 

 don, and quite hardy in England. 



•"Local native name, Yang tao (straw r berry peach)," (Wilson.) 



21782. Eucommia ulmoides Oliver. Tu-chung. 



"(No. 383, Dec. 8, 1907.) Tree 25 to 40 feet by 1* to 4 feet. Culti- 

 vated in western Hupeh and Szechuan at altitudes between 1.000 and 

 4,500 feet. The tree is valued for its bark, which constitutes the native 

 drug Tu-chung. The bark, leaves, and fruit contain silky, elastic fibers 

 composed largely of a caoutchouc-like substance akin to balata. As a 

 rubber-producing plant, however, the plant has little value. 



•' Eucommia was introduced from China into France by Vilmorin and 

 into England by myself. In both countries it has proved quite hardy. 

 In Algiers and parts of Tonking this tree has been experimentally planted 

 by the French as a rubber-producing tree. 



"The medicine Tu-chung is valued as a tonic and mild aphrodisiac. 



"The customs' valuation here is: First quality, 30 taels per picul; 

 second quality, 20 taels per picul ; third quality, 10 taels per picul." 

 ( Wilson. ) 



21783. Bat hinia picta (H. B. K.) DC. 



From Miami, Fla. Grown in 1907 at the Subtropical Laboratory and Gar- 

 den from seed presented by Mr. J. C. Harvey, Sanborn, Vera Cruz, 

 Mexico; distributed from Subtropical Laboratory and Garden. 



"An unarmed shrub with nearly orbicular leaves, about 3| inches long, and 

 solitary terminal racemes, 2 to 3 inches long, of white flowers spotted with 

 red." (W. F. Wight.) 



21784 to 21805. 



From Sibpur, Calcutta, India. Presented by Capt. A. T. Gage, superintend- 

 ent, Royal Botanic Gardens. Received January 10, 1908. 



137 



