20 SKIDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



23488. AM>i;ni'<><;<>\ iiai.i i i \sis (L.) Brot. Johnson grass. 



Prom Brazil. Presented by Mr. H. M. Lane, president, Mackenzie College, 

 Sao Paulo, Brazil, through Mr. C. V. Piper. Received August 24, £908. 



"This seed whs procured from ;i seedsman and is probably from one <»f the 

 northern States of Brazil. Ii does not grow here (Sao Paulo)." {Lane,) 



23489 to 23493. 



From Cordoba, Spain. Received through Mr. Manuel Fraile, of this Depart- 

 ment, September I. 1908. 



23489. Pi \i< \ granattjm L. Pomegranate. 

 Sweet. 



23490. Punica gbanatum L. Pomegranate. 

 Sour. 



23491. Amygdalus communis L. Almond. 



Sweet. 



23492. Amygdalus communis L. Almond. 



Bitter. 



"These almonds are said to flower in April and May. but as the region from 

 which they come is a rather cool one they probably should not he regarded as 

 late-llowering varieties." (Fraile.) 



23493. Crocus sativus L. Saffron. 



23494. Cucurbita pepo L. Squash. 



From Philippine Islands. Presented by Mr. W. S. Lyon, Manila, P. I. 

 Received August 20, 1008. 



" Calabaza. This plant was found growing on a house in a barrio of a small 

 town on the shores of the Laguna de Bay, Luzon. The leaves are not unusual 

 in shape, but the center of each is of the richest gold or orange yellow surrounded 

 by a /one of the darkest and blackest of vegetable greens. The fruit from 

 which these seeds were obtained was rather small, weighing only about 2 

 pounds, with a major diameter 1 of 6^ inches and a minor of 4i inches. The 

 fruit has all the sweetness, dryness, and chestnut-like flavor of the best strains 

 of the Winter Hubbard squash. Externally the skin is smooth, the central 

 zone being of a dark rich green, on each side of which is an orange-yellow cap. 

 It looks more like a striking fancy gourd than a squash. The owner of the vine 

 from which I obtained the single fruit claimed that no one else owned a similar 

 plant, as he had always refused to sell mature fruits or seeds. From the 

 appearance of the vine I believe that it is a shy bearer, which does not lessen 

 the value of the plant as an ornamental of a very unusual character." {Lyon.) 



23495. Eucalyptus microtheca F. Muell. . Coolibah. 



From Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Procured from Mr. J. H. 

 Maiden, director and government botanist, Botanic Gardens. Received 

 September 8, 1008. 



" Widely dispersed over the most arid extratropical as well as tropical 

 inland regions of Australia. The ' coolibah ' of the aborigines, according to 

 the Rev. Dr. Woolls. The tree wants ferruginous-gravelly soil, perfectly 

 drained. Withstands unscorched a frequent heat of 156° F. in Central Aus- 

 tralia, yet was not affected by exceptionally severe frosts (18° F.) in the south 

 of France when many other eucalypts suffered. The development of this 

 species in southern France and Algeria has been marvelously quick. [Prof. 

 Na'udin.] One of the best trees for desert tracts; in favorable places 150 feet 

 high. Wood brown, sometimes very dark, hard, heavy, and elastic; it is pret- 

 tily marked, hence used for cabinetwork, but more particularly for piles, bridges, 

 and railway sleepers. [Rev. Dr. Woolls.] " (Von Mueller.) 



" This seed was introduced partly for raising trees for honey in California." 

 ( Young. ) 



148 



