APRIL 1 TO MAY 31, 1920. 75 



60466 to 50617 — Continued. 



50615. Theobroma sp. Sterculiaceae. 

 "Plants of the common variety." 



50516. (Undetermined.) 

 "Fruits." 



Received as Platonia insignia, but it does not agree with material received 

 earlier under that name. 



50517. (Undetermined.) 

 " Mamaca plants." 



50518. MiLLETTiA MEGASPERMA (F. Mucll.) Benth. Fabacej^. 

 From New South Wales, Australia. Seeds presented by Hugh Dixson, Aber- 

 • geldie. Received June 3, 1920. 



"This plant is quite unUke Chinese or Japanese varieties of wistaria. It has dark- 

 gi'een foliage and is a rank grower when established; mine is growing over a park rail- 

 ing 90 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 5 feet high, and has to be kept within bounds on 

 width and height. It is not particular as to soil, but I would not advise a heavy clay. 

 The plant stands 8 to 10 degrees of frost without injury. The fiow.ers are darker pui^ple 

 than those of the Chinese variety, sweet scented, and in dense panicles. It is a very 

 shy eeeder with seldom more than one seed in a pod, but it strikes root freely when 

 layered and also from cuttings. The root of a la> er afterwards potted had the largest 

 number of nodules I have ever seen on any leguminous plant. It is an exceedingly 

 rare plant simply because it is not known." (Dixson.) 



50519. Rhus potanini Maxim. Anacardiaceae. 



From Jamaica Plain, Ma8.s. Seeds presented by Prof. C. S. Sargent, Arnold 

 Arboretum. Received June 4, 1920. 



"Collected in northern Honan by Joseph Hers." (Sargent.) 



An elegant Chinese shrub remarkable for the bright coloring of the leaves in autumn. 

 The long graceful leaves are made up of deeply serrate leaflets. (Adapted from The 

 Gardeners' Magazine, vol. 52, p. 721.) 



On this sumach a gall insect makes its home, producing large inflated galls which 

 the Chinese utilize for dyeing black. The foreigners found that the galls contain a 

 great percentage of tannin and use them for dyeing purposes, exporting vast quantities 

 from Hankow especially, under the name of Chinese gallnuts. 



For previous introduction, see S. P. T. No. 40717.* 



50520. Chamaedorea geonomaeformis Wendl. Phoenicaceae. 



Palm. 



From Nice, France. Seeds presented by A. Robertson Proschowsky. Received 

 June 4. 1920. 

 "A very graceful dioecious palm which, on account of its small size and easy cul- 

 ture as a pot plant, should have some importance for decoration." (Proschowsky.) 



50521. Placus balsamifer (L.) Baill. Asteracess. 



(Blumea balsamifera DC.) 

 From Manila, Philippine Islands. Seeds presented by Elmer D. Merrill, director, 

 Bui'eaii of Science. Received June 6, 1920. 

 A perennial shrubby plant, native to Borneo. The leaves when bruised smell 

 strongly of camphor and are used medicinally by the natives. The gum from this 

 tree is known as "Nagai camphor." (Adapted from MacrniUan, A Handbook of 

 Tropical Gardening and Planting, second edition, p. 509.) 



