34 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



53123 to 53175— Continued. 



53174. ToRRESiA ODOi^TA (L.) Hitchc. Poacese. Holy grass. 



Holy firass, vanilla grass, or Seneca grass, native to Canada and the 

 northern United States. It is sweet scented owing to the presence of 

 coumarin. The Indians use the grass to malje fragrant basinets. 



Received as Hierochloe odorata, wliich is now referred to Torresia 

 odorata. 



53175. Trollius europaeus L. Ranunculacese. Globeflower. 



A hardy herbaceous perennial 15 inches high, with lemon-yellow 

 globular flowers 1 to 2 inches in diameter. Native to wet upland meadows 

 of noxthern Europe. 



53176. DiosPYROS coxzattii Standi. Diospyracese. Persimmon. 



From Cerro Espino, Oaxaca, Mexico. Seeds presented by P. C. Standley, 

 United States National Museum. Received May 16, 1921. 



" Zapote negro months, collected at Cerro Espino, April, 1921, by Prof. C. 

 Conzatti. The fruit is said to be better than that of Diospyros ebenaster." 

 (Standley.) 



A tree of particular interest on account of the exquisite flavor of its edible 

 fruit, 4 centimeters in diameter and 2 centimeters long. In qualit.v it is com- 

 parable with the chico-zapote (Achras zopota). It is green sliinned and much 

 smaller than the common black sapote. Propagation of this magnificent tree is 

 relatively simple on account of its vigor and the altitude at which it thrives, 

 1.000 meters above sea level. (Adapted from Bold in dc la Dircecion de 

 Estudios Biologicos, vol. 2, No. 3, p. 316.) 



53177 to 53217. 



From Ecuador. Collected by Wilson Popenoe. Agricultural Explorer of the 

 DepJirtniont of Agriculture. Received April 6, 1921. Quoted notes by 

 Mr. Popenoe. 



53177. Berbekis quinduensis H. B. K. Berberidacefe. Barberry. 



"(No. 5S5a. Hacienda I>a Esperanza. near El Angel, Province of Carchi, 

 Ecuador. February 15, 1921.) Seeds of Espino. A very pretty species of 

 Berberis, sinnhii (o t:ne obtained in CuimI namurca. From the mountains 

 of Carchi I'rovince. at about ]2,0i)0 feet elevation. This is one of the 

 handsomest wild barberries I have seen in Ecuador. It makes an 

 arborescent shrub up to 10 or 12 feet high, and has large, glossy, stiff, 

 dark-green leaves. The flowers. \^ii ch rire produced in racemes about 3 

 inches long, are oi-ange-yellow and half an inch broad. They are fol- 

 lowed by small clusters of oval, blue-black fruits. The .species is worthy 

 of a trial in the southern United States, wliere it may prove to be 

 of value us an ornamental." 



53178. Onoseris salicifot.ia H. B. K. Asteracese. 



"(No. 5S2a. Conraqui, near Ibarra. Ecuador. February 10, 1921.) Seeds 

 of a low-growing, delicate plant which is abundant on dry rocky slopes 

 in northern Ecuador at altitudes of 6,000 to 9(XX) feet. It rarely sur- 

 passes S inclies in height; the lively pink, daisylike flowers, about 2 

 inches bi'oad. i)r(- borne on slender stems rising a few inches above the 

 foliage. It flowers profusely and is reconnnendeil for trial as a border 

 plant in the United States. It can probably be cultivated as an annual, 

 though here it is, I believe, at least a biennial and probably a perennial." 



53179. Chuquiraga insignis Humb. and Bonpl. Asteraceje. 



"(No. 5S7a. Hacienda La Rinconada. Province of Carchi, Ecuador. 

 February 15, 1921.) Seeds of Chuquiragna, from the pSramo at an 

 altitude of ab<mt 12,000 feet iu Carchi Province. Tli'.s plant, abundant 

 on the high pdramns of Ecuador, is said to have been sacred to the 

 Incas. It is an unusually handsome thing and seems to me worthy 

 of cultivation in other covmtries as an ornamental. It is a slender, half- 

 shrubby plant, stiffly erect in habit, and reaching to 6 feet in height. 



