APRIL. 1 TO JUNE 30, 1917. 9 



In the Coachella Valley the most rapidly growing species of tree 

 is a North African tamarisk {Tamarix a'phylla). It makes so re- 

 markable a growth there that trees 2| years old have a girth of 3 

 feet a foot above the ground. Dr. Trabut sends with the seed of 

 this species (No. 44554) the information that a mite (acarian) in 

 the Sahara produces galls on the tree which contain as high as 45 

 per cent of pyrogallic tannin ; and the suggestion of the use of this 

 remarkable tree as a source of tannin is perhaps allowable. 



Though the parkways are often lined with what is called Catalpd 

 liungei-f in reality a form of C. hignonioides, the true C. hungei is a 

 very rare tree in this country. Mr. Frank N. Meyer pointed out some 

 years ago that it had unusual promise as a timber tree for the semi- 

 arid regions of the Southwest along irrigating ditches. It grows to 

 a height of 100 feet; its timber resembles walnut and is in great 

 demand for table tops and furniture because of its nonwarping char- 

 acter. It is extensively planted by the Chinese. (No. 44664.) 



Without raising the question of the landscape value of the common 

 CasvMrina equisetifolia, which has been planted by millions along 

 the roadways of southern Florida, the doubtful hardiness of that 

 species as contrasted with at least one of the other species {C. cun- 

 ning hamiana) has made it advisable to secure the other members 

 of this genus, and No. 44909 {C. stricta) and No. 44532 {C. cu7i- 

 ninghamiana) are recorded in this inventory. If they prove to be 

 hardier than C. equisetifolia^ a good deal will be gained. 



There seems to be some advantage in the use of certain kinds of 

 melons in the making of preserves, especiallj^ types which have 

 rinds containing large amounts of pectose. The Mankataan melon 

 of Natal, Gitrullus vulgaris (No. 44842), which will keep six months 

 and is used extensively in Cape Colony for preserving, is worth the 

 attention of housekeepers. 



So many valuable grasses have come from South Africa and Aus- 

 tralia that a species on which sheep pasture at altitudes of 6,000 

 feet near Pretoria, Panicum serratutn (No. 44518), and the meadow 

 rice-grass of Australia and New Zealand, Microlaena stipoides (No. 

 44802), which is said to bear overstocking better than any other 

 grass native there, are worth trjdng on the high-altitude pastures 

 of the Pacific slope, where a ground cover which will hold moisture 

 is so much needed. 



We are so accustomed to connecting the flavor of onions with a 

 round-bladed species of bulbous plant that Dr. Trabut's newly 

 domesticated AUvwm triquetrum,^ with triangular leaves, strikes one 

 as remarkable. The onion odor is scarcely perceptible in it, al- 

 though as a vegetable it is very delicate indeed (No. 44793). 



