APRIL 1 TO JUNE 30^ 1917. 49 



44689 and 44690. Poacese. Grasses. 



From Oran, Salta, Argentina. Presented by Mr. S. W. Damon. Received 

 April 20, 1917. 



" Large, reedlike, tufted perennial grasses which grow to a height of 8 or 9 

 feet, forming immense clumps, in the more barren sandy portions of the region 

 where the provinces of Tucuman, Catamarca, and Salta join. They grow in 

 almost pure sand, more or less alkaline, in districts where no rain falls for 

 months at a time, and are readily eaten by cattle and horses. They might 

 prove to be good ornamentals and useful forage crops for the semiarid por- 

 tions of the southwestern United States." 



44689. CoRTADEEiA RUDiuscuLA Stapf. 44690. Spokobolus sp. 



44691 to 44698. 



From Kew, England. Presented by Sir David Prain, director, Royal 

 Botanic Gardens. Received April 26, 1917. 



Introduced for the work of the Office of Forage-Crop Investigations. 



44691 to 44695. Lathyeus spp. Fabacese. 



44691. Lathyrus sp. 



These seeds were received under the name of L. undulatus, but 

 they do not agree with the seeds of that species in the office seed 

 collection. 



44692. Lathyrus cirrhosus Seringe. 



A glabrous, climbing annual, 4 to 10 dm. (16 to 40 inches) long, 

 with a woody, straight-winged stem ; leaves composed of two to 

 three pairs of nearly oblong leaflets, terminated by branching ten- 

 drils ; purple or pinkish flowers in three to eight flowered loose 

 racemes ; and smooth, tawny pods about 2i inches long, native to the 

 barren slopes of the Pyrenees. (Adapted from X. Philippe, Flore des 

 Pyrenees, p. 261.) 



44693. Lathyrus laxifloeus (Desf.) Kuntze. 



An erect herbaceous plant, native of the island of Crete, with a 

 simple, slender, angled, hairy stem about a foot iall ; alternate hairy 

 leaves composed of two oval pointed leaflets, without tendrils; lax 

 racemes of three to five bluish violet flowers ; and hairy pods about 

 an inch long. It is said to have a twisted root 1 foot long and 4 

 inches thick, witJi white flesh and long fibers. (Adapted trom M. 

 Desfontaines, in Annates du Museum d'Histoire Nafurelle, vol. 12, 

 p. 57, 1908, as Orobus laxiflorus.) 



Index Kewensis refers this to Lathyrus hirsuttis L., but Ascherson 

 and Graebner consider it a distinct species. 



44694. Lathyrus pisifoemis L. 



A stout clambering perennial, up to 3i feet in lengtJi, with 

 narrow or broad-winged stem ; compound leaves with three to five 

 pairs of nearly ovate leaflets, terminated by rather slender tendrils; 

 dense racemes of small violet flowers ; and dark-brown pods about 

 2 inches long. It is native to central Europe and central and 

 southern Asia. (Adapted from Ascherson and Graebner, Synopsis 

 der Mitteleuropdischen Flora, vol. 6, p. 103^.) 

 50628—22 4 



