74. SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



44818 to 44822— Continued. 



44822. Maurandia scandens (Cav.) Pers. Scrophulariacese. 



" (No. 108a. From Purula, Department of Baja Vera Paz.) Seeds of 

 a slender creeper from a garden. It has delicate foliage and funnel- 

 shaped flowers about an inch broad and lavender in color. Since it is 

 found at an altitude of over 5,000 feet, it should be sufficiently hardy to 

 grow in southern California as well as in Florida." 



44823. PiMEKTA ACRis (Swartz) Kosteletsky. Myrtacese. 



Bay tree. 



From Port Louis, Mauritius. Presented by Mr. G. Regnard. Received 

 June 4, 1917. 

 A small, erect tree, the leaves of which are very aromatic, yielding by dis- 

 tillation an oil which is used in the preparation of bay rum. It is a native 

 of the West Indies, but is cultivated in other tropical places also. The dried 

 leaves and the bay rum form an important export from St. Thomas and other 

 West Indian Islands. (Adapted from Macmillan, Handbook of Tropical Gardeiv- 

 ing and Planting, p. 261.) 



44824. PiMENTA OFFICINALIS Luidl. Myrtacese. Allspice. 

 From Port Louis, Mauritius. Presented by Mr. G. Regnard. Received 



June 5, 1917. 

 A small tree with smooth, grayish bark, native to Central America and the 

 West Indies, but cultivated in many places throughout the Tropics for the 

 berries. These when ripe are glossy black and the size of small peas, but when 

 dried before ripening are the allspice or pimento of commerce. It is considered 

 to yield best in a hot and rather drj' climate and prefers a loose loam or an 

 alluvial, well-drained soil. At the present time Jamaica is the only place from 

 which allspice is exported. (Adapted from Macmillan, Handbook of Tropical 

 Gardening and Planting, p. 259.) 



44825. Erythrochiton sp. Rutacese. 



From Para, Brazil. Presented by Mr. J. Simao da Costa. Received June 5, 

 1917. 

 "A rutaceous plant which may be called a botanical curiosity, from the queer 

 way in which its flowers are borne. It prefers a warm, moist atmosphere and 

 not too much light," (Da Costa.) 



The flowers of ErythrocJiiton hypophyllanthus, a related species, are borne 

 on the midribs of the leaves. 



Received as Erythrochiton paraensis, for which no place of publication has 

 yet been found. 



44826 to 44828. Holcus sorghum L. Poaceae. Sorghum. 



{Sorghum vulgare Pers.) 

 From Salisbury, Rhodesia, Africa. Presented by Mr. J. O. S. Walters, 

 assistant agriculturist. Department of Agriculture. Received June 5, 

 1917. Quoted notes by Mr. Walters. 

 Introduced for the Office of Forage-Crop Investigations. 



44826. " The cultivated variety." 



44827. " The wild variety." 



44828. " Probably a cross. All of these native sorghums cross readily." 



