62 SEEDS A]!?D PLANTS IMPORTED, 



red-stalked leaves are in two rows on the pendulous twigs. This tree is a 

 shy bearer in Egypt, probably on account of the lieat and the dry air." 

 (Bircher.) 



45580. Persea americaxa Mill. Laiiraceae. Avocado. 



(P. gratissima Gaei'tn. f.) 



From the city of Guatemala, Guatemala. Seeds collected by Mr. Wilson 

 Popenoe, Agricultural Explorer for the Department of Agriculture. 

 Received December 19, 1917. 



Avocado seeds introduced for stock purposes. 



45581. Iris oriextalis Mill. Iridacese. Iris. 



(I. ochroleuca L.) 

 From Bellinirhnm. Wash. P.ulbs presented by Mr. C. T. Canfreld. Received 

 December 20, 1917. 



"A species from high table-lands of Turkestan. I admire it more for foliage 

 effect. It delights in stiff clay loam." (fanflehl.) 



One of the largest of the irises. The plants grow in strong clumps ; the leaves 

 are 2 to 3 feet long. 1 inch or more broad, and slightly glaucous. The stem is 

 3 feet tall, stout, terete, about as long as the leaves, with two to three spicate 

 clusters of flowers, the outer segments of which are obovate. 1 inch board, as 

 long as the claw, yellow, paler or white toward the margin, and the inner seg- 

 ments oblong. 1 inch brfind. lemon yellow to whitish. It grows in almost any 

 situation. Native to Asia Minor and Syria. (Adapted from Bnileii. Standard 

 Cyclopedia of Horticulture, vol. 3, p. 1678.) 



Received as Iris fjigautea. 

 45582 and 45583. 



From Madrid, Spain. Seeds presented by the director of the Botanic 

 Garden. Received December 11, 1017. 



45582. CoNVOi,\T7Lx;s scammonia L. Convolvulaceae. Scammony. 

 The plant has a large, tapering, fleshy root. 3 to 4 feet long, 9 to 12 inches 



in circumference, and abounding in a milky juice. It is this juice, in a 

 concentrated form, which constitutes the drug called scammony. In 

 its medicinal action scammony is a violent purgative and is therefore 

 seldom used except along with other cathartics, by which its action is 

 mitigated and theirs promoted. Native to Syria and the Levant. 

 (Adapted from Hogg, Vegetalyle Kingdom, p. 536.) 



45583. Parietaria officinalis L. Urticacefe. 



A bushy plant from 12 to 18 inches high, with reddish brittle stems, 

 oblong-ovate dull-green leaves, and tufts of small greenish floweis in the 

 axils of the upper leaves. It is sometimes used as a potherb. While the 

 ashes of the plant are said to contain a quantity of niter, its medicinal 

 properties are almost negligible. The proportion of potassium nitrate 

 which it contains is really too inconsiderable to enter seriously into 

 account ; nevertheless, it passes for an emollient and diuretic and as 

 such has sometimes been prescribed in diseases in which inflammation is 

 to be reduced. (Adapted from Lindley, Treasury of Botany, p. 8.'i6; 

 National Standard Dispensatory, p. 1613; and Heraud, Dictionnaire des 

 Plantes Medicinales, p. 1/58.) 



