JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1918. 37 



45892 to 45898— Continued. 



jxirple or reddish purple flowers, but there are varietu^s with wliite, 

 lihic, pink. blue, and red l)lossonis. As the raceiiics are some 3 

 inches long and borne from nearly every leaf axil on tlie upper 

 I)art.s of the shoots, the effect is very fine. (Adapted from Gar- 

 dening Illustrated, vol. 37. p. 308.) 



Received as Veronica imperialis, which seems to be a garden 

 name for T. speciosa. 



45897. Variety kermislna. A handsome dark form, the phnils blos- 

 soming when in a young state, wliif-b is not often the case with 

 Veronica speciosa. (Adapted from London. Encyclopedia of 

 Plants, p. 15Ji6.) 



45898. Veronica sp. Scrophulariacere. Speedwell. 



Received as Veronica lobeUaflora, for wliicli name a place of publica- 

 tion has not been found. 



45899. Stizolobium pruritum officixale Piper. Fabacese. 



From Chinandega, Nicaragua. Presented by Mr. C. B. Sibley, Escuela de 

 Agricultura. Received March S, 1918. 



" Pica-pica. From what I have observed of this plant it must be very much 

 like the velvet bean of the Florida orchards. I have noticed that it is a very 

 heavy producer of nitrogen nodules. They are very numerous and also quite 

 large. This fact has been taken advantage of by the natives, so that they 

 welcome the plant into the corn fields that lie fallow or resting. One other 

 point in its favor is that the stem of the plant during the growing season does 

 not become hard and woody, so that, used as a green manure, it would soon 

 decay in the soil after being plowed under." (Sibley.) 



45900. CoNDALiA LiNEATA A. Gray. Rhamnaceae. Piquillin. 



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

 9, 1918. 



"The fruit from which I took these seeds was bought in the market of 

 .Jujuy. I have never seen it growing, but as bought it resembles a small-sized 

 inferior grade of cherry." (Damon.) 



A spiny, much-branched shrub with alternate, spatulate to oblong-ovate, 

 sharply pointed, leathery leaves about half an inch long. The flowers have a 5- 

 parted whitish calyx, but no petals. The oblong, 1-seeded fruits are borne 

 singly or in pairs on short pedicels in the axils of the leaves. (Adapted from 

 'A. Gray, in Botany of the U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. 1, p. 275.) 



45901. Pyrus communis L. Malacese. Pear. 



From Columbia, Mo. Cuttings presented by Dr. .T. C. Whitten. College of 

 Agriculture. Received IMarch 12, 1918. 

 "The Surprise pear forwarded by Dr. Whitten, of the College of Agriculture, 

 Columbia, Mo., is one of the most promising as a blight-resistant pear and may 

 prove of economic importance as a stock for commercial varieties. As grown 

 by Prof. Reimer at Talent, Oreg., it was one of the most vigorous of stocks and 

 seemed to transmit this vegetative character to nearly all varieties of pears 

 which were grafted or budded upon it. Its congeniality, in other words, is to 

 be commended. Dr. Whitten says that the Surprise pear is apparently a pure 



