JANUARY 1 TO IVIARCH 31, 191S, 51 



45956 to 45964— Continued. 



45964. Magnolia globosa Hook. f. and ThouTs. MasnoliacefB. 



" From Lloyd Botanical Garden, Darjiling. I obtained seed of 

 Magnolia globosa, whicli is found at 10,000 feet elevation and requires a 

 moist climate." {Mitchell.) 



A small tree with brown branches and ovate leaves 9 inches long by 

 6 inches wide. The globose flower buds, which appear with the young 

 leaves, are about 2 inches in diameter and open into fragrant white 

 flowers 5 inches across. (Adapted from Hooker, Flora of British India, 

 vol. 1, p. Jil.) 



45965. Nephrosperma VAN-HOUTTEANUM (Wendl.) Balf. f. Pliccni- 



cacese. Palm. 



From Ivoloina, Madagascar. Presented by Mr. Eugene .Taegle, director. 



Madagascar Agricultural Experiment Station, througli Mr. .Tames G. 



Carter, American consul, Tananarivo. Received March 23, 1918. 



A palm about 35 feet tall with a trunk 6 inches in diameter, found in open 

 places and along streams up to an altitude of 1,000 feet in the Seyclielles 

 Islands. The leaves, 5 to 7 feet long, are divided into pinnate segments 3 to 

 4 feet long, broad segments alternating irregularly with narrow ones, the ter- 

 minal segments being joined together. The orange-red fruits are borne in clus- 

 ters 3 to 4 feet long. (Adapted from Baker, Flora of Mauritius and the 

 Seychelles, p. 386.) 



45966 and 45967. Cymbopogox martini (Eoxb.) Stapf. Poaceae. 



(Andropogon martini Roxb.) Rusa-oil grass. 



From India. Presented by Mr. R. S. Hole, Forest Botanist, Forest Re- 

 search Institute and College, Dehra Dun. Received March 28 and 29, 

 1918. 



A stout perennial grass found in northern India. It grows to a height of 6 

 feet and has long, perfectly smooth leaves of a soft delicate texture and rich 

 green color. The slender panicles, 6 to 12 inches long, turn to a bright reddish 

 brown color in ripening. 



The distinction between the two kinds of Rusa oil procured from this grass, 

 viz, motia and sufia, which the distillers of Khandesh and the neighboring dis- 

 tricts recognize, apparently depends on similar conditions, although the ac- 

 counts concerning them are to some extent conflicting. The authors of the 

 Pharmacographia Indica (vol. iii, p. 558) say: "The oil distillers in Khandesh 

 call the grass motiya when the inflorescence is young and of a bluish white 

 color ; after it has ripened and become red it is called suflya. The oil ob- 

 tained from it in the first condition has a more delicate odor than that obtained 

 from the ripened grass." 



On the other hand, Mr. E. G. Fernandez reports in a letter to Kew : " The 

 motia species (or variety) is usually confined to the higher slopes, while the 

 sufia grass is more common on the plains and on the plateau land in the hills ; 

 but they are not infrequently found growing together. The sufia is much more 

 strongly scented, but the odor of motia is preferred, and this latter commands 

 double the price of the former." The samples of both forms supplied by Mr. 

 Fernandez do not show any morphological differences, and as to age, some of 

 the motia samples are in a more advanced stage than the sufia. (Adapted from 

 Stapf, The Oil Grasses of India and Ceylon, in The Ke^o Bulletin of Miscel- 

 laneous Information, 1906, p. S41-) 



