6 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



46306. Garcinia maxgostaxa L. Clusiaceae. Mangosteen. 



From Buitenzor;?. Java. Presented by the Department of Agricultiir''. 

 Received July 3. 1918. 

 For previous introduction and description, see S. P. I. No. 46204. 



46307. Ricixrs communis L. Enphorbiaceae. Castor-bean. 



From Carora, A'enezuela. Presented l)y Mr. Jul.o Marnml Herrera. Re- 

 ceived July 3, 1918. 



Medium-sized, light-gray seet^l witli reddish brown mottlings. 



46308 and 46309. Chenopodium ambrosioides L. Chenopodiacese. 



From Buitenzorg. Java. Presented by the Botanic Garden. Received July 

 3, 1918. 

 The plant is an annual. Init has an almost, woody stem from 1 to 2 meters in 

 height with alternate lanceolate leaves. The inflorescence consists of simple 

 leafy spikes of very small greenish flowers. The seeds are very small and black. 

 The whole plant hns a pronounced aromatic odor. An infusion of this plant 

 has been used in Europe with good rp,sults as a cure for ners-ous affections. 

 I Adapted from the Ptiuruiacf iiti' n] ./uiirii'il mit'i Trfinsartions. Sd scr.. vol. !>. 

 U. 713.) 



For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 45524. 



46308. I-'rom Botanic Garden. 46309. From Kwala Lampur. 



46310 and 46311. 



Fi-om Coyacan, Mexico. Presented by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall. Received July 

 3, 1918. 



46310. AjiAKAXTHrs paniculatus L. Amaranthacefe. Huauhtli. 



" Seeds of Amaranthus ijoniciilatus, known as ' alegria." Much used 

 by Mexican Indians for making sweetmeats. They are first roasted, then 

 mixed with sirup made of honey or of sugar and water, rolled into balls, 

 and eaten like sugared pop corn.'' (Nuttall.) 



An annual, with entire leaves, bearing the abundant grainlike ediblt 

 seed in dense panicles. Some plants produce white seeds and some 

 produce black. The white seeds are those chiefly used by the natives. 

 This plant is found both in cultivation and growing wild. The seeds are 

 ground and cooked in the form of small cakes known as alegrin, these 

 cakes being eaten in large quantities by the poorer classes, e.specially dur- 

 ing a time of scarcity of corn. Huauhtli was cultivated by the Aztecs be- 

 fore, the discovery of America. It occupied an important place in the fare 

 of the people, and accounts show that every year 18 granaries, each with 

 a capacity of 9,000 bushels, were tilled by Monteztniia. Often the tribute 

 exacted by the Aztecs from the people they conquerefl would take the 

 form of a certain quantity of this grain. It was so closely connected 

 with the life of the people that it figTired in religious observances. Sjian- 

 ish historians, writing in the first half of the seventeenth century, give 

 accounts of how the ancient Mexicans made figures of their gods out of 

 the flour obtained from the seed. The figures were carried in processions, 

 and at the end of the ceremony they were broken up and served to the 

 people as a form of communion. (Adapted from ^afford, A Forootten 

 Cereal of Ancient America, Proceedings of the 'Nineteenth International 

 Congress of Americanists, p. 286, 1917.) 



