NOVEMBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1919. 17 



48508. Amygdalus persica L. Amygdalaceae. Peach. 



(Prunus persica Stokes.) 



From Santa Cruz, Calif. Presented by Mr. George G. Streator. Received 

 November 19, 1919. 



" Indian Blood peach. A vigorous-growing tree, bearing freestone peaches. 

 The flesh is dark blood red, very juicy, and of very good quality; the skin is 

 greenish gray suffused with red. It is late maturing and looks as though it 

 would make an excellent canning peach." (Peter Bisset.) 



48509. VouACAPGUA ixERMis (Swartz) Knuth. Fabacese. 



(Andira inermis H. B. K.) 

 From Georgetown, Demerara, British Guiana. Presented by Mr. R. Ward, 

 superintendent. Botanic Garden. Received November 25, 1919. 

 A slow-growing leguminous tree, called in Jamaica cabbage tree or cabbage- 

 bark tree, on account of its disagreeable odor. It is generally distributed in 

 Porto Rico and is sometimes used in coffee plantations for shade. The fleshy 

 pods, about the size of a horse-chestnut, contain but a single seed. The floors 

 of the caves of Aguas Buenas, Porto Rico, are in places covered with the seeds 

 of this species, which are carried in by bats for the sake of the inclosing pulp. 

 These seeds germinate in the caves, sending up slender white sprouts 2 or 3 feet 

 high. The wood, which is said to be hard and durable, varies in the same tree 

 from reddish yellow to black and takes a high polish. It is used for wheel 

 hubs, for flooring and all sorts of carpenter work, and was formerly used in 

 Brazil in the construction of boats. In Porto Rico its most common use is for 

 the framework of houses. It is imported into Europe and used for turned parts 

 of cabinetwork, and to make canes and parasol handles. (Adapted from Cook 

 and Collins, Alewican, Central American, and Porto Rican Plants, p. 80.) 



48510. PoRTULACARiA AFRA Jacq. Portulacacefe. Spekboom. 



From Johannesburg, Transvaal. Cuttings collected by Dr. H. L. Shantz, 

 Agricultural Explorer of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Received Novem- 

 ber 26, 1919. 



"(No. 122. Pretoria, Transvaal. October 8, 1919.) Plant from the Botanic 

 Grounds." (Shantz.) 



A succulent South Afi-ican shrub, rising to 12 feet, which affords locally the 

 principal food for elephants : it is excellent for sheep pasture ; hence, it may 

 deserve naturalization on stony ridges ■ and in sandy desert land not other- 

 wise readily utilized. It is stated that all kinds of pasture animals eat it 

 readily and, when grass is scarce, live on it almost entirely. It grows on hot 

 rocky slopes and prefers doleritic soil. It is easily grown from cuttings and 

 even from single leaves. Spekboom displays an extraordinary recuperative 

 power when broken by browsing animals or when injured from other causes. 

 The trunk may attain 1 foot in diameter. (Adapted from Mueller, Select 

 Extra-Tropical Plants, p. .'i20.) 



In some places the spekboom is arborescent, up to 20 feet high, often form- 

 ing dense thickets. The juicy leaves are a wholesome food for all classes of 

 stock as well as for wild animals, including buffaloes and elephants ; hence, 

 farms with plenty of spekboom need not fear an ordinary drought. " Providence 

 meant to spoil our farmers in placing the spekboom on the hills of the karoo," 

 wrote MacOwan in one of his articles on the fodder plants of the counti-y. 

 (Adapted from Marloth, The Flora of South Afnca, vol. 1, p. 200.) 



