18 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



39362. Lycopersicon esculentum Miller. Solanaceae. 



Wild tomato. 



From Funchal, Madeira. Presented by Mr. Charles H. Gable, director, 

 Junta Agrieola. Received October 31, 1914. 

 "The Httle wild tomato Lycopersicum vulgare eerasiforme which is found 

 in Madeira is considered by Lowe (A Manual Flora of Madeira) as being 

 the original stock from which our cultivated varieties have been derived. The 

 same author states that besides ' growing spontaneously everywhere below 2,000 

 feet about Funchal and other towns and villages in Madeira, it is completely 

 naturalized on the central rocky crest of the North Deserta.' The North 

 Desert is an almost barren, uninhabited island which lies about 30 miles from 

 Madeira. To quote further: 'It has been found also in the Great Salvage by 

 Sr. C. C. Noronha ; and the interior of Sao Iago, one of the Cape Verdes, 

 between the Ribeira dos Pices and the Boa Entrada of Sta. Catarina. I 

 found it mixed with Momordica eharantia L., overspreading in vast tangled 

 beds or masses whole miles of mountain tracts at an elevation of 3,000 to 4,000 

 feet above the sea.' The selection which has taken place in the development of 

 our cultivated varieties has not greatly changed the general appearance of the 

 plant. The writer has not had the opportunity of making the careful botanical 

 study necessary for the intelligent comparison of the characters presented by 

 this wild tomato and our cultivated varieties, so there will be presented here 

 only very brief observations of the conditions in which the plants grow. One of 

 these plants was transplanted to a favorable part of the garden where the 

 ground was rich and had plenty of moisture. It made a tremendous growth, 

 and at the end of three months the plant was 5 feet in diameter and 34 feet 

 high. Unfortunately, the plant was destroyed, so that it was impossible to 

 complete the record. Another plant was found where it could not have had a 

 drop of water for at least three months. It probably had started to grow 

 during the last few rains of the spring, but had completed its growth during the 

 heat and drought of summer. The particular spot where it grew was the hottest 

 of the hot parts of the island. When it was found, the vine was apparently 

 entirely dead and lying flat on the ground ; the leaves had dried up and dropped 

 off; but the fruits, every one of which was ripe, were clinging to the vine. 

 It also seemed very strange to find that the fruits were all plump and firm — 

 over 300 of them on this one vine. The fruits are so very acid that they 

 can be used for little else besides soups, and the natives do not use them a 

 great deal for even that. Their keeping quality, however, might prove a desir- 

 able characteristic in crossing with some of the highly developed varieties with 

 the object of obtaining a good shipping tomato of pleasing flavor." (Gable.) 



39363. Hoedeum vulgare coeleste L. Poaceae. Barley. 

 From Jerusalem, Palestine. Presented by Mr. Ernest F. Beaumont, Ameri- 

 can Colony. Received October 28, 1914. 



•' I'ropheVs barley. This is grown around Mecca and is esteemed as sacred 

 by the Mohammedans. No animal is made use of in its planting, harvesting, 

 or thrashing, as such use would be considered as defiling it. You will notice that 

 the kernels shell out from the husk quite clean, like wheat." (Beaumont.) 



39364. Oryza sativa L. Poaceae. Rice. 



From Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia. Presented by Mr. H. G. Mundy, 



Government agriculturist and botanist, Department of Agriculture, 



through Mr. C. V. Piper, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Received 



November 9, 1914. 



"Mashonaland rice. Native crop grown in Southern Rhodesia." (Mundy.) 



