APRIL 1 TO JUNE 30, 1915. 7 



western locality in China. Those interested in the breeding of hedys- 

 arums for the production of hardy forage varieties or as ornamentals 

 will welcome two species, as yet undetermined, which Mr. Meyer 

 found in Kansu (S. P. I. Nos. 40746 and 40747). The gall nuts of 

 China, which are exported in large quantities from Hankow and are 

 used for a black dye by the Chinese and for tanning purposes by 

 Europeans, Mr. Meyer found to come from the Shensi Province and 

 to be produced by a gall insect which attacks the leaves of a native 

 sumac, Rhus potanini (S. P. I. No. 40717), which sumac might 

 easily be grown on cheap lands in our Southern States, as it is not 

 particular as to soil requirements. Both this species and another 

 from the same region, Rhus javanica (S. P. I. No. 40716), are hand- 

 some ornamentals. 



Since the Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinensis) has shown itself 

 adapted to the Southwest and avenues of it have been started, it is 

 interesting to have Mr. Meyer's record of a tree at Tsaichiapu 

 (S. P. I. No. 40662) which has a girth of 16 feet, measured 5 feet 

 above the ground. The wide range of territory in which the Chinese 

 elm ( Ulmus pumila) has succeeded will make Mr. Meyer's introduc- 

 tion of a weeping variety of this species of unusual interest (S. P. I. 

 No. 40507). 



( dmoensia maxima, the largest flowered legume known, a tropical 

 vine producing fragrant blooms as beautiful as many orchids, has 

 flowered in Cuba from plants distributed from this office, and another 

 introduction (S. P. I. No. 40391) has been made from Angola, 

 where it spreads underground to great distances. It deserves to be 

 naturalized in the hammocks of southern Florida. 



Ninety-one species and varieties of the genus Kibes (S. P. I. Nos. 

 40406 to 40496) has been assembled for the studies of the white-pine 

 blister rust, for which certain species appear to be a secondary host. 

 Among these are a number of very interesting hybrids and new or 

 rare species, such as the hybrid between the black currant and the 

 gooseberry (X Ribes schneideri) , Wilson's Rites longeracemosum, 

 and the X Ribes succirubrum, the plants of which are reported to be 

 in their second generation identical with those of the Hist generation. 



Dr. Eisen has sent in a fig variety from Naples called the Troiaro 

 (S. P. I. No. 40499) which he considers superior to the White 

 Adriatic and declares to be the best tabic fig in Italy. It requires a 

 •nore even climate than that of Fresno in which to mature, hut is 

 not affected seriously by fall rains. Prof. Savastano, the veteran 

 horticulturist of southern Italy, has sent from his own garden at 

 Acireale, Sicily, what he considers to be the best walnut of the 

 Sorrento type (S. P.I. No- L0394). 



Prof. J. Burtt Davy calls attention again to the success in the 

 Transvaal of the Abyssinian tell' (Eragrostis abyssinica; S. P. I. No. 



