INVENTORY. 



42384 and 42385. Nephelitjm spp. Sapindacese. 



From Buitenzorg, Java. Presented by the director of the Botanic Gar- 

 dens. Received April 6, 191G. 



42384. Nephelitjm lappaceum L. Rambutan. 



" The rainbutan ti'ee grows to a height of about 40 feet, and when in 

 fruit is a handsome sight, the terminal clusters of bright crimson fruits 

 being produced on every branch. The compound leaves are made up of 

 oblong-ovate leaflets about 4 inches long by 2 inches wide. In habit 

 of growth the tree appears to be normally rather round-topped and 

 spreading, but as it is frequently planted among other trees, it is forced 

 to grow tall and slender, branching only at a considerable height above 

 the ground. A cluster of rambutans, when highly colored, is exception- 

 ally attractive. The best forms attain, when fully ripe, a rich crimson 

 color. The individual fruits are slightly smaller than a hen's egg, but 

 more elongated in form. They are covered with soft spines about half 

 an inch in length and are borne in clusters of about 10 to 12 fruits. 

 The skin is not thick or tough, and to eat the fruit the basal end is 

 torn off, exposing the aril, which, with a slight pressure on the apical 

 end of the fruit, slides into one's mouth. The aril is white, nearly 

 transparent, about one-fourth of an inch thick, and has a mildly sub- 

 acid, somewhat vinous flavor." (Wilson Popenoe.) 



See S. P. I. No. 34494 for previous introduction. 



42385. Nephelitjm mutabile Blume. Pulassan. 



" Pulassan. A Malayan tree, similar to the rainbutan in appearance, 



but differing in the fruit and in the leaves, which are gray beneath. 

 The fruit is larger than the rainbutan, of a deep purple-brown, with 

 short, blunt processes, and, according to Ridley, the flavor is decidedly 

 superior to that of the latter fruit." (Macmillan, Handbook of Tropi- 

 cal Gardening, 2d ed., p. 176.) 



42386. Castilla nicoyexsis O. F. Cook. Moraceae. 



Nicoya rubber. 



From San Jose, Costa Rica. Presented by Mr. Carlos Werckle, Depart- 

 ment of Agriculture. Received April 3, 1916. 



A medium-sized tree, 10 to 20 meters high, with deciduous leaves 8 to IS 

 inches long ami 4 to 8 inches broad, bearing inconspicuous flowers and orange- 

 red fruits in a receptacle 2 to 3 inches in diameter. Reported so far only 

 from the peninsula of Nicoya, but the probability is that it will be found all 

 along the Pacific coast from Nicaragua to Panama. It is a good rubber pro- 

 ducer, the milk being particularly abundant toward the end of the dry sea- 

 son. Owing to this fact, it is almost exterminated from the western forests 

 of Costa Rica. (Adapted from I'iltur, Contributions from the U. S. National 

 Herbarium vol. 13, p. 275.) 



For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 3*1 SS. 



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