20 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



42470 to 42475— Continued. 



42472. "Archer. Plant robust, frequently exceeding 1.6 meters in 

 height, branching freely, all parts of the plant being greenish or 

 whitish ; stems nearly smooth ; leaf lobes rather narrow ; flowers 

 smaller than those in the red types ; eye yellowish ; pollen pale 

 yellow, stigma green ; full-grown calyx greenish white, sparsely 

 covered with short, stiff bristles; average length of calyx, 45 milli- 

 meters; width, 26 millimeters; including epicalyx, 32 millimeters. 

 The Archer is very prolific, and the fruit is somewhat less acid 

 than those of the red types, and the products made from it are 

 whitish or amber colored. In the "West Indies a wine is made from 

 this variety that is said to resemble champagne in taste and ap- 

 pearance. Seed of the above-described variety was received from 

 Mr. A. S. Archer, Antigua, British West Indies, by the writer 

 early in 1913, and it was tested in the Lamao experiment station 

 the same year. It has been named in honor of Mr. Archer, with 

 whom the writer has had the privilege of being in correspondence 

 for many years and who has greatly assisted the Bureau of Agri- 

 culture in the introduction of many useful and decorative tropical 

 American plants. The green type of roselle, to which the Archer 

 belongs, was described as Hibiscus digitatus by Cavanilles in 1790, 

 but it is now considered to be a form of H. sahdariffa L." {Wester, 

 Philippine Agricultural Review, p. 268, June, 191$.) 



42473. "Victor. This variety is distinguished by having the uni- 

 foliolate leaves of the young plant change early into leaves deeply 

 five lobed, these leaf characters remaining until the flowering 

 period, when the leaves become three parted or again unifoliolate. 

 The stems and calyces are reddish. The calyces average about 45 

 to 50 millimeters in length and 2S millimeters in equatorial 

 diameter, tapering toward the apex ; the calyx lobes are frequently 

 convolute, and the fleshy spines subtending the calyx lobes are 

 longer and more slender than in the Rico [S. P. I. No. 42471] and 

 are curved upward. The Victor is more upright in habit than the 

 Rico and somewhat earlier in fruiting, due probably to its having 

 been cultivated in Florida for several years." (Wester, Philip- 

 pine Agricultural Review, p. 126, March, 1912.) 



For illustrations of the roselle plant and fruits, see Plates III 

 and IV. 



42474. " Temprano. Plant of medium vigor and upright growth, 

 branching profusely, rarely exceeding 1.25 meters in height ; stems 

 light red; leaves palmately five lobate, with conspicuously narrow 

 lobes; flowers normal; pollen golden brown; calyx of the same 

 general form as that of the Victor [S. F. I. No. 42473], but smaller : 

 average length, 45 mm., width, 25 mm., with epicalyx, 39 mm. 

 The variety is prolific and the fruiting season is 20 days earlier 

 than Victor and Rico. When the Victor fruited for the first time 

 at Lamao in 1911, one plant was conspicuous for its earliness, and 

 the seed was saved from this plant and sown the following year. 

 The early trait of the parent tree was transmitted to the progeny, 

 and the earliest plant was again isolated and the seed sown in 1913. 

 In harvesting the fruit and seed of the third generation, the early 

 habit and other characteristics that distinguish this new strain 



