4» 



14 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



28909 to 28911.— Continued. 



28911. PsiDiuM ARA5A Raddi. Guava. 



•'The araga grows to about 15 feet (the size of a hazel), and the very pleasant 

 sweet fruits are about an inch or an inch and a quarter in diameter. With good 

 cultivation I feel sure it could be improved. The fruits are just like small 

 guavas, clear yellow when ripe. They taste sweeter, however, and would make 

 excellent preserves." 



See No. 26757 for previous introduction. 



28912. Irvingia gabonensis (Aubry-Lecomte) Baill. Oba. 



From Victoria, Kamerun, Africa. Presented by Mr. F. A. Deistel, director of the 

 experiment station, at the request of the Imperial Colonial Office at Berlin, 

 Germany. Received October 8, 1910. 



This is a tree 30 to 50 feet high, with shining leaves, which produces edible fruit 

 said to be about 2 J inches in diameter. The seeds are the som-ce of "Dika butter." 

 This is called "wild mango'' by the English residents of Princes Island, where it 

 grows. It is also reported from the Muni and Kamerun rivers in western Africa. 



28913. Ipomoea tubergulata Ker. 



Grown at Brookland, D. C, and presented by Miss Carrie Harrison, of the Bureau 

 of Plant Industry, October, 1910. 



"Last spring I purchased in the Center Market of Washington a promising young 

 perennial plant said to be a passion flower. It was planted in a corner with a choice 

 of tumbling over a wall, following wires and climbing a tree, or trailing on the ground; 

 it did all three with a decided preference for trailing. About August it produced a 

 few pinkish-violet, morning-glory blooms with a pansy-purple center, so far as I know 

 the most decorative of the order. 



"This species has been in cultivation since 1815, is from the East Indies, and prob- 

 ably reached the market from the Botanical Gardens in Washington, D. C, ^^hc^e 

 they have some plants growing. It belongs to the group which contains the sweet 

 potato. 



"It has a large spiral root and sends out about 30 branches, each between 20 and 30 

 feet long. The enormous growth would make it a desirable forage plant, and as closely 

 related species in India are used for this purpose the presvmption is in its favor. The 

 general aspect of leaves and branches is that of Alcehia qidnata. It will have to be 

 grown from cuttings, quite an easy matter, as it roots at the leaf nodes, because it 

 would not bear fruit out of doors north of Washington, D. C." {,Earrison.) 



Cuttings. 



28914. Lapageria rosea R. and P. Chilean bellflower. 



From Coquimbo, Chile. Presented by Mr. Andrew Kerr, consular agent. 

 Received October 15, 1910. 

 See No. 14948 for previous introduction and description. 



28915 to 28917. Solanum spp. Wild potato. 



Collected by Mr. J. C. Bluaer, Tucson, Ariz. Received October 27, 1910. 

 Tubers of the following; notes by Mr. Blumer: 



28915 and 28916. "Collected October 5, 1910, on the steep northeast slope 

 of the Santa Catalina Moimtains, at an elevation of 7,800 feet, under white 

 and Douglas fir, in fine humous loam. Vines fresh, succulent, and fruit- 

 ing. Slope burned clean in June." 



28917. "Collected October 17, 1910, on Rincon Mountains, at Spud Ranch 

 camp site. Since potatoes were once cultivated here these purplish tubers 

 may be escaped from cultivation. " 



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