1782 STIMULANT, AROMATIC, NARCOTIC AND ME;dICINAI< PLANTS 



STIMULANT, 



AROMATIC, 



NARCOTIC 



AND MEDICINAL 



PLANTS 



1284 - Coffee in Java. — I. Cramer p. J. S. Coffea excelsa in Java, in Teysmannia, Year 

 XXVII, Nos. 4 and 5, pp. 211-223. Batavia, 1916. — II. Keuchenius P. E. Notes on the 

 Fertilization of Coffea excelsa in Java, in Mededeelingen van het Besnekisch Proefstation, 

 No. 20. Surabaya, 191 5. 



I. Co^gae.vce/sa was discovered in the Congo in 1904 by A. Chevalier, 

 and it was introduced into Java through the State Agricultural Station, 

 which received some seeds from the Colonial Garden at Nogent-sur Marne 

 (France) It resembles Coffea liherica, from which it is distinguished by 

 some secondary characters, especially by the smaller fruits. The berry 

 has a soft water}^ pulp and a tender skin which is easily removed. 



Various types of plants were raised from the first seeds introduced into 

 Java and careful selection will be necessary to obtain a good stock for cul- 

 tivation. During the extraordinary and prolonged droughts of the last few 

 years Coffea excelsa has shown greater powers of resistance than other spe- 

 cies of coffee. 



Investigations on selection and on the best methods of cultivation are 

 being carried out at the State Experimental Station. 



II. Observations have been made on the different ways in which coffee 

 is pollinated, as insects are almost entirely absent from the plantations. The 

 relative positions of the stamens and pistil in the flower makes self-polUna- 

 tion very difficult. The pollen is easily shaken down on lower flowers, and 

 it is also carried by the wind. It is therefore probable that self fertiliz- 

 ation is very rare, and that most flowers are cross-fertilized. 



1285 - New Method of Detecting Adulteration in Tea. — REHFousL-,in Bulletin de la So- 



ciete botanique de Geneve, 2nd Series, Vol. VIII, Nos. i, 2 and 3, pp. 24-28. Geneva, January, 



February and March, 191 6. 



The method is based on examination of the stomates, which are quite 

 different in Thea sinensis from those in any of the other leaves used for adul- 

 teration. In the stomates of Thea the guard cells possess, on their inner 

 surface, a very strongly marked layer of cutin which is prolonged into a beak 

 or hook, and which is distinct from the beak which closes the ostiole. 



Various kinds of tea have been examined. The stomates of Pecco tea 

 are strongly cuticularised and possess the characteristic hooks. Ceylon tea 

 is made from rather young leaves in which few of the stomates are fully de- 

 veloped ; the cutin is less marked but the hooks are plainly visible although 

 they are not very well defined. Both characters are also evident in Java tea, 

 black tea (vSouchong), Imperial, Congo, Russian tea from West Caucasus, 

 Shangai green tea, Chinese yellow tea, green tea from South Mongolia. The 

 same characters appear even in the sepals of Thea sinensis. 



The only leaf used for adulteration that bears much resemblance to 

 that of Thea is the Camelia leaf. A transverse section of one of the latter 

 leaves shows that the stomates are quite different from those of'Thea. for 

 though they are strongly cuticularised the hooks are but very slightly de- 

 veloped. 



