39 



The next letter from Capt. Corcleaux is as follows : 



4 



" Berbera, January 2, 1907. 



" I much regret that I have as yet been unsuccessful in obtain- 

 " ing the herbarium specimens of the Yehib tree which you 

 " asked for. The specimens which the natives I have sent out 

 " have brought in have not been worth sending you, I recently 

 " sent a more intelligent man for the purpose and I hope that he 

 " will be more successful. 



" In the meantime it may interest you to know that I have 

 11 succeeded in rearing four small plants in my garden at Berbera 



" from the nuts, despite the asseverations of the Soinalis that the 

 " tree would not grow anywhere except in the ■ Haud. 1 



H If these young plants continue to do well, and failing other 

 " specimens, I will send you specimens taken from them." 



This letter was followed shortly afterwards by another : 



%i Berbera, January 30, 1907. 



" I am sending you to-day a specimen of a small Yehib bush 

 " which has just been brought in to me. I fear that it is not a 

 " very good specimen as it has suffered considerably from the long 

 11 journey down to the coast. The Somali who brought it declares 

 " that it was in blossom when he dug it up but unfortunately they 

 u [the flowers] have all dried up and fallen off, as has happened 

 " to most of the leaves. 1 hope however that the specimen may 

 " be of some use. The Somalis say that the bush has very deep 

 " roots and that even in the case of this small bush the roots were 

 " about six feet long. The black core which you will notice 

 u running down the centre of the main root is curious. It is also 

 " to be observed that if the leaves are slightly moistened and 

 " rubbed between the fingers a magenta -coloured stain is produced. 



" The young plants which I have grown here from seeds are 

 " fairly healthy but are making very slow progress. They have 

 " been doing better since I have stopped watering them," 



The bush referred to in this letter reached Kew on February 26, 

 1907. It is somewhat over two feet in height from above ground, 

 densely virgate and in shape reminds one of a birch broom. 

 The black core of the stout root recalls the heartwoodof Dalbergia 

 Melanoxylon, Guill. & Perrotet. This bush is now exhibited in 



w Museum 

 Hooker's I 



2838. Though of 



interest as conveying an accurate impression of the habit of 

 4 Yeheb' it does not, in itself, suffice to throw light on the 

 botanical identity of the plant. Consequently to a reminder from 

 the Imperial Institute; dated March 6, 1907, it was necessary to 

 reply that the identification of ■ Yebb ' nuts was still impossible, 

 and in the interesting article on the subject published in the 

 Bulletin of the Imperial Institute, vol. v., p. 19— the analytical 

 part of which we are able, through the courtesy ef Professor 

 Dunstan, to reproduce below— it was stated that ** it has not 

 " been possible to ascertain the botanical origin of the nuts." 

 The analysis in question, it will be observed, though not published 

 till 1907, is referred to in the letter of July 28, 1906, addressed to 

 Kew by Capt. Cordeaux. This circumstance led Kew inadvertently 



