41 



k 'by the Commissioner of the Somalilaud Protectorate in for- 

 warding the sample:— 'The nut grows wild in the Haud 

 waterless wilderness, south of Bohotleh, and is much sought 

 after as food by the Dolbahanta Somalis.' " 



This letter adds nothing material to the information which Kew 

 had already obtained, and, the 'Haud 1 being an extensive area, still 

 leaves the precise locality of the material on which the botanical 

 description of 'Yeheb' is based somewhat doubtful. But the 

 similarity of the statement quoted above with that contained in 

 the letter, dated July 28, 1906, from Capt. Cordeaux, only 

 strengthened the impression— now known to be erroneous— that 

 Capt. Cordeaux was the Commissioner of the Somaliland Pro- 

 tectorate who had sent the samples of < Yebb ' nuts in the first 

 instance to Professor Dunstan. From the information actually 

 available it was necessary to say that the material from which the 

 descriptions published in the Kew Bulletin were drawn up consisted 



of : — " Seeds 



W 



"Dunstan, F.R.S. An entire plant, detached flowers and pods,' 

 < from Captain H. E. S. Cordeaux, C.B., H.M.'s Commissioner." 



In a letter to Kew, dated October 22, 1907, Professor Dunstan 

 has pointed out that this statement with regard to the sources of 

 the material is somewhat misleading, owing to the fact that the 

 seeds given to Kew by Professor Church were handed to 

 Professor Church by himself for an opinion as to their nutrient 

 value ; and to the further fact that the sample from which these 

 seeds were selected had been sent to the Imperial Institute in 

 the first instance by Col. Swayne, when the latter was H.M.'s 

 Commissioner in Somaliland. In a subsequent letter, dated 

 November 12, 1 907, Professor Dunstan has added that the seeds 

 corresponding to those sent by him to Kew on April 23, 1906, 

 were sent to Professor Church on March HO, 1906. Professor 

 Dunstan explains that the credit for bringing ■ Yebb ' nuts to 

 light is entirely due to Col. Swayne, who realised their probable 

 importance as a food stuff in 1905, and since then has interested 

 himself greatly in the subject. 



^ The misleading nature of the reference was unavoidable, since 

 Kew had no means of ascertaining these facts until Professor 



Hooke> 



Dunstan supplied them. His communication was, however, 

 opportune, and it was possible to include it in the account of 

 * Yeheb ' that accompanies the figures 

 Plantarwn, vol. xxix., tt. 2838, 2839. 



Properties and Uses —Captain Wellby {Report on a Journey in 

 Somaliland in 1895 ; Appendix ii., Vegetation, p. v.) describes 

 4 Yeheb ' briefly as follows :— " 99. Yee-ep ; Hawea.— Small thick- 

 " leaved bush, always green ; after the rains the fruit is collected. 

 " Kind of nut enclosed in a thin crisp shell. Should be eaten 

 44 stewed. If the green leaves are rubbed in the hands, they are 

 H stained red." The bush sent to Kew by Capt, Cordeaux, which 

 is about two feet high, is spoken of by him as a small example, 

 but as Capt. Cordeaux has not himself seen the plant growing wild 

 and as Capt. Wellby has not definitely indicated its size we are 

 unable to state even approximately its maximum height. That it 

 it has a remarkablv deeo tan-root is clear, and as Cant. Cordeaux 



