63 



growing wild in that neighbourhood, and despatched it to New 

 York. The consignment was classified in the New York market 

 as being equal to the best Para rubber, and it fetched 1 dol °0 c 

 (5s.) per lb." 



In answer to a further request for botanical specimens of the' 

 Jequie Manicoba the following letter was received at Kew : 



H.M.'s Consul, Bahia, to Royal Botanic Gardens. Kew. 



H.B.M.'s Consulate, Bahia, 

 DEAR SIR, 4th September, 1907. 



With reference to your letter of 11th July last requesting 

 further information respecting Manicoba, I have just learned that 

 Verman botanist. Professor Ule, who recently visited the States 

 of Bahia and Piauhy for the purpose of collecting specimens of 

 the rubber-producing plants which grow in those two States, has 

 decided, afcer having conferred with his colleagues at Berlin 

 respecting the matter in question, that the three species of 

 Manicoba which grow in the States of Bahia and Piauhv all differ 

 essentially from Manihot Glaziouiu of Ceara. 



The German botanists have decided to distinguish the three 

 species of Manicoba found growing in the States of Bahia and 

 Piauhy by the following designations, viz. :— 



So-called .Jiquie Manicoba = Manihot dichotoma ,- 



„ S. Francisco Manicoba = Manihot heptaphylla; 



„ Piauhy Mani?oba = Manihot pian.hyensis. 



As regards the name * Manitoba," it would appear to be a 

 generic term applied, locally, to all- species of Manihot which 

 yield rubber. 



I am, &c, 



(Signed) D. R. O'Sullivan-Beare, 



H.B.M.'s Consul. 



On the 20th of September Mr. O'Sullivan-Beare wrote again, 

 promising herbarium material, and sending two samples of rubber,' 

 namely, a sample of so-called Jiquie rubber (obtained from 

 Manihot dicliotoma), and a sample of so-called Rio Sao 

 Francisco rubber (obtained from Manihot hqrtaphylla). These 

 are now in Museum No. 1, and are both rubbers of good quality. 



The young plants raised from the seeds sent by Messrs. Davy, 

 Rowe, and Stevenson appear to be all similar. The seeds 

 germinated very readily, and the plants, now some nine months 

 old, are characterised by the somewhat thickened lower portion of 

 the stem. In the shedding of the bark these plants differ from 

 Manihot Glaziovii, since longitudinal slits are formed, and the 



mor 



the 



leaves of the young plants appear to have had greenish-white veins 

 in all cases, thus differing from Davy's plants grown in Brazil, 

 but this may be due to the artificial conditions of cultivation. 



Other attempts to obtain material which would have enabled 

 the question of these Manicobas to have been solved at Kew have 

 proved in vain, and the following extract from a letter from 



