390 
lua mieu,’ and it evidently corresponds to the Co-ba of Shanghai. It 
is sold in bundles or packets of ten at about 2 cents per packet from 
the first days of October to the beginning of January. From the 
figure on p. 1100 it appears that the lower portions of the stems up 
to about 15 cm. from the base are sent to market; but very 
probably only the lower swollen portion, about 1°5 em. thick, is eaten. 
The Co-ba seems to flower very rarely (E. Simon, l.e., p. 93), 
and it is probable that the barren plants of Z. latifolia at Kew, 
mentioned below, belong to a kind of Co-ba. In the wild state 
Z, latifolia flowers and fruits freely, and the grains were in ancient 
times much valued as food (Bretschneider, Bot. Sin., iii., p- 352). 
In the Pen ts’ao Kang mu, the great Chinese Materia Medica 
and Natural History of the 16th century, the grass is even spoken 
of as a cereal (Bretschneider, l.c. iii, p. 352) under the name of 
u mi, z.e., Ku grain, Ku being the old Chinese name of Zizania 
latifolia. Siebold (Syn. Plant. Oecon. Jap., 1827, no. 368) also 
reports the use of the grain for making flour in Japan and especially 
mentions Mino and “ Cosjuu” (Kotsuke ?) as the Provinces where 
the Zizania is grown for that purpose. It is figured as “ Makomo” 
(Hydropyrum latifolium) in the “ Useful Plants of J apan,” published 
by the Agricultural Society of J apan, vol. ii, fig. 346. In the 
English text to this publication (p. 94) it is stated that “the seeds 
are used as food, and the new sprouts are also edible.” A further 
note on p. 4, says “the seeds of this plant mixed with rice are 
) 
ciyerred that . Makomo is referred in the English text on p. 4, 
no. 17°, to Zizania aquatica, but in the corresponding place in the 
flower at Kew. It appears quite capable of holding its own in 
association with such neighbours as Iris Pseudacorus, Typha 
angustifolia, Acorus Calamus etc., but owing to an evil habit of 
turning yellow and dying at the leaf tips, it has a rather shabby 
appearance except when the leaves are quite young. Whatever its 
value as a vegetable may be it has little to recommend it as an 
ornamental grass in this country, and although it can be cultivate 
with less trouble than Z, aquatica should never be preferred to it on 
_ Miss J.J. CrarKk.— On the results of the recent competitive 
hap gag m connection with the vacancy on the Herbarium staff, 
ges J. Clark, B.Se., has been appointed by the President of 
the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to the post of Assistant in 
the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 
