454 



NO. 65. 



July 1 to 31, 1911. 

 NEW PLANT IMMIGRANTS. 



ACANTHOSICY03 EORRIPA. (Cucurbitaceae. ) 31401. Seeds 



of th.o narras from Walfisch Bay, st Afric . Presented "by 



. Richard Hor_: , Tsuraeb, German Soiithv/est Africa. "This 



nt is an important dune fonrsr and continues fco grow with 



increasing height of the dune, so that its younger shoots 



the siirface, chorny r ; hrub, while 



;pth, tapping 



nderground and securing such a supply that drops 



e::ude and fall r the cut ends of assimilating stems. 



Plor/ering commences in November, and "by the middle of 



February the female plants produce rip-.i fruits, which are 



borne in grer fusion, ?.r;c! for about four iths in the 



ir render the Hottentots independent of other sources of 



, :1 to a large extent, of water also. The fruits are 



In shape, and about nine inches in diameter. The 



the natives, who 



. corsurr.e large quantities of it uhile fresh and lay "by a store 



for 7/inter use in the form of hard flat cakes obtained by 



ev? --i, and its food value is attested by their fat and 



ek appe 3 during the narras season. The faculty of 



enjoying the juice evidently has to be acquired, for it has a 



et sickly flavor, and contains an acid principle very 



irritating to the tongue and pala.te of those unaccustomed to 



; it is said that at the end of the narras season the lips 



even the habitual cor.su'.rers are sv;ollen and inflamed. The 



seeds, which scmev/hat resemble those of the squash, are very 



nutritious and v/ere formerly exported to Cape Town under the 



' er nuts', where they found a market among the 



ive population ? ere also used .-opeans as a 



substitute for sweet almonds." (Pearson, Notes on a Journey 



to V7indh.uk , Kew Bull. Misc. Inf. 9:342 

 (1907.) For distribution later. 



MIICATA. (Anonaceae. ) 31383. Seeds from 



Piracicaba, Brazil. by Lar. Clinton D. Smith, 



Fazenda Kodelo do Estado de Sao Paulo. ,riety Cabeca de 



Negro. to me to belong to this species and 



There are so many variations in the trees and in 



that I cannot as yet clearly determine the lines 

 of separation. The natives call this fruit 'araticu 1 . " 

 (Smith.) For distribution later. 



BRASSICA SP. (Brassicaceae.) 31476. Seeds of Chinese 

 cabbage from China, by . G. Weidmann Groff, 



