621 



sation Society. "A very handsome climber, native of the more 

 tropical regions of Queensland. The outer bark of the plant 

 is used by the natives for stupefying fish. The green bark is 

 tied in small bundles, weighted with a stone and dropped into 

 holes where fish abound, the fish immediately becoming affect- 

 ed and rising to the surface where they are easily caught." 

 (Soutter.) For distribution later. 



GAULTHERIA SPP. (Ericaceae.) 34718-719. Seeds from 

 Wellington, New Zealand. Presented by Mr. G. J. Clapham, 

 Public Works Department. "The Gaultherias are the most at- 

 tractive of the native New Zealand heaths with tiny white 

 bell-shaped flowers." (Blackwell and Laing, Plants of New 

 Zealand.) For distribution later. 



JATROPHA CURCAS. ( Euphorbiaceae . ) 34714. Seeds from 

 Tampico, Mexico. Presented by Mr. Thomas H. Bevan, American 

 Vice-Consul in Charge. "A shrub about the size of a hazel nut 

 bush, with a trunk from six inches to a foot in diameter. Its 

 production is most prolific, the limbs often breaking off from 

 the weight of the nuts. The nuts when first taken from the 

 husks have a dark brown luster, which becomes opaque after be- 

 ing exposed to the air for a few days. When first taken from 

 the tree they have a taste not at all unlike that of the fresh 

 chestnut. They are said to contain about fifty percent of 

 oil, which can be extracted and used for cooking, the same as 

 cotton seed oil. These nuts can be seen growing in the yards 

 of nearly all the Mexican houses in the outskirts of Tampico. 

 The Mexicans prefer them to peanuts maintaining that their 

 flavor is much more delicate. Along the narrow strip of land 

 between the Tuxpam canal and the Gulf of Mexico in the State 

 of Veracruz, they grow wild by the millions, and apparently 

 thrive better in their native state growing in the sand dunes, 

 than in the rich land in the valley of the Panuco." (Bevan.) 

 Various botanists have described the oil as resembling that of 

 the castor bean in its action so that due care should be taken 

 in eating the seeds of this plant. For distribution later. 



METROSIDEROS TOMENTOSA. (Myrtaceae.) 34715. Seeds of 

 the pohutukawa from Wellington, New Zealand. Presented by Mr. 

 G. J. Clapham, Public Works Department. "This handsome tree, 

 sometimes 70 feet in height with spreading branches and bril- 

 liant scarlet flowers in large terminal cymes rarely grows far 

 from the sea or an inland lake. It finds a foothold in all 

 sorts of impossible looking places. Often it clings to the 

 side of a cliff, and puts forth long twisted roots that attach 

 it to the rocky wall. Specimens may frequently be found hang- 



