837 



Branches erect, plume-like, clothed with flat, round- 

 pointed, linear leaves, from one r sixteenth to three-six- 

 teenths inch long. Flowers densely set in slender racemes 

 three to eight inches long, which terminate the branchlets 

 all over the top of the shrub; each flower is about one- 

 fourth inch long, produced in the axil of a bract longer 

 than itself; petals narrow, pink or pinkish white. Sta- 

 mens ten; seeds feathery. Native of Europe, Himalaya, 

 Afghanistan, etc.; cultivated in England since 1582. It 

 inhabits river banks, mountain streams, and other sandy, 

 occasionally inundated places, where it often fills the 

 ground over long distances. Closely allied to Tamarix 

 (from which it differs chiefly in the more numerous and 

 united stamens), it is not so ornamental as various mem- 

 bers of that genus. It is easily propagated by cuttings 

 made of stout wood of the current year placed in sandy 

 soil in the open ground in October. It flowers from May 

 to August." (W. J. Bean, Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the 

 British Isles, vol. 2, p. 90.) 



Phaseolus mungo L. (Fabaceae.) 39589. Seeds of urd from 

 Manila. Presented by Mr. William S. Lyon. "Seeds of a 

 native Phaseolus. I lay no claim to its virtues as a seed 

 producer; indeed I have it growing cheek by jowl with a 

 number of other species and find it relatively inferior as 

 such, but as a cover crop, I have wholly discarded all the 

 scores of leguminous plants I have tested In favor of 

 this. I have made distribution of the seeds to a number 

 of abaca planters and they are most enthusiastic over its 

 utility in young hemp (Musa utilis) plantations. Like my- 

 self they have all come to discredit cowpeas, and all vel- 

 vet beans, Lyon incuded, for the reason that in good 

 soils the growth of the cover crop is so exuberant that 

 except at great outlay for labor, any plants under one 

 meter tall are smothered out of existence. On the other 

 hand, in old plantations, and which are fairly well shaded, 

 the cowpeas and velvet beans make a spindling and ineffi- 

 cient growth to accomplish the main purpose of choking out 

 a number of objectionable weeds and grasses, which, not- 

 withstanding the shade, flourish to the detriment of the 

 abaca. I have more than an acre now in my rose garden and 

 for two seasons have grown this bean to the exclusion of 

 all others. It makes a low spreading mat about a foot 

 thick and not much disposed to climb. The result is, I am 

 able to plant two crops a year among my dwarf rose bushes 

 without choking them, with a marked saving in cultivation 

 and irrigation, as well as a marked improvement in the 

 quantity and quality of the flowers obtained." (Lyon.) 



PTilogacanthus thyrsiflorus (Roxb.) Nees. (Acanthaceae . ) 

 39653. Seeds from Darjeeling, India. Presented by Mr. 



