940 



mellow sickening pulp, bitter and nonedible. Geographic 

 distribution - Ivory Coast, Gold Coast, Liberia, in the 

 vast virgin forests. Flowers in May. The timber, reddish 

 with beautiful markings, is one of the best African sub- 

 stitutes for mahogany." (Translation from the original de- 

 scription, Comptes Rendus de 1 ' Academic des Sciences, Par- 

 is, Vol. 145, p. 226, 1907. ) 



Gaultheria sp. (Ericaceae.^ 41556. Seeds from Bhutan, 

 India. Collected by Mr. R. E. Cooper and presented by Bees 

 Limited, Liverpool, England, at the request of Mr. A. K. 

 Bulley. "A low creeping plant on rock surfaces and peaty 

 alpine turf at an elevation of 12,000 feet. Showy blue 

 berries are profuse. This is a much larger plant than the 

 Gaultheria trichophylla and exists on exposed rock faces with 

 only a mere suspicion of soil in occasional crevices." 

 (Cooper . ) 



Jubaeopsis caffra Beccari. (Phoenicaceae . ) 41484. Seeds 

 from Johannesburg, Union of South Africa. Purchased from 

 Mr. J. Burtt-Davy, Botanist, Agricultural Supply Associ- 

 ation. "I have just learned of the existence of a grove 

 of wild coconut palms along the coast some 70 miles south 

 of Port Shepstone. This appears to be a new species of 

 coconut, adapted to warm temperate conditions; the nuts are 

 said to be smaller than those of the typical Cocos nucifera. 

 The fruits have the flavor of coconut, and are much prized 

 by the Pondos, who travel scores of miles to collect and 

 sell them. They are used as food, and I am told for oil." 

 (Burtt-Davy.) "Until quite recently only two genera of 

 palm were known from South Africa. A few years ago Mr. 

 Charles Ross, then conservator of forests at Umtata, re- 

 ported the occurrence of another kind in Pondoland. This 

 has now been found to be the representative of a new genus, 

 named Jubaeopsis from its nearest ally Jubaea, a monotypic 

 genus of South America (Chili). The fruit of Jubaeopsis 

 differs from that of Cocos by the position of the germinat- 

 ing holes, which in the latter genus are situated near the 

 base of the nut, but in Jubaeopsis near its equator. The 

 endosperm is hollow, as in the coconut, and also of a 

 sweetish taste, but without milk. A tree up to 20 feet 

 high, with leaves 12-15 feet long. The staminate flowers 

 are inserted on the upper parts of the branches of the 

 spadix and possess 8-16 stamens, the pistillate flowers 

 being on the lower parts. The fruits are about the size of 

 walnuts, but nearly globular, the fibrous pericarp being 

 yellow when ripe. The palin occurs, as far as known, only 

 at two localities in Pondoland, viz. at the mouths of the 

 Umsikaba and the Umtentu rivers, in both cases on the 

 northern bank and in close proximity to the water. As this 



