942 



six sepals in two series; corolla rotate with linear ap- 

 pendages; stamens six; six-celled superior ovary; berry with 

 a single seed by abortion. The wood is good for cabinet- 

 making, joinery, and turning. The fruit, which is shaped 

 like an olive, is eaten, but its flavor is not very agree- 

 able. The odorous flowers, which possess astringent and 

 tonic properties, serve for the preparation of a perfume; 

 the red, woody, fibrous bark is astringent, and is used as 

 a febrifuge and a tonic; a decoction is used as a gargle 

 for salivation. The fruits and seeds furnish an oil for 

 burning. The root is astringent." (Lanessan, Les Plantes 

 Utiles des Colonies Francaises.) 



Osterdarnia tenuifolia (Trin. ) Kuntze. (Poaceae.) 41509. 

 Mascarene grass from the Bonine Islands. Presented by Mr. 

 J. B. Thompson, Guam Agricultural Experiment Station. 

 "This grass is used for lawn purposes in Japan and is said 

 to suceed well about Yokohama. It was originally described 

 from the Mascarene Islands. It has been tested in a pre- 

 liminary way in California, at Biloxi, Mississippi, and at 

 Miami, Florida. The grass makes a very beautiful dark 

 green turf, the leaves being short, never more than an 

 inch or two long, much resenbling the turf of red fescue. 

 Stout rootstocks are produced in abundance and these have 

 a tendency to elevate the turf, a defect which can be 

 remedied by proper rolling. The grass has considerable 

 promise for fine turf and for golf purposes in the South." 

 (C. V. Piper.) 



Phoenix farinifera Roxburgh. (Phoenicaceae . ) 41507. 

 Seeds of a palm from Matania El Saff , Egypt. Presented by 

 Mr. Alfred Bircher, Middle-Egypt Botanic Station. Habi- 

 tat, India and South China. A dwarf species, having a stem 

 two feet high, completely enveloped by the leaf sheaths; 

 fronds six feet long, unarmed, pinnate, reclinate, with 

 long, awl-shaped, plicate leaflets; flowers dioecious; 

 spathe poly-valved; spadix erect; fruit a drupe, oval, 1 

 cm. in length, fleshy, black, hard; stone single, oblong, 

 horny. In Cochin-China the plant goes under the name of 

 Cay-cho-la. The trunk, stripped of its leaves, contains a 

 quantity of certain starch which the poor use in case of 

 need. This palm stands the climate of the south of France 

 without protection. It is adapted to sandy and otherwise 

 dry and barren land, but prefers the vicinity of the sea. 

 (Adapted from von Mueller, Select Extra-Tropical Plants, 

 p. 373; and de Lanessan, Les Plantes Utiles des Colonies 

 Francaises, p. 784.) 



Polygonum sp. (Polygonaceae . ) 41527. Seeds from Bhu- 

 tan, India. Collected by R. E. Cooper. Presented by Bees 

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



