1255 



Actinidia chinensis (Dilleniaceae) , 45588. Yang tao. 

 From Krling, China. Presented by Rev. John Berkin. 

 The Yang tao, as this deciduous climber is known in 

 Szechwan province, where it is native, has attracted 

 considerable attention from travelers and mission- 

 aries in China, because of the high quality of its 

 fruits, and the ornamental value of the plant. Single 

 plants often grow 30 feet in length so that the vine 

 will cover large areas of trellis. The leaves have a 

 plush-like texture, and an unusual dark-green color. 

 The young shoots are bright pink and villous-pube- 

 scent. The size and regular spacing of the leaves 

 make this climber valuable where large areas of foli- 

 age are desired. The flowers are buff-yellow to white, 

 fragrant, and of large size, being from 1 to 1^ inches 

 in diameter. The abundance of these flowers adds 

 greatly to the beauty of this plant, and enhances its 

 value as an ornamental. The following account of the 

 fruit was written by Mr. Wilson while in China. "Fruits 

 abundantly produced, ovoid to globose, 1 to 2| inches 

 long, 1 to 1^ inches across; epicarp membranous, rus- 

 set-brown, more or less clothed with villous hairs. 

 Flesh green, of most excellent flavor, to my palate 

 akin to that of the gooseberry, but tempered with a 

 flavor peculiarly its own. The fruit is excellent 

 when fresh, and also makes very fine jam and sauce. A 

 number of the Yang tao fruits which were produced by 

 vines growing in California were shipped to Washing- 

 ton and have been eaten by a number of people of dis- 

 criminating taste, and the universal opinion appears 

 to be that we have in this Chinese fruit a distinct 

 new possibility for home gardens in Southern regions. 

 What American horticulturists will do with it remains 

 to be seen. It is now essentially a wild fruit, for 

 the Chinese have done no more with it than Americans 

 have with their largest wild fruit, the papaw (Asimina 

 triloba) . While this plant is not hardy in regions of 

 severe winters, the rapid growth in the spring will 

 make it a valuable ornamental, even in those regions 

 where it is killed to the ground each winter." (See 

 fuller description in "Some Asiatic Actinidias," by 

 Fairchild, issued January 18, 1913, in Bureau of Plant 

 Industry Circular No. 110.) 



Amarantlms paniculatus (Amaranthaceae) , 45535. Huauhtli. 

 From Mexico. Presented by Mrs. Zelia Nuttall, Casa 

 Alvarado, Coyoacan, Mexico City. An annual, with en- 

 tire leaves, bearing the abundant, grainlike edible 



