1438 



o 



killed back, in south Florida, by a temperature of +26 

 F. but quickly sprouting from the ground." (Fairchild.) 



Strophanthus grains (Apocynaceae) , 47217. From 

 Southern Provinces, Nigeria. Seeds presented by Mr. 

 A. H. Kirby, Asst. Director of Agriculture, Ibadan. 

 A handsome flowering plant;- it may be propagated by 

 seeds which are distinguished from the Strophanthus 

 seeds of commerce (S.hombe) by being glabrous. The 

 seeds of this species are recommended for use in 

 medicine, in preference to those of any other, chiefly 

 because they yield crystalline strophanthin, whereas 

 the established official Strophanthus yields this 

 glucoside in an amorphous condition. Used for poison- 

 Ing arrows. (Adapted from Kew Bulletin, Useful Plants 

 of Nigeria, Part 3, p. 447.) 



Strophanthus hispidus (Apocynaceae), 47218. From 

 Southern Provinces, Nigeria. Seeds presented by Mr. 

 A. H. Kirby, Asst. Director of Agriculture, Ibadan. 

 "The seeds are an important drug, worth about 2s. 

 to 2s. 6d. (approximately 50 to 60 cents) per pound 

 wholesale, commonly shipped in the pods, but more of ten 

 taken out, freed from the awns and packed in bales. 

 The seeds are poisonous, the active principle being 

 strophanthin; used in Nigeria and generally in tropi- 

 cal Africa for arrow poison. It may be propagated by 

 seed, but the commercial supply is obtained, so far, 

 from wild plants ,- strong fibers making the seed diffi- 

 cult to collect, though, according to Dalziel, as a 

 shrub with long lax branches it is capable of being 

 grown in the neighborhood of towns and villages. The 

 seed pods are available in October at Abepa, Kabba 

 Province, where the plant is said to be plentiful. 

 The seeds take several months to ripen. Billington 

 reports collecting in October a pod then not quite 

 ripe, after noting its development for ten months." 

 (Kew Bulletin, Useful Plants of Nigeria, Part 3, p. 448. ) 



Synsepalum duleificum (Sapotaceae), 47219. Agbayun. 

 From Southern Provinces, Nigeria. Seeds presented by 

 Mr. A. H. Kirby, Asst. Director of Agriculture, Ibadan. 

 "This tropical African tree flowers in the months of 

 June, July, and August, and usually produces a number 

 of oblong or oval berries which resemble olives; they 

 are dull green at first but gradually change, as they 

 ripen, into a dusky red. The seeds are enclosed in a 

 thin, soft, slightly saccharine pulp which, when 



