1471 



e Coloniale of Naples, through Mr. B. Harvey Carroll, 

 Jr. , American consul. "Tomato seed of the variety 

 'fiascone 1 or 'fiaschetti' of which the English trans- 

 lation would be 'little flagons' on account of the 

 shape of the tomato. This is the type of tomato most 

 largely grown in this consular district and most used 

 for canning and for making tomato paste." (Carroll.) 



Meryta sinclairii (Araliaceae) , 47570. From Auckland, 

 New Zealand. Seeds presented by Mr. James W. Poynton. 

 "Native name 'puka.' The meryta has large leaves, and 

 is rather a striking-looking small tree, much grown in 

 gardens for ornament. For a time it was believed to be 

 the rarest tree in the world, only one plant being 

 known. One of our early botanists saw a tree near a 

 large native camp, but the Maoris declared it was 'tabu 1 

 and forbade himunder penalty of death to touch it. He 

 reported its discovery and described it as accurately 

 as he could. No other naturalist had ever seen such a 

 tree in New Zealand and much interest was aroused by 

 his report. Twelve years afterward he returned to 

 the place and found the camp deserted; but the tree 

 was still there. He got some leaves and flowers and 

 sent them to the eminent botanist, Sinclair, who classi- 

 fied it, and it is now named after him. Subsequently 

 27 plants were found on some islands in the Hawaki 

 Gulf near Auckland and from them seeds were obtained 

 for distribution. The plants are male and female." 

 (Poynton. ) 



Metrosideros tomentosa (Myrtaceae), 47571. From 

 Auckland, New Zealand. Seeds presented by Mr. James 

 W. Poynton. "The Christmas tree of our early settlers ; 

 native name ' pohutukawa. ' It comes into bloom mostly 

 during Christmas week (midsummer here). The flowers 

 are deep red and the tree is very pretty when in flower. 

 It grows well by the seaside, gives good shelter, and 

 endures salt spray splendidly. The wood is hard and 

 durable but the tree does not grow straight, being 

 bent at the branches. For this reason it was much 

 sought after for knees for boat building." (Poynton.) 



Ochroma lagopus (Bombacaceae) , 47593. Balsa wood. 

 From Santiago de las Vegas, Cuba. Seeds presented by 

 Mr. M. Calvino, director, Agricultural Experiment 

 Station. A wild tree, rather abundant, growing about 

 40 feet high and a foot or more in diameter. The wood 

 is white, stained with red, luminous in aspect, and 

 sometimes silky. It is very porous, the lightest of 



