REPORT ON SEEDS FROM INDIA. 93 



REPORT ON SEEDS FROM NORTHERN INDIA, 



BY PROF. JOHN L. RUSSELL. 



To THE President of the Mass. Horticultural Society : 



Sir, — The package of named seeds from Northern India, presented 

 to the Society by the Rev. C. H. A. Dall, and committed to the Professor 

 of iJotany for inspection and report, I have examined and stndied with 

 the best authorities at my command, and would hereby respectfully 

 Report: 



1. Aralia papyrifera. The pith of this tree is cut into extremely 

 thin sheets, and makes the rice paper of the Chinese. About the year 

 1857 sections of it were exhibited to the London Hoi-ticultural Society. 

 The paper is used extensively in the manufacture of elegant paper 

 flowers, and is employed by ladies in ornamenting their dresses. The 

 tree was brought from Formosa by Mr. Fortune. 



2. Michelia Champaca is a lofty tree with fragrant flowers, and 

 belongs to the much esteemed family of the Magnolia. 



3. Ahutilon marmoratum is a species not found in the Catalogues, but 

 of the genus to which the familiar striatum and insigne of our green- 

 houses belong. 



4. Dombeya. This genus is composed of large trees, with flowers 

 like those of the Mallows ; a species figured in the Botanical Magazine, 

 Vol. 56, No. 2905, will give a good idea of them. 



5. Hibiscus mutabilis and Hibiscus speciosa are elegant and familiar 

 perennials. 



6. Of Hibiscus Sub Dariffa I know nothing. 



7. Sterculia color ata represents a genus of lofty trees, with showy 

 flowers and fetid leaves. 



8. Gaura Lindlemeri belongs to a genus of the CEnothera, with 

 attractive and numerous blossoms in some of the numerous species of 

 the garden. 



9. Melaleuca. The seeds of this are probably those of M. leucaden- 

 dron or the Cajaputi tree, the oil extracted from which is so celebrated 

 in medicine. The several species are trees belonging to the Mj'rtle 

 family. 



10. Cassia auricxdata is an ornamental shrub of four feet in height, 

 introduced into Great Britain as early as 1777, and probably familiar to 

 gardeners here. 



