3 66 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 342. 



Britain to the cultivation of timber-trees for profit, in the 

 face of foreign competition, is as hopeless an undertaking 

 as that of fruit or vegetables on a largo scale here. 



If it could be clearly shown that there is money in tim- 

 ber-growing in Britain there are hundreds of landowners 

 who would plant up their wasted fields with whatever was 

 likely to be in demand. The few who have good timber 

 for sale now can hardly sell it at a profit. The Government 

 may be induced to make the experiment, but without pro- 

 tection it would scarcely clear expenses. All that science 

 can do is powerless so long as the British market, the best 

 in the world we are told, is open to all comers. For the 

 consumer things are best left as they are, but it is futile to 

 invite the broken-down farmer and landowner to plant 

 Pine and Oak and Ash for wood, or Apples and Pears for 

 fruit, in the hope that the prices he will get for his produce 

 will set him on his legs again. I know one clever culti- 

 vator who tried hard for many years to make fruit-growing 

 in England pay, but, although his land was good, he lost 

 heavily on what he now calls his insane investment. 

 London. W. Watson. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Some Notes on the Tree Ipomceas of Mexico. 



DR.. EDWARD PALMER has frequently observed in 

 western Mexico groves of the Tree Ipomoeas and has 

 several times collected specimens. He has always believed 

 that there was more than one species, but scanty herbarium 

 material has prevented my giving the subject the proper 

 study. 



While atCuliacan in 1891, Dr. Palmer procured a photo- 

 graph of one of these groves, which is reproduced on page 

 364. These are among the most beautiful flowering trees 

 of Mexico, and being of no commercial value are allowed 

 to grow while other trees are cut out. They, therefore, 

 form a characteristic feature of the landscape. Curiously 

 enough, none of these trees have yet been cultivated, al- 

 though they ought to be found in our larger greenhouses 

 and in the open gardens of our warmer southern states. I 

 call attention to them, therefore, with a desire that some 

 effort may be made to introduce them into cultiva- 

 tion. Dr. Palmer will soon visit this region again, and it is 

 to be hoped that some arrangements may be made by 

 which small trees or seeds may be sent to this country. 

 He did procure a few seeds in 1891 atJVIanzanillo, but not 

 being quite mature they did not germinate. 



A careful examination of the material obtained by Dr. 

 Palmer in the last few years seems to show three good 

 species of the group. Add to these the well-known Ipo- 

 m<c-a murucoides, and the introduced species, I. fistulosa, 

 gives us five species for Mexico. 



Ipomcea fistulosa. — This species* was originally de- 

 scribed from Brazil. It is reported by Mr. Hemsley as 

 native in Guatemala and Panama, but I am not aware that 

 it is found in Mexico outside of cultivation. It seems to be 

 frequently planted in Mexican gardens, and has occa- 

 sionally been reported from Texas. Several years ago Mr. 

 G. C. Nealley obtained some seed for the Department of 

 Agriculture, which was distributed. Mrs. H. L. T. Wolcott 

 succeeded in growing several plants. One ofthese, which 

 she turned over to me, is now growing in one of the De- 

 partment greenhouses. The plant began to flower when 



* Ipomcea fislulosa. Mart, in DC. Prod., ix., 349 {1S45) ; Seem. Bot. Her., 171 (1854) : 

 Meissn. in Marl. Fl. Bras.; vii., 239, t. 81 (1869) ; Hemsl. Biol. Cent.-Amer., ii., 387 

 (1882) ; Coult. Contr. Nat. Herb , ii., =92 (1892). 



Batatas crassicaulis, Benllt. Bot. Voy. Sulpk., 134 (1844). 



Ipomcea Texana, Coult., Contr. Nat. Herb., i., 45 (1890). 



A high shrub, perhaps sometimes arborescent ; younger parts puberulent, early 

 becoming glabrate ; leaves sagittate, acuminate, strongly cordate or sometimes 

 nearly truncate at base, 3.7 to 15. cm. (2K to 6 inches) long; petioles slender; 

 peduncles shorter than the leaves ; cymes single or compound ; sepals oval, 6 to 7 

 mm. (3 to 3>a lines) long, obtuse or retuse, glabrous within, puberulent without ; 

 corolla pink, pubescent without, 5 to 7.5 cm. (2 to 3 inches) long ; seeds S mm. (4 

 lines) long, covered with long black hairs. , Native in Brazil and Peru and extending 

 into Central America ; cultivated in Mexico and Texas. Specimens have been 

 examined from the following places : 



Texas, Brownville (G. C. Nealley, 1891) ; Santa Maria (G. C. Nealley, 1889) ; 

 Mexico, Monterey (Charles K. Dodge, April, 1891); Nicaragua (C. Wright, 1853-6). 



only a foot high, and the species is, doubtless, an abundant 

 bloomer. Our specimen is now about five feet high, and 

 although it has not since bloomed, this is doubtless due 

 to lack of proper conditions. 



The tree is known in Brazil under the names of " Can- 

 udo" and " Matta-Cabra." 



Ipomcea murucoides. — This species* is the best known 

 and of the widest distribution of all the Tree Ipomceas. 

 The flower-buds are rather coarse and homely, but the open 

 flowers are large and handsome. I have not been able to 

 learn whether this species is now in cultivation. Kunth, 

 in 1825, speaks of a large tree in cultivation in Spain. The 

 only illustration of the species which I have seen is a col- 

 ored lithograph in the Biologia Ce?ilrali- Americana, vol. ii. , 

 Tab. 61. t A The tree is known to the Mexicans by the name 

 of " Guahsaguate" or "Cazahute." It seems to be com- 

 mon in Mexico and ranges from northern Mexico to Gua- 

 temala. 



Ipomcea arborescens. — The illustration represents the little- 

 known plantfirst collected by Humboldt in southern Mexico. 

 It was not again reported until Seemann obtained it near 

 Mazatlan. I have seen neither of these specimens, but, 

 through the kindness of Dr. A. Engler, I have had Dr. 

 Palmer's plant compared with the type now at Berlin, who 

 states that " it is identical with I. arborescens collected by 

 Humboldt." The plant collected by Seemann is evidently 

 the same as the one obtained by W. G. Wright from Mazat- 

 lan in 1888. 



Mr. W. Botting Hemsley has also identified Palmer's plant 

 as the Argyreia (?) oblonga. This plant was collected by 

 Dr. Sinclair some time between the years 1836 and 1842 at 

 Tepic, and described in the Botany of the Voyage of the 

 Sulphur under the above name. Our specimens differ 

 somewhat from Mr. Bentham's description, especially as to 

 the habit of the plant, the base of the leaves and the inner 

 surface of the sepals. This may be accounted for by the 

 paucity of his material. Dr. Palmer collected specimens 

 at Alamos in 1890, and both Mr. Hartman and Mr. Lloyd, 

 of Dr. Lumholtz's Archa-ological Expedition, obtained 

 specimens in the state of Sonora. 



This species f ranges along the foot-hills of the Sierre 

 Madre from Tepic to Alamos. The rarity of the species in 

 our collections has been due, therefore, not to the rarity 

 of the species itself, but to the fact that so few col- 

 lectors have visited this region. The tree grows to the 

 height of six to nine meters (twenty to thirty feet), 

 with a trunk three centimeters (one foot) in diameter. It 

 has a smooth gray bark and numerous branches ; the leaves 

 are ovate, slightly cordate at base and more or less pubes- 



:i: I) icea murucoides, Roem et Schult. Syst., iv., 248 (1819) ; DC. Prod.,\x., 35S 



(1845) ; Hemsl. Biol. Cent.-Amer., ii., 200 (1SS2) ; Smith, PI. Guatm., Pt. 2, 50 (1891) ; 

 Index Kern, Pt. 2, 1246 (1894). 



Convolvulus macranthus, H. B. K.., Nor'. Gen. et Spec., iii., 95 (181S). 



I. macrantha G. Don. Gen. Syst., iv., 267 (1838). 



Large tree ; leaves oblong to linear-lanceolate, 7.5 to 12.5 cm. (3 to 7 inches) long, 

 rounded at base, long acuminate, tardily glabrate ; petioles 12 to 36 mm. (6 to 18 

 lines) long : flowers either axillary or in eymose clusters ; peduncles, 2.5 to 6.2 cm. 

 (1 to 2 1 2 inches) long ; calyx deeply five-parted, clothed externally with white wool ; 

 sepals somewhat unequal, 18 to 25 mm. (9 to 12 lines) long ; corolla white, large, 7.5 

 cm. {3 inches) long, with broad throat ; stamens included ; carpels oblong, 25 mm. 

 (1 inch) long, glabrous ; seeds triangular, 10 mm. (5 lines) long, light brown, the 

 angles clothed with long hairs. 



Specimens have been examined from the following places : 



Guadalupe (Bilimex, September, 1S69 ; September, 1867, No. 273 ; Bourgeau, Sep- 

 tember, 1865-6, No. 790). Mexico, locality uncertain (Dr. J. Gregg, 1848-9, No. 592 ; 

 Berlandier, November, 1827, No. 1229) ; Guatemala (Captain John Donnell Smith, 

 February, 1890, No. 1863); Cannibal (W. C. Shannon, December, 1891, No. 417). 



t Ipomcea arborescens, Don. Gen. Syst., iv., 267 (1838); DC. Prod., ix., 35S (1845); 

 Hemsl. Biol. Cent.-Amer., ii., 383 (1832) ; Seemann, Bot. Her., 319 (1856). 



Convolvulus arborescens, H. B. K , Gen. et Spec, iii., 94 (1818). 



Argyreia (?) oblonga, Benth. Bot. Voy. Sulph , 133 (1844). 



Ipomcea oblonga, Hemsl. Biol. Cent.-Amer.. ii., 391 (1882). 



Ipomcea murucoides, var. glabrata. Rose (not Gray), Contr. Nat. Herb., i., 107 

 (1891). A tree 9 meters (30 feet) high ; leaves ovate, 5 to 10 cm. (2 to 4 inches) long, 

 cordate at base, acute, very pubescent at first, but becoming nearly glabrate ; 

 petioles 5 to 7.5 cm. (2 to 3 inches) long; sepals oval, obtuse, 6 to 10 mm. (3 to 15 

 lines) long, pubescent both within and without, in age becoming glabrate without ; 

 corolla white, yellowish below, about 5 cm. (2 inches) long, with rather narrow, 

 funnel-formed throat ; capsule 20 mm. (10 lines) long; seeds 10 mm. (5 lines) long. 



Specimens from the following places have been examined : 



Sonora, Alamos (Palmer, March 20th to April 8th, 1890, No. 316) ; Tourbabi (C. E. 

 Lloyd, November 19th, 1800, No. 268) ; Bacadehuachi (C. V. Hartman, November 

 19th, 1890, No. 268); Las Durasmillas (T. S. Brandegee, 1892); Mazatlan (W. G. 

 Wright, January. 1880, No. 268). 



The following specimens, which I have not seen, belong here : 



Humboldt and Bonpland type of Convolvulus arborescens collected between 

 Acaquisotla and Chilpancingo. Seemann's No. 459 collected on the "road from 

 Mazatlan to Sebastian." The type of Argyreia oblonga collected by Sinclair at 

 Tepic. 



