18 



specimens which had been obtained, and ifc was named by 

 Professor Oliver Persaea Nan-Mu. It was then stated that 

 trees had been seen " having a straight branchless trunk to 

 100 feet in height, with the branches and foliage rising 25 feet 

 above that." Since that time upon further examination the 

 name has been altered to Machilus Nanmu, Helmsl. Many 

 years ago I was anxious to obtain seeds of this for trial here, 

 but was not successful, as at that time seeds were scarcely if 

 at all available. Lately, however, I have obtained from Mr. 

 Sawer of the Experiment Farm at Cedara three plants of it 

 which have been put out in the Gardens, and we hope that 

 they will succeed here. 



Pouteria suavis, Helmsl. Order Sapotaoeae. 



In the Kew Bulletin, No. 9, of 1906, an account of a fruit 

 tree was given, of which the following is an extract: — 



"There is a plant bearing a fruit and having persistent 

 leaves, which is certainly endemic in the Islands of the 

 Uruguay River, and is so peculiar that nobody has yet been 

 able to classify it. The general appearance of the plant is that 

 of a laurel, with leaves which are green and shining on the 

 upper surface. The fruit is about the size of an apricot, but 

 of the shape of an apple ; it is yellow and scarlet when mature 

 and possesses a perfume so delicate that it io equalled in no 

 other fruit The seed is like a 1 irge hazel-nut, but the edible 

 fleshy part of the fruit is small ; it has, however, an extremely 

 agreeable taste and possesses such a remarkable digestive pro- 

 perty that when the aborigines have over-indulged, they eat 

 freely of this before lying down at night, and then they "sleep 

 like a child," and wake up the next morning with a clear head 

 and a " wonderful appetite." I should have said that this is 

 an extract from a letter from Mr. E. Frosio, of Uruguay, and 

 which was sent to the editor of an Italian newspaper, who for- 

 warded it to Kew. Seeds of this plant were received from 

 Kew during the year, and plants have been raised, and it is 

 hoped that what appears to be so desirable a tree may be 

 acclimatised in the Colony. 



Colooasia antiquorum, Schott. Order Aroidbjj. 



This plant, which according to the late Baron Mueller, is 

 one " of the about half-hundred kinds of leading food plants of 

 the world," is known in the West Indies as Eddoes, in South 

 Sea Islands as Taro, and in Egypt and Arabia as Kolkas, and 

 in all these countries it is extensively cultivated. Like the 

 Cassava its tubers contain an acrid principle which makes 

 them quite unfit for eating in the raw state, but this is com- 

 pletely dissipated in the process of cooking. The tubers vary 

 insize r in good-soil sometimes attaining the size of a child's 



