20 



Gastanospermum Gunninghamn. — This name does not appear 

 either in the Index Kewensis or Flora Australiensis. It 

 appears, however, to differ from the well-known G. australe. 

 Our plant was put out in 1884, and is now 35 feet high. The 

 flowers, which are scarlet and orange, are borne in profusion 

 on the branches, and when in flower it is very conspicuous. 



Gryptostegia grandiflora, Br. — A plant bearing the name of 

 Cryptostegia Madagascariensis, Linn., has been in the Gardens 

 for many years, but a recent examination of it shows that it 

 has been incorrectly named and that it is really G. grandiflora, 

 a native of India. Both of these plants yield a medium 

 quality of rubber which has been valued at home at 2/4 per lb., 

 but whether the yield of the rubber and the cost of its extrac- 

 tion would leave a margin of profit to the grower is as yet 

 doubtful. Mr. Cavanagh, the Superintendent of the Agri- 

 Horticultural Society's Gardens at Madras, has discovered that 

 the plant also contains a valuable fibre ; specimens of it have 

 been sent to the Imperial Institute, and I give below some 

 extracts from the report of Professor Dunstan, the Director of 

 the Imperial Institute. He says : — 



" This sample of fibre was forwarded for examination by the 

 Agri-Horticultural Society, Teynapett, Madras, and is referred 

 to in a letter, No. 754, dated 3rd June, 1903. It is stated that 

 the plant occurs wild throughout the district. The present 

 sample of fibre is said to haTe been prepared by steeping the 

 branches in water for three days ; the fibre was then easily 

 removed, and was afterwards washed with water. The sample 

 consisted of about 3 oz. of a nearly white, fine, strong 

 fibre with a staple of average length, 16-20 inches. In 

 its general character and appearance, this fibre resembles that 

 of Marsdenia tenacissima, on which a report was recently 

 supplied by the Imperial Institute to the Government of India. 

 The results of the chemical examination by the Scientific 

 and Technical Department of the Imperial Institute show that 

 the fibres are also very similar in their chemical properties and 

 behaviour. The two plants are allied botanically, both being 

 climbing shrubs of the N. 0. Asclepiadeae. * * * 



The sample has been submitted to leading fibre brokers for 

 commercial valuation, who report that the fibre is of a good 

 quality and worth about £30 per ton. They are of opinion that 

 the fibre is likely to prove of considerable value, but that its 

 commercial possibilities can only be arrived at by submitting it 

 to manufacturing tests, and they ask to be supplied with two 

 or three bales for this purpose. They point out that the fibre 

 should be as long and as even as possible, and that the long 

 and short filaments should be kept separate ; in the present 



