JULY, 1906, TO DECEMBER, 1907. 163 



21543 to 21545. 



From Sao Paulo, Brazil. Presented by Mr. T. Julius Schalch. Received 

 November 5, 1907. 



21543. Manihot utilissima. Bitter cassava. 



" Manioc, a Brazilian plant growing in the Temperate Zone ; produces 

 roots 2 to 3 feet long, 3 to 4 incbes in diameter ; used exactly as Irisb 

 potatoes; can be boiled, baked, or fried, and is of very fine flavor. All 

 the starch made down in tbat country is made of Manioc. Tapioca is 

 also made from Manioc. It is planted on tbe same kind of soil as po- 

 tatoes. Cut every stick in two or three pieces, 6 or 8 incbes long, plant 

 slanting on the hill about 3 or 4 feet apart. It will grow 7 to 10 feet 

 high." (Schalch.) 



21544. Haemanthus multiflorus. Imperial crown. 

 "A beautiful, delicate flower growing in tbe Temperate Zone. To be 



planted the same as any bulb. Grows very easily if the temperature is 

 right." (Schalch.) 



21545. Pisum sp. Pea. 



" Crooked pea is the name given in Sao Paulo for this kind of pea. 

 It is a very tender, stringless variety, and can be cooked with the pods, 

 for it is very sweet and extremely tender and makes a very palatable 

 dish. It is planted the same as any pea and has always been raised in 

 the Temperate Zone." (Schalch.) 



21547. Pykcs pollveria. 



From Christiania, Norway. Presented by Prof. N. Wille. Received No- 

 vember 8, 1907. 



In Garteuflora, of January 15, 1905, there is an article entitled "An Account 

 of a Supposed Graft-Hybrid Between tbe Pear and the Hawthorn," in which the 

 author, von Jens Holmboe, gives a good description of this tree and attempts 

 to clear up the mystery of its probable origin. 



The tree is located in the Manor of Torp, Parish Borge, in Smaalenene, be- 

 tween the towns of Fredrikstad and Sarpsborg, and was planted some time in 

 the early seventies and discovered by an apothecary late in the eighties. It was 

 grafted on C. oxyacantha but has characters intermediate between those of 

 Pyrus and Crataegus. The fruit is small and pear shaped, but red like that of 

 Crataegus. The taste is insipid and also intermediate between that of the pear 

 and the hawthorn. 



To the author it seemed that this curious hybrid resembled in most of its 

 characters Pyrus pollveria L. (P. communis L.XSorbus aria Crantz), and he 

 states that it would be hard to separate it specifically from that species (or 

 hybrid) on morphological characters only. 



Since the foliage of some of the seedlings grown from the " Torp " tree could 

 hardly be distinguished from that of tbe pear, and that of otbers resembled so 

 closely that of C. monogyna, this form might again be considered a hybrid 

 between P. communis and some species of Crataegus and the appearance of two 

 distinct types in its progeny be perfectly natural. But here, too, it is men- 

 tioned that Crataegus-like foliage is in rare cases found among seedlings of 

 both P. communis and P. malus and also that no Crataegus grew in the neigh- 

 borhood which might have taken part in the cross-pollination of the flowers 

 which gave rise to these seedlings. 



Hence, according to the author, there are but two alternatives : The tree 

 whose hybrid character admits of no doubt is either the rare Pyrus pollvera, 

 which is not found anywhere outside of the Christiania Botanic Gardens, but 

 found its way in some inexplicable manner, through a nursery located in 

 Sarpsborg, into this garden ; that the Crataegus-like foliage of the second 

 hybrid generation, which in Norway has never before been observed in P. com- 

 munis and its relatives, is due to a mutation ; or that some until now entirely 

 unknown hybrid of P. communis X Crataegus sp. existed in this same nursery 

 and was unintentionally grafted upon the Crataegus oxyacantha stock. 



In concluding, the author contends that it would require an extraordinary 

 combination of circumstances to bring either of these alternatives about and 

 132 



