46 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



24348. Dioscorea sp. Yam. 



From Manila, Philippine Islands. Presented by Mr. W. S. Lyon. Received 

 December 16, 1908. 

 "Tongo. This is far the best yam in existence, in my opinion, which is based 

 upon experience with two or three of the alleged best varieties of both the East and 

 West Indies. 



"Habitat: Thin wooded or brush lands, growing in pretty stiff clay. Ripens and 

 stays dormant in the ground from October or November until the following May." 

 (Lyon.) 



24349. HlPPEASTRUM Sp. 



From Caldera, Chile. Presented by Senor Enrique E. Gigoux. Received De- 

 cember 18, 1908. 

 "A yellow-flowered ornamental form." (P. L. Richer.) 



24350. Bambos senanensis Franch. & Sav. Bamboo. 



From Japan. Purchased from the Yokohama Nursery Company, Yokohama, 

 Japan, through Mr. William D. Hills, agricultural explorer. Received No. 

 vember 27, 1908. 



" Seed produced in Shinshu and Hida provinces only. " (Hills.) 



Suzu-Dake. "This bamboo also goes by the following names: Yama-Dake, Mi- 

 Suzu, and No-Suzu, and in several of the provinces is often called Hei-Jiku-Chiku. 

 It resembles Kuma-Zasa (B. veitchii or B. palmata, both of which go by this name) 

 but is larger. The nodes are not prominent and the largest stems attain a growth of 

 1 sun (inch) with a stature of 10 feet and more. The leaves are 5 or 6 sun in length 

 with a width of about 1 sun, narrower than those of the sasa and tapering off at the tip. 

 Seen from a distance the tree resembles Miscanthus sinensis (Xiphagrostis japonica 

 (Thunb.)Coville). 



" B. senanensis grows wild on mountains and open uplands and resists the greatest 

 extremes of cold. It spreads right into the deepest recesses and up to the highest 

 summits of the mountains. In some places it grows and spreads over an extent of 

 many square miles, being especially abundant at Suwa and Kiso, in the province of 

 Shinano, and the hills of Nambu in the province of Rikuchiu. 



" In China this bamboo is said to.be used for making arrows. It is tough and flexible, 

 so that crooked stems can be easily straightened, but the slender culms of those found 

 in the Kiso Mountains are perfectly straight and well formed. They are split in half 

 and plaited into baskets of various shapes and into mats, forming one of the products 

 of Shinano. Where this bamboo grows wild it hinders the development of trees and 

 obstructs the path of the mountaineer; but it is very useful for binding together the 

 crumbling sides of declivities and for thatching the cottages of the peasantry, in 

 mountainous parts of the country. 



" Both in China and in the northern parts of Japan the young sprouts are pickled 

 and eaten. Furthermore, the seeds of this plant and of the sasa furnish the poorer 

 classes with food. 



" In 1843 all the bamboos around the town of Takayama, in Hida, for a distance of 

 many miles seeded, and the population, young and old, assembled to harvest the crop 

 at the rate of 5 or 6 to (equals one-half bushel) per diem — in all, some 250,000 kpku 

 (the koku equals 5 bushels, nearly). This bamboo seed resembles wheat somewhat, 

 both in shape and taste, the common people calling it natural rice or bamboo corn. 

 It is eaten either parched or ground, the flour being made into small dumplings and 

 coarse vermicelli. Chemical analyses show that the composition is the same as that 

 of wheat or rye." (Adapted from Satow's Cultivation of Bamboos in Japan.) (Walter 

 Fischer.) 

 153 



