﻿APRIL 1 TO JUNE 30, 1917. 77 



44840. Sisyrinchium sp. Iridacese. 



From Guatemala. Plant collected by Mr. Wilson Popenoe, agricultural 

 explorer. Received June 8, 1917. 



"(No. 135. May 28, 1917.) A flowering plant from the hillsides near 

 Momostenango, in the Department of Totonicapam, at an altitude of 7,500 feet. 

 It grows to a height of about 2 feet, with slender, grasslike leaves. In May it 

 produces flower stalks up to about 2| feet high, each bearing several pale- 

 blue flowers about an inch in diameter, with six lanceolate petals. It is called 

 in Spanish Flor de Mayo {Mayflower). This should be adapted to cultivation 

 in California and Florida. It seems to like a heavy soil." {Popenoe.) 



44841. Annona cherimola Mill. Annonacese. Cherimoya. 

 From Oran, Salta, Argentina. Presented by Mr. S. W. Damon. Received 



June 9, 1917. 

 " Seeds of Annona cherimola from rather good fruit which I ate a few days 

 ago. The trees which bore the fruit withstood, last winter, a temperature of 

 about 15° F." {Damon.) 



44842. Citrullus vulgaris Schrad. Cucurbitacese. Watermelon. 



From Durban, Natal, Union of South Africa. Presented by Mr. William W. 

 Masterson, American consul. Received June 8, 1917. 

 Mankataan. A melon much cultivated throughout Natal for use as cattle feed. 

 It is exceptionally tough, enduring rough handling and keeping for six months 

 after ripening without spoiling; but, at the same time, it is very watery and 

 makes an excellent green fodder for live stock, especially when mixed with such 

 feed as alfalfa hay or cornstalks. It is also very suitable for jam making, 

 some of the Cape Colony firms using large quantities for this purpose. One 

 pound of seed will plant 2 or 3 acres, and as much as 120 tons of melons has 

 been taken from a single acre. It might be suitable for the semiarid regions 

 of the United States. (Adapted from William W. Masterson, consular report, 

 April 18, 1917.) 



44843. Coix lacryma-jobi ma-yuen (Rom.) Stapf. Poacese. 



Job's-tears. 



From Chosen (Korea). Presented by Miss Katherine Wambold, Yunmot- 



kol, Keijo, through Mrs. M. W. Spaulding, Washington, D. C. Received 



June 1, 1917. 



" Yule" moo. Grows in ordinary fields. Made into meal by mixing with 



water, then draining, drying, and pounding. When mixed with water and salt 



it is made into a kind of bread." {Wambold.) 



This variety might be called the cultivated edible Job's-tears, and it includes 

 many forms, all of which are characterized by having a thin, loose, easily 

 broken shell. They are often longitudinally striated and in many examples are 

 constricted at the base into what has been called an annulus. In the central 

 provinces of India, among the aboriginal tribes, this grain forms an important 

 article of food. It has been introduced into Japan, where the seeds are 

 pounded in a mortar and eaten as meal. (Adapted from the Agricultural 

 Ledger, No. 13, p. 217, 1904.) 



