﻿82 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



44859 to 44864— Continued. 



44861. Boehmeeia platyphylla D. Don. Urticacese. 



A very common shrub, growing in ravines in the tropical and sub- 

 tropical Himalayas. It has thin grayish brown bark, very variable 

 leaves 3 to 9 inches long, and simple or branched spikes of small globular 

 flower clusters. The wood is reddish brown and moderately hard. 

 (Adapted from J. S. Gamble, Manual of Indian Timbers, p. 658.) 



44862. Meibomia tiliaefolia (Don) Kuntze. Fabacese. 

 (Desmodium tiliaefolium Don.) 



"Hardy and more or less ornamental." (Proschowsky.) 

 A large deciduous shrub, with slender, terete branches, thick, green, 

 trifoliolate leaves about 4 inches long, and red flowers in lax racemes 

 often a foot in length. It is a native of the Himalayas, at altitudes rang- 

 ing from 3,000 to 9,000 feet. The bark yields an excellent fiber, exten- 

 sively employed in rope making; the leaves are good fodder, and the 

 roots are used medicinally as a tonic and diuretic. (Adapted from 

 Hooker, Flora of British India, vol. 2, p. 168, and from Watt, Dictionary 

 of the Economic Products of India, vol. 8, p. 83. ) 



44863. Piptanthus nepalensis (Hook.) Sweet. Fabacese. 



A pretty shrub, with greenish gray bark and handsome, large, yellow 

 flowers in rather dense racemes. The wood is white, with irregular gray 

 heartwood. It is a native of the Himalayas at altitudes above 7,000 

 feet and is sometimes grown as an ornamental in European gardens. 

 (Adapted from J. 8. Gamble, Manual of Indian Timbers, p. 229.) 



44864. Trachycarpus maetianus (Wall.) Wendl. Phoenicacese. Palm. 

 "Quite hardy and ornamental here." (Proschowsky.) 



A tall palm, with a slender trunk 20 to 50 feet high, naked for most of 

 its length, being clothed beneath the crown with persistent leaf sheaths. 

 The rigid, leathery, roundish leaves are 4 to 5 feet in diameter and are 

 cut about halfway down into linear 2-lobed segments. The flowers are 

 yellow, and the one to three dull blue drupes are half an inch long. It 

 is a native of the temperate parts of the Himalayas, at altitudes of 

 4,000 to 8,000 feet. (Adapted from Hooker, Flora of British India, vol. 

 6, p. 436.) 



44865 to 44884. 



From tropical America. Presented by Mr. H. M. Curran. Received June 

 6, 1917. 



44865. Acacia villosa (Swartz) Willd. Mimosaceae. 



"(Curagao, Dutch West Indies, March 9, 1917.) Watapaana sjimaron. 

 A shrub or tree of rapid growth; used for firewood." {Curran.) 

 See S. P. I. No. 44452 for description. 



44866. Achras zapota L. Sapotacese. Sapodilla. 

 (A. sapota L.) 



"(Curacao, Dutch West Indies, March, 1917.) Seeds from the best and 

 largest nispero I have ever eaten." (Curran.) 



44867. Cappakis sp. Capparidaceae. 



"(Urumaco, Venezuela, May, 1917.) A tree with large oval dark- 

 green leaves. Fruits reported to be edible." (Curran.) 



