﻿JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1917. 43 



45178. Prunus serkulata sachalinexsis (Schmidt) Makino. 

 (P. sargentii Rehder.) [Amygcialaceaa. Sargents' cherry. 

 From Yokohama, Japan. Purchased from the Yokohama Nursery Co. Re- 

 ceived August 8, 1917. 

 " Yamazakura (mountain cherry)." A deciduous tree, 40 to 80 feet in height, 

 with a trunk sometimes 3 feet in diameter and sharply serrate oval leaves, 

 which are often reddish when young. The deep-pink flowers, from 1| to 1^ 

 inches wide, are produced in short-stalked umbels of two to six flowers. The 

 fruit is a small black cherry, one-third of an inch in diameter. This tree, a 

 native of Japan, is probably the finest timber tree among the true cherries and 

 is Also remarkable for its beautiful flowers, which appear in April. The seeds 

 germinate freely after lying dormant for a year. (Adapted from Bean, Trees 

 and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, vol. 2, p. 250.) 



45179 and 45180. 



From Dominica, British West Indies. Seeds presented by Mr. Joseph Jones, 

 curator, Botanic Gardens. Received September 20, 1917. 

 45179. Dukio zibethinus Murray. Bombacacese. Durian. 



" I believe Dominica is the only place in the western Tropics in which 

 the durian tree has fruited. It first bore fruit in this island as far back 

 as 1892." (Jones.) 



" The durian grows on a large and lofty forest tree, somewhat re- 

 sembling an elm in its general character, but with a more smooth and 

 scaly bark. The fruit is round or slightly oval, about the size of a large 

 coconut, of a green color, and covered all over with short, stout spines, the 

 bases of which touch each other and are consequently somewhat hex- 

 agonal, while the points are very strong and sharp. It is so completely 

 armed that if the stalk is broken off it is a difficult matter to lift one 

 from the ground. The outer rind is so thick and tough that from what- 

 ever height it may fall it is never broken. From the base to the apex five 

 very faint lines may be traced, over which the spines arch a little ; these 

 are the sutures of the carpels and show where the fruit may be divided 

 with a heavy knife and a strong hand. The five cells are satiny white 

 within and are each filled with an oval mass of cream-colored pulp, 

 embedded in which are two or three seeds about the size of chestnuts. 

 This pulp is the eatable part, and its consistence and flavor are inde- 

 scribable. A rich butterlike custard highly flavored with almonds gives 

 the best general idea of it, but intermingled with it come wafts of flavor 

 that call to mind cream cheese, onion sauce, brown sherry, and other 

 incongruities. Then, there is a rich glutinous smoothness in the pulp 

 which nothing else possesses, but which adds to its delicacy. It is neither 

 acid, nor sweet, nor juicy, yet one feels the want of none of these qualities, 

 for it is perfect as it is. In fact, to eat durians is a new sensation, worth 

 a voyage to the East to experience. 



" When the fruit is ripe it falls off the tree, and the only way to eat 

 durians in perfection is to get them as they fall ; and the smell is then 

 less overpowering. When ripe, it makes a very good vegetable if cooked, 

 and it is also eaten by the Dyaks raw. In a good season large quantities 

 are preserved salted in jars and bamboos and kept the year round, when 

 it acquires a most disgusting odor to Europeans, but the Dyaks appre- 

 ciate it highly as a relish with their rice. There are in the forest two 

 varieties of wild durians with much smaller fruits, one of them orange 



