﻿OCTOBEK 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1917. 17 



45242 to 45245— Continued. 



45245. Vaccinitjm eeticulatum J. E. Smith. Vacciniacese. Ohelo. 



" Seeds of Vaccinium reticulatum, a species which grows up to an 

 altitude of 10,000 feet on the big islands (Maui and Hawaii). It is the 

 well-known ohelo of the natives, and the fruits are eaten and used 

 similarly to your eastern Vacciniums." (Rock.) 



A low erect shrub, 1 to 2 feet high, the stiff crowded branches angular 

 and densely foliose ; leaves coriaceous ; flowers solitary ; berry globose, 

 one-third to one-half an inch in diameter, pale rose or yellow, covered 

 with a waxy bloom. Found in the high mountains of Hawaii and 

 eastern Maui from about 4,000 up to 8,000 feet, where it grows 

 gregariously, often covering large tracts of open ground. The shining 

 fleshy berry, the ohelo, is the principal food of the wild mountain goose. 

 Although astringent, it is not unpleasant to the taste, and makes a good 

 preserve. (Adapted from Hillebrand, Flora of the Hawaiian Islands, 

 p. 271.) 



45246. Cakica papaya L. Papayaceae. - Papaya. 

 From Honolulu, Hawaii. Seeds presented by Mr. G. P. Wilder. Received 



October 6 and 19, 1917. 



" Seed from selected fruit." (Wilder.) 



45247. DePvIxga canadensis (L.) Kuntze. Apiacese. Mitsuba. 

 {Cryptotaenia canadensis DC.) 



From Brooklyn, N. Y. Plants presented by Mr. C. Stuart Gager, director, 

 Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Received October 26, 1917. 



" Mitsuba is a common wild plant of the American continent, being scattered 

 pretty well over America from New Brunswick to South Dakota and southward 

 to Georgia and Texas. It belongs to the family which has furnished a number 

 of our good garden vegetables such as celery, the carrot, and the parsnip. 



" Mr. Lathrop writes from Japan regarding mitsuba : ' Udo costs more than 

 mitsuba, and far less of it is consumed by the poor. Every part of the mitsuba 

 is edible, and its leaves, stems, and roots are cooked as desirable vegetables. 

 Like udo, it is grown from seed and in rather light soil. It requires less time 

 for maturing than udo and is procurable on the market at far less expense. 

 Mitsuba is popular with everybody from the highest rank to the lowest. Be- 

 sides being cooked, the stems are eaten as we eat celery.' 



" Pai ts'ai has found its niche in our agriculture, and large quantities are 

 being consumed; and udo is being grown by a large number of amateurs who 

 have learned to like it. This new vegetable, mitsuba, also from the Orient, may 

 find its place beside them. The ease of culture of mitsuba : the fact that the 

 plant can be grown over such a wide range of territory ; and the excellence of 

 its green leaves, blanched shoots, and roots, for use in a variety of ways, should 

 appeal to our practical sense and induce us to give it a careful test under 

 widely varying conditions and through a number of seasons. Especially should 

 it be tried on celery lands — in the Northern States, along the Gulf coast, and in 

 California — to determine its possible economic importance and to see if it has 

 any points of advantage over celery." (Fairchild.) 

 65587—22 2 



