﻿42 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



45923. Telfairia pedata (J. E. Smith) Hook. Cucurbitacese. 



From East Africa. Presented by Mr. M. Buysman, Lawang, Java. Received 

 March 20, 1918. 



Mr. Charles Telfair, for whom the plant is named, says of it : " It is dioecious. 

 The fruit is 3 feet long, 8 or 10 inches in diameter, and full of seeds as large 

 as chestnuts (264 in one fruit), which are as excellent as almonds and have a 

 very agreeable flavor; when pressed they yield an abundance of oil equal to 

 that of the finest olives. It is a perennial plant and grows at the margins of 

 forests, enveloping the trees with its branches, while its trunk is frequently 

 seen with a circumference of 18 inches." Its name among the Indians of 

 Zanzibar is koume. (Adapted from Curtis' s Botanical Magazine, jils. 2151 

 and 2752. ) 



For an illustration of the so-called " nuts " of this cucurbit, see Plate II. 



45924. Ceratonia siliqua L. Csesalpiniacese. Carob. 



From Valetta, Malta. Scions procured by Mr. Wilbur Keblinger, American 

 consul. Received February 13, 1918. 



" The carob tree, or St.-John's-bread, is a handsome, slow-growing, legumi- 

 nous tree with evergreen, glossy, dark-green pinnate leaves, forming a rounded 

 top and attaining a great size. It grows well in the semiarid hills all around 

 the Mediterranean, preferring limestone soils ; it is sensitive to cold and does 

 not succeed north of the orange-growing regions. The staminate and pistillate 

 flowers are borne on different trees, and it is necessary, in order to insure 

 a crop of pods, to have a considerable proportion of staminate trees in the 

 plantation. The large pods, which are chocolate colored when ripe, are usually 

 borne in great quantities and contain an abundance of saccharine matter 

 around the smooth, hard seeds. Italian analyses show the pods to contain 

 more than 40 per cent of sugar and some 8 per cent of protein, more than 75 

 per cent of the total weight being digestible. Unusually large trees may reach 

 a height of 60 feet, with a crown 75 feet in diameter, and they may produce 

 as high as 3,000 pounds of pods. These pods are a concentrated feed for horses, 

 milk cows, and fattening stock ; to a certain extent they replace oats for horse 

 feed. Sirups and various sweetmeats are sometimes prepared from the carob 

 pods; they are relished by most children and are sometimes offered for sale 

 by fruit dealers in America." (W. T. Swingle.) 



For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 3112. 



45925. Alectryon subcinereum (A. Gray) Radlk. Sapindacese. 



(Nephelium leiocarpum F. Muell.) 



From Nice, France. Presented by Dr. A. Robertson Proschowsky. Re- 

 ceived March 21, 1918. 

 A shrub or small tree, native to New South Wales, Australia, which has 

 compound leaves composed of one to three pairs of shining, coarsely serrate, 

 oblong leaflets 2 to 4 inches long and very small flowers in short axillary 

 panicles ; the two to three lobed capsules inclose globose seeds with fleshy 

 arils. (Adapted from A. Gray, U. S. Exploring Expedition, vol. 15, Botany, 

 p. 258, as Cupania suocinerea.) 



See S. P. I. No. 44520 for previous introduction. 



