﻿JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1919. 41 



47214 to 47220. 



From Southern Nigeria, Africa. Presented by Mr. A. H. Kirby, assistant 

 director of agriculture at Ibadan. Received March 6, 1919. 



47214. Annona senegalensis Pers. Annonacese. 



"Abo. No European production in any way represents the Annona 

 senegalensis with its large, blue-green leaf and its small fruit. The fruit 

 contains an aromatic, dark-red pulp, and in a modest degree displays 

 something of that captivating quality which has exalted its kindred 

 plant, the cherimoya of Peru, to its high repute as the queen of fruits. 

 It must be owned, however, that it is difficult to obtain a well-developed 

 example of this fruit, for so keenly is it spied out and devoured by the 

 birds that often for months together it may be sought in vain." (Dr. 

 George Schweinfurth, The Heart of Africa, p. 222.) 



For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 46630. 



47215. Cracca vogelii (Hook, f.) Kuntze. Fabacese. 

 (Tephrosia vogelii Hook, f.) 



" Kassa," "Igun," etc. For vernacular names, see the work by Holland 

 cited below. 



"Used for stpefying fish . . . throughout tropical Africa. The 

 methods adopted are much the same everywhere. The leaves and branches 

 are pounded and thrown on the surface of the water, causing the fish to 

 rise to the surface stupefied or dead a few minutes afterwards. They [the 

 fish] are quite wholesome and fit for food. 



" The following passage [extract from Report on Gonga .Country by 

 Inspector Armitage] gives an account of the use of ' kassa ' in the 

 Gonga Country : 'A stretch of about half a mile of water is dammed and 

 any alligators in it killed; the people from the neighboring villages as- 

 semble, each bringing a bundle of kassa leaves which are beaten to a 

 pulp, taken to the prepared stretch of water, and thrown in. Men then 

 enter the water and splash about, and in about 10 minutes fish begin 

 to appear on the surface and are collected in baskets or by hand. The 

 largest fish are taken in this way. The skin of the men who enter the 

 water into which the kassa has been thrown is affected by the latter and 

 becomes rough, or, as they say, like a stick.' " {Holland, Useful Plants 

 of Nigeria, pt. 2, p. 196.) 



47216. Spathodea campanulata Beauv. Bignoniaceae. 

 " Oruru." 



A strikingly handsome tree, 20 to 70 or more feet high, with smooth 

 white stem without branches for a considerable height from the ground 

 and a luxuriant conical head of foliage, all studded with large flowers 

 of a bright orange scarlet. One of the most beautiful trees in Angola, 

 flowering from September to the end of May and fruiting in June and 

 July. Suitable for avenue or as a shade tree. Grown from seed which 

 is winged, light, and freely distributed by the wind. (Adapted from 

 Holland, Useful Plants of Nigeria, pt. 8, p. 509.) 



47217. Strophanthus gratus (Wall, and Hook.) Baill. Apocynacese. 



A handsome flowering plant; it may be propagated by seeds which 

 are distinguished from the Strophanthus seeds of commerce (S. 



