﻿INVENTORY 



39682 to 39690. 



From Sibpur, near Calcutta, India. Presented by Mr. C. C. Calder, Royal 

 Botanic Garden. Received January 11, 1915. 

 " Collected on the eastern Himalayas." (Calder.) 



39682. Crepis japonica (L.) Bentham. Cichoriacese. 

 A common eastern Asiatic herb. 



39683. Pogostemon fraternus Miquel. Menthacese. 



Distribution. — An herbaceous perennial related to patchouli and be- 

 longing to the mint family, found at an altitude of 3,000 to 5,000 feet in 

 the Sikkim Himalayas in India and in Java. 



39684. Blumea myriocephala DC. Asteracese. 



Distribution. — A composite shrub with leaves 6 to 10 inches long and 

 small heads of flowers in a pyramidal panicle ; found in the Sikkim 

 Himalayas in India. 



39685. Maesdenia tenacissima (Roxb.) Wight and Arnott. Asclepia- 

 dacea?. 



A climbing plant distributed throughout the lower Himalayas, ascend- 

 ing to 5,000 feet, from Kumaon to Assam and Burma. The plant is 

 fond of dry, barren localities, twining on the bushes and small trees. 

 The bark of the stems yields a large quantity of beautiful fine silky 

 fiber, which is extracted by cutting the stems into sections and then 

 scraping them clean with the finger nails or with a stick. The moun- 

 taineers of Rajmahal make their bowstrings from this fiber, because of 

 its strength and durability. In Dr. Roxburgh's tests of twine made from 

 this fiber, he found that in the dry and wet states it bore a strain of 

 248 and 343 pounds, when hemp in the same state bore 158 and 190 

 pounds. More recent tests, however, place it below hemp in strength, 

 but above it in elasticity. The fiber is much used in making fishing 

 nets, and is not liable to injury by submersion in water. One of the 

 chief characteristics of this fiber is its elasticity, and it is considered 

 to be the second best fiber in India. This species, though producing a 

 good fiber, is not in general cultivation, being a climber ; difficulties exist 

 with which the Indian cultivator has not yet attempted to deal. A milky 

 juice exudes from the cuts on the stems which thickens into an elastic 

 substance, which acts in the same way as India rubber in removing 

 black-lead marks. (Adapted from Watt, Dictionary of the Economic 

 Products of India, and C. R. Dodge, Useful Fiber Plants of the World.) 



39686. Caryopteris paniculata C. B. Clarke. Verbeuaceae. 



" A spreading shrub, from Upper Burma ; branches terete, slender, 

 pubescent. Leaves mostly obtuse or rounded at the base. Panicles 

 axillary, subsessile one-half to 2£ inches, distinctly panicled, rachi> dis- 



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