﻿66 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



Leaves produced in a cluster at the end of the twig, or alternate on strong 

 growths ; obovate to oval, tapered more gradually toward the base, finely 

 toothed, 1 to 2\ inches long, one-half to \\ inches wide, hairy on the veins of 

 both surfaces, dull green ; stalk one-eighth to five-eighths inch long. Flowers 

 produced during May from the terminal bud of the previous year's growth in a 

 hairy raceme sometimes almost reduced to an umbel. Corolla bell shaped, 

 one-third inch long, pendulous, with five rounded lobes, pale creamy yellow, 

 veined and tipped with red ; calyx with five lanceolate, pointed divisions one- 

 sixth inch long; stamens very short; flower stalk downy, one-half to 1 inch 

 long. Seed vessel egg shaped, one-third inch long. 



" Native of Japan, introduced in 1880 by Maries, for Messrs. Veitch. This 

 is the most satisfactory of the species of Enkianthus in our gardens, being quite 

 hardy and flowering freely. It is sometimes cut by late frost. In the Arnold 

 Arboretum, Massachusetts, where the frosts are much more severe than ours, 

 it succeeds remarkably well. The leaves turn golden and red in autumn." 

 (IF. •/. Bean, Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, vol. 1, p. 512.) 



40075. Passiflora edulis Sims. Passifloracese. Passion fruit, 



From Guemes, Argentina. Presented by Mr. H. F. Schultz, director, Agri- 

 cultural Experiment Station, Guemes. Received March 4, 1915. 

 " Seed from fruits cultivated in San Lorenzo de Jujuy. I consider this variety 

 of passion fruit a very important acquisition for the localities where it may be 

 feasible to grow it in the United States. I have eaten different varieties of 

 P. edulis and the very large P. quadrangularis of Panama, the fruits of which, 

 as you know, sometimes attain a length of 25 cm. and a diameter of 15 cm. I 

 consider the fruits very delicious and peculiarly tempting to the palate, as well 

 for a breakfast fruit as for dessert, and most important perhaps for soft- 

 drink manufacture, this latter especially on account of its rich and pleasing 

 flavor and fragrance. The few plants which I have been growing here and 

 which are now about a year old, have already yielded quite a number of fruits, 

 which are light-purple skinned, of usual egg-shaped form, and from 5£ to 

 7 cm. long and 4i to 5 cm. in diameter. The seeds are eaten, together with the pe- 

 culiarly tinted, greenish pulp, because they form no disturbing element at all. It 

 requires a little practice to separate the mass of pulp and seeds from the 

 tough, leathery exterior by means of a teaspoon after the fruit is halved, just as 

 it is necessary for the novice to acquire the desired proficiency in eating a grape- 

 fruit without danger to his own and his neighbor's eyes and clothes. The 

 fruits do not seem to possess any of the narcotic principles which Grisebach 

 states are present in some Passiflora species, for I have repeatedly eaten a 

 dozen fruits at a sitting, and my children eat from 10 to 20 a day without any 

 bad effects. The fruits keep a very long time and are palatable and wholesome 

 even after the leathery skin has dried or crumpled up. I presume that these 

 passifloras are more peculiarly suited to California than to Florida conditions, 

 because San Lorenzo is situated in a dry, warm climate where frosts are very 

 uncommon. Truly enough the short rainy season, which lasts from about Janu- 

 ary until March, during which time there are copious precipitations, agrees 

 quite well with these plants, too, for which reason they may also do surpris- 

 ingly well in Florida. Mr. Smyth, from whom I obtained this strain, states 

 that his plants last, according to soil conditions, from 3 to 8 years, while I 

 understand that in Queensland they fruit for 20 to 50 years." (Schultz.) 



