﻿44 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



41147 and 41148— Continued. 



months, continuing in bearing for some four or five years. Among other 

 uses it serves as a very good shade tree for young fruit plantations of 

 tender varieties, as it is such an extraordinarily rapid grower and is very 

 easily cut out when it has served its part." (Day.) 



41148. Melinis minutifloea Beauv. Poaceae. Molasses grass. 



" There are two grasses here that are worthy of special mention, the 

 doubt as to adaptability being with regard to the winters in the Southern 

 States, which I understand are in some places fairly severe. They are 

 called Capim gordura roxa [molasses grass] and Capim jaragud. Capim. 

 gordura roxa means literally ' greasy purple grass.' I have seen Capim 

 gordura roxa live down the wild fern that is such a plague in some dis- 

 tricts, and it forms (where not pastured) a dense carpet between 3 and 

 4 feet thick, upon which it was almost possible to walk. Riding or 

 walking through it in the pasture under normal conditions, the proportion 

 of wax and grease on the blades is sufficient to thoroughly clean and polish 

 one's boots ; this is no exaggeration, but is often remarked. It is not a 

 watery grass, but unusually palatable to cattle and horses, and the blades 

 secrete a wax or grease that, according to one analysis, totals as much as 

 3.22 per cent of the dry digestible matter. It is perceptible to the fingers, 

 which it makes quite sticky. I have not met it in any other country, and 

 I believe that it is indigenous to the central part of Brazil, not thriving 

 right down in the south nor in the sandier coast States of the north. It 

 is a fairly good drought resister and comes up fairly well again after a 

 fire. There is a related variety called Capim gordura bianco (bianco means 

 white), of a bright emerald-green color, but without the resistance of 

 the roxa, and also not stooling so well. I have found both of the above 

 grasses growing away from the sea level up to 2,000 meters on Caparao, 

 the highest mountain of Brazil, and I have found it at 1,000 meters living 

 down wild fern; both these altitudes are subject to frosts, and I have 

 also ridden through it on the uplands of Minas Geraes coated with a dense 

 white frost." (Day.) 



For an illustration of a field of molasses grass, see Plate VI. 



41149. Amygdalus peesica L. Amygdalaceae. Peach. 



(Prunu's persica Stokes.) 

 From Chungking, China. Presented by the American consul. Received 

 September 14, 1815. 



" Seeds of two different strains of peaches which are commonly cultivated 

 in this vicinity. These peaches are locally known under the names of Hsiang 

 t'ao, or fragrant peach, and CMeh Vao, or firm peach. The Hsiang fao is a 

 large peach and its skin and meat are partly red. It becomes soft when ripe, 

 and the seed is readily extracted. It has a very delicious flavor. The Chieh 

 t'ao is slightly smaller in size than the Hsiang t'ao and when ripe its meat is 

 still quite firm. This peach ripens in this climate during the latter part of 

 June, while the Hsiang t'ao ripens about a fortnight earlier. This is also a very 

 finely flavored peach, but, however, not quite so sweet as the other one. A 

 point that I should like to call attention to is the comparative freedom of 

 these peaches from imperfections, a fact which is noteworthy in view of an 

 absence of pest-preventive measures." (Myrl S. Myers.) 



The seeds of these two varieties were accidentally mixed ; therefore only one 

 number was assigned. 



