﻿10 SEEDS AXD PLANTS IMPORTED. 



41316 to 41341— Continued. (Quoted notes by Mr. O. F. Cook.) 



ful climber and the flowers are magnificent, not so strikingly colored as 

 some of the passion. flowers, but a very attractive pink." 



41317. Mutisia sp. Aster acese. 



"(No. 834. San Miguel and Torontoy, Peru, June 9, 1915.) Seeds of 

 a large trailing vine with a magnificent flower. The rays attain a 

 length of nearly 5 cm. and are recurved against the involucre, which 

 is covered with long, recurved, channeled scales, appearing spinelike 

 and suggesting a thistle, but not stiff or sharp. The flowers are pendent 

 and have a stalk 6 to 10 inches long. -The rays are orange at the base, 

 passing through scarlet and scarlet red and then to deeper shades, 

 finally discoloring to black. The anthers are dark brownish and the 

 style yellow, tipped with red. The rays are of firm texture and evi- 

 dently remain showy for a long time, several days at least. Probably 

 would not thrive outside of a greenhouse unless in Florida or California." 



41318. Lycopeesicon sp. Solanacere. Wild tomato. 

 "(No. 1185. June 10, 1915.) Seeds of a wild tomato growing near a 



small watercourse between Ollantaytambo and Torontoy and about 1 

 league above the latter place, at an altitude of more than 8,000 feet, 

 in a rather dry district, with cacti and other desert vegetation. Only 

 one plant was found at the place where the fruit was obtained, though 

 the species was noticed two or three times in other localities. The vine 

 was large and woody, trailing over bushes 10 to 12 feet high. The 

 foliage, flowers, and fruit have much the same form as those of the 

 cultivated tomato. The flowers are of a bright yellow color, but the 

 fruits remain green, even when the seeds are mature. Finally they 

 become somewhat yellowish, but with no approach to the bright colors 

 of the cultivated varieties. The fruit also lacks the characteristic odor 

 and taste of the tomato, but has a pleasant, slightly acid flavor, more 

 like that of the apple. Another difference is that the outer wall is much 

 firmer in texture than in the cultivated tomato, and the keeping quali- 

 ties are apparently very much better. Fruits collected on June 10 and 

 brought to Ollantaytambo in a saddlebag remained apparently un- 

 changed, with no signs of decay or withering, until July 20, and some 

 of them were still fresh when they reached Washington in September. 



" In addition to the botanical interest attaching to this plant as a 

 wild relative of the tomato, there is the possibility of making use of it 

 in hybridizing and breeding new varieties. If such a cross can be 

 made, it may be expected to give a wide range of variation and yield 

 new types of fruit adapted to special purposes, such as woody perennial 

 varieties that can be trained over arbors like grapevines, or varieties 

 with special flavors, greater firmness of flesh, and improved keeping 

 qualities. An increase of hardiness might also be expected, in view of 

 the fact that this species grows wild at a rather high altitude in a 

 valley bordered by high mountains with perpetual snow fields. The 

 nights are very cold, with frequent frosts during the winter season. The 

 fruits are over an inch in diameter, several times as large as those of 

 the red-fruited wild tomato found later at Santa Ana, from which the 

 cultivated tomato appears to have been derived. The fruits are borne 

 in large flat clusters on a dichotomously (?) branched inflorescence that 

 becomes stiff and woody as the fruits mature. The Indians are said not 

 to use the fruit, but the plant is supposed to have medicinal properties." 



