﻿OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1915. 17 



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



41337. Cucurbita sp. Cucurbitacese. Zapallo abin. 

 "(No. 2050. Seeds from Lima, Peru, August 16, 1915.) A medium- 

 sized squash of the same general form as the loche, but much larger and 

 distinctly grooved. Rough with coarse warts, which are sometimes con- 

 fluent, but usually distinct. Color on the outside, deep dull salmon yel- 

 low, in places finely mottled with olive green ; on the inside, deep 

 yellow. Flesh much thicker at the neck than at the large end, but neck 

 not solid." 



The loche is a squash of the general form of the ordinary crookneck, 

 but with straight neck. No seeds of this plant were received. 



41338. Solanum sp. Solanacese. Sacapari. 

 "(No. 2052. Dried fruits from Copacabana, Bolivia, August 8, 1915.) 



A hardy species, with bluish violet flowers, apparently the same as 

 that obtained near Puquiura, on the border of the Anta Plain in Peru, 

 between Huaroconda and Cuzco, at an altitude of about 12,000 feet. At 

 Copacabana it blossomed profusely in midwinter, when no other plants 

 were flowering. Shrub not so large as the Puquiura one, 3 to 5 feet, 

 but woody. To keep in good condition it would probably need pruning 

 or cutting back to the ground occasionally, but would probably live 

 for many years, and could be used as a hedge or screen. The fruits 

 turn a transparent reddish yellow at maturity, but are black when dry. 

 How much frost it will endure is not known, but a plant that will en- 

 dure freezing every night in the blossoming season should be of interest 

 throughout the Southwest. At Copacabana the name sacapari was given 

 for this plant." 



41339. Caeica sp. Papayacese. 



"(No. 2053. July 22„ 1915.) Seeds of a papaya tree of nearly the 

 same size and general appearance as the familiar type, but with the 

 fruits much smaller and more deeply grooved. The flesh is inferior in 

 texture to that of the ordinary papaya, but greatly superior in odor and 

 taste, and probably also in keeping qualities. A thoroughly ripened 

 fruit was kept for two weeks under ordinary living-room conditions and 

 still showed no sign of decay. The tree has a more rounded and compact 

 leaf crown than Carica papaya, the leaves having much shorter petioles. 

 Another apparent difference is that the fruits are not so closely con- 

 fined to the leafy portion of the trunk, but are borne well down on the 

 stem. Fruit 9 to 11 cm. long by 5.5 to 7 cm. wide, with flesh 1 cm. or 

 less in thickness, rather tough and elastic, though becoming somewhat 

 softened and turning yellowish with maturity. The odor is very delicious, 

 like a high-grade, well-ripened muskmelon, and the flavor also is excel- 

 lent, the deficiency lying in the texture of the flesh. The seeds have the 

 taste of capers. As the species appears to be a rather close relative of 

 Carica papaya, crossing seems likely to succeed, and if the good flavor 

 and the keeping qualities of the Peruvian species can be combined with 

 the large size and abundant fruiting of C. papaya a really acceptable 

 melon tree would result. The papaya, improved by the addition of a 

 more attractive flavor and better keeping qualities, might become an im- 

 portant commercial fruit, for it thrives in southern Florida, and com- 

 mercial production on a larger scale would be feasible there and per- 

 haps also in the warm districts in southern California. From the 

 standpoint of ease of production few plants are more promising than 



63638°— 18 3 



