﻿42 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



41504 to 41508— Continued. 



unarmed, pinnate, reclinate, with long, awl-shaped, plicate leaflets; 

 flowers dioecious; spathe polyvalved; spadix erect; fruit a drupe, oval, 

 1 cm. in length, fleshy, black, hard ; stone single, oblong, horny. In 

 Cochin China the plant goes under the name Cay-cho la. The trunk 

 stripped of its leaves contains a certain quantity of starch which the 

 poor use in case of need. This palm stands the climate of the south of 

 France without protection. It is adapted to sandy and otherwise dry 

 and barren land, but prefers the vicinity of the sea. (Adapted from 

 Von Mueller, Select Extra-Tropical Plants, p. 313, and Be Lanessan, 

 Les Plantes Utiles des Colonies Francoises, p. 78.'/.) 



See S. P. I. No. 32821 for previous introduction. 

 41508. Musa sp. Musacese. Banana. 



" Banana seeds which were produced without artificial pollination. 

 I ' am not sure whether the pollen is from the same genus or from a 

 Strelitzia growing near it. It is remarkable that only the variety 

 Orinoco (from Florida) develops seeds, while several other varieties 

 growing also in the vicinity are seedless." (Bircher.) 



41509. Osteedamia TENUiFOLiA (Trin.) Kuntze. Poacese. 



(Zoyisa tenui folia Trin.) Mascarene grass. 



Seeds from the island of Guam. Presented by Mr. J. B. Thompson, Guam 

 Agricultural Experiment Station ; obtained by him from the Bonine 

 Islands. Received in 1912. 

 " This grass is used for lawn purposes in Japan and is said to succeed well 

 about Yokohama. It was originally described from the Mascarene Islands. 

 It has been tested in a preliminary way in California, at Biloxi, Miss., and at 

 Miami, Fla. The grass makes a very beautiful dark-green turf, the leaves being 

 short, never more than an inch or two long, much resembling the turf of red 

 fescue. Stout rootstocks are produced in abundance, and these have a ten- 

 dency to elevate the turf, a defect which can be remedied by proper rolling. 

 The grass has considerable promise for fine turf and for golf purposes in the 

 South." (C. V. Piper.) 



41510 to 41516. 'Triticum aesttvum L. Poacese. Wheat. 



(Triticum vulgare Vill.) 

 Seed from Quetta Valley, Baluchistan. Presented by Mr. A. Howard, Im- 

 perial Economic Botanist, Pusa, Bengal, India. Received November 2, 

 1915. Quoted notes by Mr. Howard. 



41510. "Common winter wheat. Spike bearded, 10 to 13 cm., tapering; 

 glumes white, firm, glaborous ; beaks 1 to 25 mm. ; kernel red, large, 7 

 to 8 mm., hard." 



41511. "Common winter wheat. Spike bearded, 10 to 12 cm., cylin- 

 drical; glumes white, glabrous; kernel amber, medium soft; beaks (a) 

 7 heads, 1 to 15 mm., (&) 3 heads, 1 to 2 mm." 



41512. "Common winter wheat. Spike bearded, beards short, 3 to 4 

 cm. ; glumes white, pubescent, kernel amber, medium hard ; beaks 

 1 to 3 mm." 



41513. " Common winter wheat. Spike bearded, cylindrical, 10 to 12 cm. ; 

 glumes white, pubescent ; kernel amber, medium hard ; beaks 1 to 20 mm." 



