﻿OCTOBER 1 TO DECEMBER 31, 1916. 27 



43451 to 43461— Continued. 



roasted and ground to make the Paraguay tea of commerce, which is said 

 to possess the good properties of tea and coffee without their after- 

 effects. In the hospitals of Paris it is used as a stimulant. The yerba 

 groves are located in remote regions and grow best on high land at an 

 elevation of 1,000 to 2,000 feet in soft alluvial soil or soil rich in humus. 

 The seed is very difficult to germinate and without special treatment 

 requires a year before it will come up. An opinion prevails that these 

 seeds will germinate only after being eaten by birds, and a substitute for 

 the gastric juice of the bird has been sought. By a method in use at 

 San Ignacio, Argentina, seedlings have been obtained in five weeks. This 

 plant might be grown in Texas and California. (Adapted from Friderici, 

 Tropenpflanzer, 1907, pp. 776-783.) 



43457. Lonchocaepus sp. Fabacese. 



The species of this genus are either trees or shrubs, with alternate 

 leaves and opposite leaflets. The papilionaceous flowers are white, pink, 

 or purple, and occur in simple or branched racemes. The membranous or 

 coriaceous pods are flat and dehiscent, containing one to four, or rarely 

 more, flat kidney-shaped seeds. An indigo is said to be obtained from 

 this genus, but it is not known in the trade and is little cultivated. 

 (Adapted from Humboldt, Bonpland, and Kunth, Nova Genera et Species, 

 vol. 6, pp. 182, 383, and from Bailey, Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, 

 vol. 4, P- 1904.) 



43458. Piptadenia excelsa (Griseb.) Lillo. Mimosacese. 

 (P. communis excelsa Griseb.) 



"An important timber tree; also planted as a shade tree in Buenos 

 Aires." (Curran.) 



An unarmed tree, almost 100 feet high, with 15 to 20 pairs of leaflets 

 in each leaf and spikes of flowers 2 or 3 inches long. The pods are 

 linear. The rather thin bark is not used in tanning, as is that of the 

 other species. The rosy wood, which resembles that of Piptadenia mac- 

 rocarpa, is tough and straight grained and is used by the carpenters of 

 Jujuy for various kinds of work. It is indigenous to the northern part 

 of Argentina and is not exported to the south. (Adapted from Grisebach, 

 Plantae Lorentzianae, p. 121, and from Venturi and Lillo, Contrioucion 

 al Conocimiento de los Arooles de la Argentina, p. 48.) 



43459. Piptadenia macrocaepa Benth. Mimosacese. 

 "Used the same as above number." {Curran.) 



An unarmed tree, native of Brazil, with grayish tomentulose twigs and 

 branches and 10 to 25 pairs of pinnae, each with 20 to 40 pairs of pin- 

 nules, hardly 2 millimeters long. The flowers occur in peduncled heads 

 in the axils of the leaves, sometimes at the ends of the branchlets. The 

 pods are half a foot long and more than an inch wide, with thickened 

 margins. (Adapted from Hooker's Journal of Botany, vol. 4, p. 341, and 

 from Bailey, Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture, vol. 5, p. 2647.) 



43460. Saccellium lanceolattjm Humb. and Bonpl. Boraginacese. 



A tree, 2 to 4 meters in height, with many branches, and a trunk 3 

 decimeters in thickness. The alternate, lanceolate leaves are 10 to 16 

 centimeters in height, and the terminal racemes of inconspicuous dioe- 

 cious flowers resemble minute bouquets. The fruit is a small drupe. 

 The wood of this tree is about the same in color and texture as that of 



