JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1932 



69 



97804 to 97816. Phoenicaceae. 



Palm. 



From the West Indies and British Guiana. 

 Seeds collected by David Fail child and 

 P. H. Dorsett, agricultural explorers 

 Bureau of Plant Industry, with the 

 1931-32 Allison V. Armour expedition. 

 Received March 7. 1932. 



97804. (Undetermined.) 



No. 2956. Collected February 19, 1932, 

 in the Botanic Station at Scarborough, 

 Tobago. A graceful feather palm with 

 a smooth tiunk 15 feet high and 6 

 inches in diameter. The fruits are ob- 

 long cylindrical, pointed. 1 inch long by 

 1 t _. inches in diameter. 



97805. ARCHO.Vroi'IIOKMX alexandrab <F. 

 Muell. ) Wendl. and Drude. 



No. 2983. Collected February 25, 1932, 

 in the Botanic Garden, Georgetown, 

 British Guiana. A pinnate-leaved palm 

 70 to 80 feet high, with leaves several 

 feet long, of lanceolate, usually entire 

 leaflets, 1 to 2 feet long and whitish be- 

 neath. The green-yellow flowers are 

 borne in a cluster about 1 foot long and 

 are followed by small round fruits. It 

 is native to Queensland, Australia. 



For previous introduction see 91772. 



97806. Ptychosperma sp. 



No. 2958. ('olbct< d February 19, 1932, 

 in the Botanic Station. Scarborough, To- 

 bago. An attractive cluster palm whose 

 pinnate leaves have obliquely truncated 

 pinnae. 



97807. Areca triaxdra Roxb. 



No. 29.14. Collected February 19. 1932, 

 in the Botanic Station, Scarborough, To- 

 bago. A graceful spineless palm ulti- 

 mately about 2."i feet high, usually with 

 several trunks which bear crowns of pin- 

 nate leaves 4 to (5 feec in length. The 

 fruits, about the size of an olive, are 

 orange-scarlet. Native to India. 



For previous introduction see 93400. 



97808. ASTROCARYDM TDCUMA Mart. 



No. 2986. Purchased in the market at 

 Georgetown, British Guiana, February 25, 

 1932. The orange-colored fruits, the 

 shape of acorns, have oily flesh which is 

 a deep orange color and full of fiber, but 

 has a sweetish and somewhat nutty 

 flavor. 



97809. Astrocaryim segregatum Drude. 



No. 2987. Purchased in the market 

 at Georgetown, British Guiana, February 

 23. 1932. A rather low-growing Bra- 

 zilian palm with a spiny trunk and large 

 pinnate leaves armed with stout black 

 spines along the midribs. The fragrant 

 smooth oily fruits, over an inch in di- 

 ameter, have yellow-orange flesh with 

 very little fiber and a flavor something- 

 like a hazel nut. 



97810. ASTROCARYUM Sp. 



No. 2957. Collected on Tobago, Wind- 

 ward Islands, February 20, 1932. A very 

 spiny slender palm found on the moun- 

 tain side at 1,000 feet altitude. 



97811. Copernicia cerifeea Mart. 



Carnauba palm, 



No. 2977. From the Botanic Garden, 

 Georgetown, British Guiana, February 

 25, 1932. The wax palm of Brazil, 

 which has fan-shaped leaves and grows 



97804 to 97816— Continued 



to a height of 25 feet. From the leaves 

 is obtained carnauba wax. which is used 

 in making phonograph records. 



For previous introduction see 71917. 



97812. Desmoncus sp. 



No. 2951. Collected February 16, 

 1932. in the Forest Reserve, Trinidad. A 

 climbing palm, covered with spines, found 

 in the deep forest. The bunches of 

 deep-scarlet fruits are very attractive. 



97813. Euterpe oleracea Mart. 



No. 2955. Collected on Tobago. Wind- 

 ward Islands. February 20. 1932. A 

 graceful palm with a trunk seldom more 

 than 4 inches in diameter. It is said 

 that fats suitable for oils and soaps can 

 be derived from its blue-black berrylike 

 fruits. 



For previous introduction see 50481. 



97814. Hyphaexe thebaica (L.) Mart. 



Doum palm. 



No. 2980. Collected in the Botanic Gar- 

 dens. Georgetown, British Guiana, Feb- 

 ruary 25. 1932. A palm about 30 feet 

 high which is noted as one of the few 

 branching palms. It grows in alkaline 

 sandy and clay soils and is distributed 

 from upper Egypt to central Africa. The 

 stems of old trees are sometimes forked 

 3 or 4 times. The beautiful yellowish- 

 brown fruits are borne in long clusters 

 of one to two hundred. In upper Egypt 

 people of the poorer classes eat the fi- 

 brous husk, which tastes much like gin- 

 gerbread, but is rather hard. The hard 

 tough wood is used for domestic utensils. 

 It is one of the most striking and pic- 

 turesque of the palms and is capable of 

 withstanding severe droughts under des- 

 ert conditions, as well as the moisture- 

 laden atmosphere of British Guiana. 



For previous introduction see 85741. 



97815. Licuala grandis (Bull.) Wendl. 



No. 2978. Collected in the Botanic 

 Garden. Georgetown, British Guiana Feb- 

 ruary 25. 1932. A dwarf palm with the 

 stem clothed with the dead h af sheaths. 

 The erect spreading fan-shaped leaves 

 have closely plicate segments which are 

 two-lobed at the end. Native to the 

 island of New Pommern, Bismarck Archi- 

 pelago. 



For previous introduction see 81589. 



97816. Livistoxa hoogexdorpii Andre. 



No. 2982. Collected in the Botanic 

 Garden, Georgetown. British Guiana. Feb- 

 ruary 25. 1932. A form with blue fruits. 

 A tall Javanese palm with fan-shaped 

 leaves 4 to 6 feet wide on spiny petioles, 

 3 to 5 feet long, red-brown at the base 

 and becoming olive green near the blade. 

 The blades are made up of 10 to 12 

 plicate pendulous segments, with five to 

 seven acute lobes at the apex. 



For previous introduction s< j e 95088. 



97817 and 97818. 



From India. Seeds presented by D. N. 

 Mahta, second economic botanist. Central 

 Province, at the request of the director 

 of agriculture Nagpur. Received Feb- 

 ruary 26, 1932. 



97817. Alysicarpus rugosus (Willd.) 

 DC. Fabaceae. 



An erect annual legume, native to 

 southern Asia and Africa. The tough 



