2 SEEDS AXD PLAXTS IMPORTED 



The oriental persimmon has come into prominence as a promising fruit crop for 

 the South, but as yet horticulturists are not satisfied with the American persim- 

 mon, Diospyros virginiana. or the Chinese. D. lotus, as a stock. Mr. Rock made 

 a collection of undescribed species of Diospyros (Xos. 56308 to 56310) which may 

 prove of particular value for this purpose. A tall, spreading species, 50 feet in 

 height, from Tengyueh; another from an altitude of 8.500 feet on the slopes back 

 of Likiang; and a species with black fruit the diameter of a half dollar are three 

 forms which, added to those previously collected by him, should provide us with 

 the stock that is needed. 



The wild apple of Yunnan (Malus yunnanensis, Nos. 56320, 56321, and 56324) , 

 which Mr. Rock found among the limestone bowlders along the watercourses of 

 the Likiang Snow Range at 10,000 feet altitude, is 30 to 40 feet in height, has 

 fruits an inch in diameter borne in large clusters, and ; according to Mr. Rock, is 

 one of the handsomest trees in this region. The value of this species in this 

 country for breeding or stock purposes time alone will determine. Mr. Rock's 

 two other species from the same region, as yet unidentified (Malus spp., Xos. 

 56322 and 56323), or his wild species from the dense forests of the Salwin Ridge 

 (Xo. 56325), or that from the Tengyueh-Sadon Trail (Xo. 56459), or those from 

 the hills back of Mengka (Xo. 56460), or the two from Puerhfu (Xos. 56474 and 

 56475), may, any one of them, prove of more value. 



Of wild pears (Pyrus spp.) Mr. Rock found some remarkable forms in Yunnan:. 

 One (No. 56277) bearing mellow edible fruits 3 to 4 inches in diameter, from. 

 6,000 feet altitude; a second one (Xo. 56278) growing to be 70 feet tall, with 

 fruits 2}^ inches in diameter; a third (Xo. 56279), from 6.500 feet, which is 30 

 feet tall and has greenish brown fruits the size of bullets, and a fourth (Xo. 56280), 

 from 7,000 feet altitude, which grows to be 60 feet in height and has fruits 

 23^ inches in diameter. 



On the Hoching Range, near Likiang, Mr. Rock collected seeds of one of the 

 rare genera of Chinese conifers (Keteleeria sp., Xo. 56316). Since only two 

 species of this conifer appear to be known, and as the one which Robert Fortune 

 discovered in China has grown well in Italy, this species of Rock's may thrive 

 in California and Florida. 



Two wild olives {Olea spp., Xos. 56328 and 56329) which make trees 50 feet 

 in height, from the forests beyond Wolung and the Shweli Valley, should be added 

 to the California collections of olives and their relatives, for some time, perhaps^ 

 a plant breeder may find it possible to cross them and get forms for uses now 

 unknown. 



Pinus ormandi (Xo. 56333), one of th£ tallest of the oriental pines, attaining 

 a height of 90 feet, belongs unfortunately to the 5-leaved pines, which appear 

 to be subject to the white-pine blister rust and may be of doubtful value for 

 forestry purposes. But Rock's wild cherry (Prunus sp., Xo. 56335) from the 

 Likiang Snow Range, his remarkable collection of 10 wild pears (Pyrus spp., 

 Xos. 56338 to 56347) and 1 (Pyrus sp., Xo. 56491) from Puerhfu, which has 

 already been used as a stock for pears in Yunnan, his 7 species of oak (Quercus 

 spp., Xos. 56348 to 56354), his 10 species of Rhododendrons (Xos. 56355 to 

 56364), his Rub us lutescens (Xo. 56369), his 4 species of Sorbus (Xos. 56373 to 

 56376), and 7 as yet unclassified viburnums (Xos. 56379 to 56385) will surely 

 interest amateurs and park superintendents in those regions where they will grow, 



Corylus colurna has been a pronounced success in the Arnold Arboretum and 

 the Rochester parks, and another tree filbert (Corylus sp., Xo. 56490) that 

 Mr. Rock discovered at 10,000 feet altitude in the Likiang Snow Range, growing 

 50 feet high and from 2 to 3 feet in diameter and producing good-sized edible 

 nuts, can scarcely fail to be a real addition to our parks and may even prove a 

 profitable nut-producing tree. 



Whether the giant lily (Lilium sp., Xo. 56778) that Mr. Rock found west of 

 Tengyueh, which grows 15 feet high, will be easier of culture than Lilium 

 giganteum remains to be determined, but already the lily breeders of the country 

 are interested in it. 



In Great Britain, the Chinese shrub Photinia serrulata is considered by Bean 

 as ''undoubtedly one of the finest evergreens ever introduced," and Rock's 

 Yunnan species (Photinia sp., Xo. 56779), which he remarks is "one mass of 

 deep orange-red fruits in Xovember," may prove slightly different from this 

 species and better adapted to American conditions. 



In addition to the material collected by Mr. Rock, the following new intro- 

 ductions are worthy of special mention: 



Aesculus wilsonii (Xo. 56390). a narrow-leaved species of horsechestnut from 

 central China, has been tried in the State of Washington and found better suited 

 to the windy conditions there than the European specie-. 



