2 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED 



While traveling- through Europe, David Fairchild, in charge of this office, 

 visited some of the leading nurseries and arboreta in France and England. 

 As a result of his visits there has been sent in propagating material of a large 

 number of rare and promising trees and shrubs, mostly from the cooler parts 

 of eastern Asia. Doctor Fairchild also visited Algeria, sending in from that 

 country, among other things, seeds of the argan (Argania spinosa, No. 62660), 

 a large drought-resistant evergreen tree of western Morocco which grows in 

 very rocky soil and bears an abundance of light-yellow plumlike fruits eaten 

 by stock. The seeds yield an oil which can be used for cooking. 



A firlike tree from western China (Keteleeria davidiana, No. 62254) should 

 be of interest. It is a tree of pyramidal habit which sometimes becomes 100 

 feet tall, and it has glossy green foliage. Two excellent evergreens previously 

 introduced from this region which have found a place in American horti- 

 culture are the Chinese juniper (Juniperus chinensis) and the white-barked 

 pine (Pinus bungcana). Mention should also be made, in this connection, of 

 the East African juniper (Juniperus procera, No. 62395), which Doctor Sargent, 

 director of the Arnold Arboretum, Jamaica Plain, Mass., considers the hand- 

 somest juniper in the world. It may be sufficiently hardy to grow in Florida 

 and southern California. 



Gladiolus breeders will be especially interested in the introduction of a num- 

 ber of indigenous species from South Africa (Gladiolus spp., Nos. 62653, 62857- 

 62860). The rapidly increasing interest in this group of ornamentals should 

 stimulate attempts to create new varieties by crossbreeding. 



A remarkable collection of rice varieties (Oryza sativa, Nos. 62523-62550) 

 was presented by H. Ando, Director of the Imperial Agricultural Experiment 

 Station at Nishigahara, Tokyo, Japan. These varieties, purebred through selec- 

 tion, had been grown at the station for several years and include both early 

 and late maturing forms. Another rice collection consisting of nearly 200 

 varieties (Oryza sativa, Nos. 62962-63148), mostly crossbred, was presented by 

 Yoshinori Takesaki, of the Imperial University at Kyoto, Japan. 



The botanical determinations of these introductions have been made and the 

 nomenclature determined by H. C. Skeels, and the descriptive matter has been 

 prepared under the direction of Paul Russell, who has had general supervision 

 of this inventory. 



Roland McKee, 

 Acting Senior Agricultural Explorer in Charge. 



Office of Foreign Plant Introduction, 



Washington, D. C, November 22, 1926. 



