50 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



34710. QUERCUS SUBER L. 



Cork oak. 



From North Augusta, S. C. Presented by Dr. W. E. Mealing at the request of 

 Mr. Peter Bisset. of the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduction. Re- 

 ceived December 20, 1912. 

 ''Collected from trees presumably sent out by the Division of Forestry about 1891. " 



From Canton, China. Presented by Mr. G. Weidman Groff, Canton Christian Col- 

 lege. Received December 26, 1912. 



Taai hung Vsz. Large red persimmon. This is decidedly the largest and sweet- 

 est persimmon I have ever seen. It does not have any of the astringent taste so 

 common to the persimmon. It is very highly cultivated; rarely do you find seed. 

 The skin is thin and of a deep-red color. Fruit that I have had on my own table of 

 this variety measures 8 inches around at its widest circumference.'' {Groff.) 



34712. Strychnos pungens Solereder. 



From South Africa. Presented by Prof. J. Burtt Davy, government agrostolo- 

 gist and botanist, Union of South Africa, Department of Agricultiu^e, Pretoria. 

 Received December 23, 1912. 

 •*A shrub which grows wild on the hills around Pretoria." {Davy.) 

 Distribution. — The Mozambique district and Lower Guinea and southward to the 

 Kalahari region in southern Africa. 



34713. DiosPYROs kaki L. f. Persimmon. 



From Canton, China. Presented by Mr. G. Weidman Groff, Canton Christian 

 College. Received December 27, 1912. 



Kaai sam fsz (chicken-hearted persimmon). This is a rather inferior persimmon 

 not commonly sold on the markets. The fruits are about the size and shape of a 

 small egg and very difficult to ripen. A common method employed by the Chinese 

 for ripening this fruit is to cover them over with the leaves from the bastard banyan 

 tree for several days; of course we do not have frost here. This persimmon is used 

 as the stock on wliich to graft the finer varieties." {Groff.) 



34714. Jatropha curcas L. Physic nut. 



From Tampico, Mexico. Presented by Mr. Thomas H. Bevan, American ^ice 

 consul in charge. Received December 23, 1912. 

 "A sln-ub about the size of a hazelnut bush, with a trunk from 6 inches to 1 foot in 

 diameter. Its production is most prolific, the limbs often breaking off from the 

 weight of the nuts. The nuts when first taken from the husk have a dark-brown 

 luster, which becomes opaque after being exposed to the air for a few days. "VMien 

 first taken from the tree they have a taste not at all unlike that of the fresh chestnut. 

 They are said to contain about 50 per cent of oil, which can be extracted and used 

 i'jr cooking, the same as cottonseed oil. These nuts can be seen growing in the yards 

 of nearly all the Mexican houses in the outskirts of Tampico. The Mexicans prefer 

 them to peanuts, maintaining that their flavor is much more delicate. Along the 

 narrow strip of land between the Tuxpam Canal and the Gulf of Mexico, in the State 

 of Vera Cruz, they grow wild by the millions, and apparently thrive better in their 

 native state, growing in the sand dunes, than in the rich land in the valley of the 

 Panuco . ' ' {Bevan.) 



It should be remembered that, like many other euphorbiaceous seeds, the physic 

 nuts have a purgative effect. They should therefore be tested with extreme care. 



34711. DiOSPYROS KAKI L. f. 



Persimmon. 



