JANUARY 1 TO MARCH 31, 1913. 



91 



by 6 to 7 mm.), is not large. In Dahomey, according to the French explorer, the 

 women are forbidden to eat the beans. 



" 'Last year (1910), thanks to the kindness of First Lieut. Haring, of Sokode-Basari 

 (Togo), the botanic garden at Dahlem, near Berlin, received excellent seeds of this 

 remarkable fruit. They germinated well, and numerous plants were raised by Chief 

 Inspector F. Ledien, not a few of them flowering in July and August. A number of 

 seeds were sent to Inspector E. Rettig, of the botanic garden at Jena, and under hig 

 careful and intelligent treatment splendid specimens grew up, of which some even 

 set fruit. The unfavorable, cold, and dull summer of 1910, however, prevented their 

 maturation. The flowers are very small and papilionaceous and spring from the 

 creeping stem close to the ground. The flowers of the variety with light or occasion- 

 ally black-mottled seeds are white, those of the other varieties pale violet. 



" 'TheHausas call it Kouarourou, according to Chevalier. It is also said to occur 

 in Borgu. It is true at the first glance it might be mistaken for Voandzeia suhterranea, 

 and Schweinfurth actually suggests that this has been the case with certain writers 

 (Zeitschrift d. Gesellschaft f. Erdkunde, 1910), but the expert will always distin- 

 guish them. Habit and leaves are similar and yet distinct, and Voandzeia, so long 

 and well known to us, has above all much larger globose seeds, 



" 'Kerstingiella might possibly also be grown with advantage in other parts of our 

 colonies. Moist and hot countries do not suit it; in Togo it occurs according to Ker- 

 Bting in sandy, laterite loam, in a climate of low humidity, with occasional heavy 

 showers, and a shade temperatiu-e of 18° to 34° C " ^Kew Bulletin, 1912.) 



34916. Black. 34918. Wliite, with black eye. 



34917. Buff. 34919. mite, with brown eye. 



34920. Lansium domesticum Jack. Duku. 



From Buitenzorg, Java. Presented by the director, Department of Agriculture. 

 Received March 22, 1913. 

 For previous introductions see S. P. I. Nos. 24431 and 34074. 



34921 to 34923. 



From Marseille, France. Presented by Dr. E. Heckel, director. Colonial Museum. 

 Received March 22, 1913. 



34921. SoLANUM coMMERSONii Duual. Potato. 



34922. SoLANUM coMMERSoxii Dunal. Potato. 



34923. SoLANUM CHACOENSE Bitter. Potato. 

 Distribution. — A tuberous species found in sandy places near the margins of woods 



in the province of Villeta, in Paraguay. 



34927 and 34928. 



From Poena, India. Presented by Mr. W. Bums, economic botanist, Agricul- 

 tural College. Received February 26, 1913. 

 Roots of the following; quoted notes by Mr. Burns: 

 34927. Andropogon odoratus Lisboa. 



"The authors of the Pharmacographia Indica (III, pp. 570 and 571) observe: 

 *We have distilled the grass and obtained from it an essential oil, having at 

 first an odor recalling that of cassia and rosemary, but afterwards a strong 

 persistent odor of oil of cassia. Messrs. Schimmel & Co. noticed the odor of 

 pine-needle oil in this sample and found the specific gravity to be 0.945.* It 

 grows in the Deccan and some parts of Konkan in more or less mooroomy soil. 

 There is no literature available regarding its culture," 



