JULY 1 TO SEPTEMBER 30, 1913. 



23 



35901. Stizolobium STANS^(Welw.) Kuntze. 



(Mucuna stans Welw.) 

 From Pungo Ndongo, Angola. Presented by Mr. J. Gossweiler, Loanda, Angola, 

 at tha request of Dr. Otto Stapf, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, England. 

 Received July 29, 1913. 

 Distribution. — A much-branched erect shrub, 5 to 6 feet high, found in the high- 

 lands of Angola. 



35903. Mangifera indica L. Mango. 



From Manila, Philippine Islands. Presented by Mr. O, \V. Barrett, chief. Divi- 

 sion of Horticulture, Bureau of Agriculture. Received August 4, 1913, 

 Carabao. Said to come true from seed." 

 See S. P. I. Nos. 24927 and 25659 for previous introductions. 



35904. CouMAROUNA ODORATA Aublet. Tonka bean.. 



(Dipteryx odorata Willd.) 

 From the Solorzano Cacao Estate at Borburata, near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. 

 Received through Mr. H. Pittier, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Received 

 July 29, 1913. 



"This tree was introduced less than 20 years ago as a tentative shade for cacao. 

 When the first lot came into bearing it was found that they were far more productive 

 as a crop producer than even cacao itself (I was told that last year's crop sold at $500 

 a hundredweight, or $5 a pound), so the plantation has been extended along the foot 

 of the hills all around the Solorzano estate. As a shade tree the species was not suc- 

 cessful; it does not rise high enough to allow good ventilation, and its foliage is too 

 dense. The leaves are smooth and composed generally of four petiolulate, alternate 

 ovate leaflets, borne on a broadly winged petiole. The flowers are purplish pink 

 and grouped together in short, rounded, terminal racemes. There is seldom more 

 than one fruit to each raceme, an egg-shaped pod, with a smooth, resisting, yellowish 

 skin and a fleshy-spongy mesocarp, the flavor of which is rather agreeable to smell 

 and taste. Each pod contains one of the black elongated seeds known as the tonka 

 bean, which contains the alkaloid known as coumarin, extensively used in perfumery. 

 The Venezuelan tonka bean is apparently what is commercially known as the 

 English tonka bean. Its native country is in the little-known tract embracing the 

 headwaters of the Orinoco and the northern reaches of the Amazon River. The 

 Venezuelan annual crop is exported through Ciudad Bolivar, after having gone 

 through a process of curing, which consists of soaking the beans in rum for about 12 

 hours and dr>dng them again by exposure to the sun. They then become covered 

 with a thin, white, minutely crystalline coating and so acquire their characteristic 

 perfiune." (Pittier.) 



35905. Myristica fragrans Houttuyn. Nutmeg. 



From the Solorzano Cacao Estate at Borburata, near Puerto Cabello, Venezuela. 

 Received through Mr. H. Pittier, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, July 29, 1913. 

 "A medium-sized tree, 30 to 50 feet high, native of the Molukkas. The nutmeg of 

 shops is the hard brown oval kernel of the fruit. Immediately surrounding it is 

 the scarlet aril, or mace, in the form of a net, next to which is the thick, fleshy, juicy 

 husk. The pale-amber fruit much resembles a peach or an apricot in form and appear- 

 ance. ^Mien ripe, the husk splits and discloses the nut covered with the mace. The 

 nuts drop to the ground, when they are collected and separated from the mace; both 

 are then dried separately in the sun or in heated sheds. The nuts are graded for 

 export; 70 to 120 or more go to the pound, these fetching at present (1910) in London 



