26 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPOETED. 



is in the Imperial Gazetteer of the Northwest Province, wherein it states as regards 

 the Kiirram Valley: 'The climate varies. In winter even Lower Kurram is very cold 

 and a bitter wind prevails, while in the summer it is hot and dry. Upper Kurram is 

 never unpleasantly hot, even in sunmier, while in winter snow covers the ground for 

 weeks. Wherever water is available for irrigation the soil is highly productive, but 

 owing to the absence of a settled government and the internal feuds of the people, the 

 cultivable area is not all under cultivation, and irrigation is carried on only by small 

 channels constructed and maintained by a single hamlet or family. Apples, pears, 

 grapes, cherries, pomegranates, peaches, and a fruit peculiar to the Kurram and Tirah 

 kno\vn as Shalil also grows, and with improved communications fruit growing will 

 probably become an important industry. Famine is unknown in Kurram, ' ' ' {Baker.) 



36486. Phoenicophorium borsigianto (Koch) Stuntz. Palm. 

 (Stevensonia grandifolia Duncan.) 



From the Seychelles Islands. Presented by Mr. P. Rivaly Dupont, curator. 

 Botanical Station. Received October 10,1913. 

 "This noble palm, famous for its beauty, is one of a group of five confined exclusively 

 to the Seychelles Islands and each representing a single species. The tree in its 

 mature state is wholly destitute of spines, whereas in the young state the deep orange- 

 red petioles are clothed with black needlelike spines 1 to 3 inches long, and the young 

 leaves are orange beneath and mottled with orange-brown spots above. The differenca 

 between the young and mature plants is so great that a person unfamiliar with the 

 palm would consider them as belonging to different species. The flower spike is from 

 3 to 6 feet in length, divided into numerous slender branches swollen at the base 

 and densely covered above with yellow flowers, each about a quarter of an inch in 

 diameter. The flowers are monoecious." {Gardeners^ Chronicle, February 18, 1893, 

 p. 201.) 



36487. Nephrosperma van-houtteana (Wendl.) Balf. f. Palm. 



From the Seychelles Islands. Presented by Mr. P. Rivaly Dupont, curator, 

 Botanical Station. Received October 10, 1913. 



36488. PuNicA GRANATUM L. Pomegranate. 



From German East Africa. Presented by the Usumbwa Company, Nyembe- 

 Bulungwa, Post Tabora. Received October 22, 1913. 

 Cuttings. 



36489 to 36491. 



From Tutuila, American Samoa. Presented by Commander C. D. Stearns, 

 governor. Received October 14, 1913. 



36489. Carica papaya L. Papaya. 



36490. CoLUBRiNA asiatica Brongn, 36491. Ipomoea sp. 



36492 to 36496. Nicotiana tabacum L. Tobacco. 



From Klaten, Java. Presented by the director of the Tobacco Experiment Sta- 

 tion, Klaten, at the request of the director, Department of Agriculture, Buiten- 

 zorg, Java. Received October 15, 1913. 

 Cigar-wrapper types grown under the following names: 



36492. "No. 1. Kanari.'' 36495. ''No. 4. Wonosoho:' 



36493. ''No. 2. Y." 36496. "No. 5. Kedoe^ 



36494. "No. 3. E." 



