32 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



37743. ViGNA SINENSIS (Torner) Savi. Fabaceae. Cowpea. 



From Johannesburg. Transvaal, South Africa. Presented by Mr. J. Burtt 

 Davy, Transvaal Maize Breeding Station, Burttholm, Yereeniging, South 

 Africa. Received April 11, 1914. 



"Dinaica (Sesutu name) grown by the Transvaal Basuto among the maize, 

 for food." (Davy.) 



37744. Prunus armeniaca L. Amygdalaceae. Apricot. 

 From the oasis of Dakhleh, Egypt. Presented by Sheik Abu Bakr, of 



Rashida village, to Prof. S. C. Mason, of the Bureau of Plant Industry, 

 at the time of his visit there. Received April 12, 1914. 

 " Dakhleh apricot. Seedling apricots growing in the irrigated gardens of the 

 oasis of Daklileh, western Egypt. The fruits vary greatly in size and quality, 

 hut some are of decided excellence. Quantities of them are dried with the pits 

 in them and used stewed as a dessert during the winter months. These fruits 

 are believed to have been grown in the oasis since the Roman occupation, nearly 

 2,000 years ago. and are interesting to American plant breeders on account 

 of their resistance to desert conditions of heat. The mean annual temperature 

 of the oasis of Dakhleh is above 75" F., some monthly means being close to 

 90° F." (Mason.) 



37745. Cocos romanzoffiana Cham. Phoenicaceae. Palm. 



From Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I*resented by Dr. John C. Willis, botanic 

 garden. Received April 13, 1914. 

 See S. P. I. No. 34757 for previous introduction. 



" Stems 30 to 40 feet high, somewhat fusiform above : leaves about half as long 

 as the caudex, the withered ones deflexed, pendent, the upper ones spreading, 

 often arching ; segments conduplicate at the base, ensif orm ; spadix about 6 feet 

 long, at first inclosed in a stout, pendulous spathe which appears among the 

 lowest leaves. In southern Brazil, near the sea, according to recent character- 

 izations, it comprises a wide variety of forms. Probably the Cocos flexuosa 

 planted in this country is not Cocos flexuosa of Martius, but of Hort., a hardy 

 form of romanzoffiana, which, according to the late Barbosa-Rodrigues, is a 

 polymorphic species including, besides this flexuosa type, all our garden forms 

 known as C. plumosa Hook.. C. coroimta Hort. (not Mart.), C. botryopJiora 

 Hort., C. datil Griseb. and Drude, and C. australis Mart." (N. Taylor. In 

 Bailey, Standard^yclopedia of Horticulture.) 



37746 and 37747. Opuntia spp. Cactaceae. Prickly-pear. 



From Barbados, British TVest Indies. Collected by Messrs. P. H. Dorsett, 

 , A. D. Shamel, and Wilson Popenoe, of the Bureau of Plant Industry. Re- 

 ceived April 13, 1914. Cuttings of the following ; quoted notes by Messrs. 

 Dorsett, Shamel, and Popenoe. 



37746. "(No. 73.) Cochineal cactus, as it is called by the negroes. 

 Found growing near a small hut between Bridgetown and Holetown, 

 about 2 miles back from the coast. The plant was treelike in form, 

 about 12 feet in height, and covered with small fruits of a peculiar 

 shade of cochineal red. Pads almost spineless." 



37747. "(No. 74.) A low-growing, very spiny Opuntia, called by the 

 negroes flatiron prickles, found along the roadside between Bridgetown 



