58 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



38991 to 39101— Continued. 



39012. Erigeron multiradiatus (Lindl.) Benth. Asteraceae. 



"This is one of the most beautiful of all the alpine Compositse, but 

 very variable and difficult to distinguish from forms of neighboring 

 species, especially E. alpina. It is a native of grassy, wet places along 

 the whole length of the Himalayan Range, from Kashmir, where it 

 inhabits altitudes of 7,000 to 9,000 feet, to Sikkim, where it ascends to 

 12,000 feet. It is a pubescent or hirsute herb, in the small state 6 or 10 

 inches high, with simple scapelike leafy stems, and numerous radical 

 leaves, and a branched leafy stem. The leaves are usually 4 to 8 inches 

 long, oblanceolate, and narrowed into a rather long petiole." (Curtis' s 

 Botanical Magazine, pi. 6530.) 



39013. Erythrina arborescens Roxb. Fabacese. 



"A small or moderate sized tree, found in the outer Himalayas from 

 the Ganges to Bhutan up to 7,000 feet and also in the Kashmir Hills. 

 It is chiefly remarkable for its brilliantly colored flowers, which are 

 usually produced before the new leaves. The wood is rather durable, 

 though light and somewhat open grained. It does not warp or split and 

 takes a good varnish. It is used in the manufacture of light boxes, toys, 

 scabbards, trays, and also for firewood." (Watt, Dictionary of the 

 Economic Products of India.) 



39014. Fraxinus floribunda Wallich. Oleacese. Ash. 

 This Fraxinus, which is commonly known as the Nepal ash, is found 



growing in the Himalayas at altitudes ranging from 4,000 to 11,000 feet. 

 This tree attains a height of about 120 feet, and the girth of stem is not 

 uncommonly 15 feet. This tree not only serves as a timber tree but also 

 as a fine avenue ornamental. The wood is very useful for oars, plows, 

 and various other implements. (Adapted from Mueller, Select Extra- 

 Tropical Plants, p. 233.) 



"In 1876 the late Sir George King, then of the Calcutta Botanical 

 Gardens, sent seeds of this fine ash to Kew. Of the trees raised one 

 survives, which was cut to the ground in the winter of 1880-81, but is 

 now about 15 feet high. Although it withstood the frosts of February, 

 1895, without injury and is now apparently perfectly hardy, its rate of 

 growth with us is not such as to recommend it for general cultivation, 

 except in the milder counties. It is one of the orrms group, and in the 

 northwestern Himalayas, where it is native, reaches 80 to 100 feet in 

 height. Its branches are without down and its leaves 10 to 15 inches 

 long. Leaflets usually 7 or 9, oblong (terminal one obovate), tapered 

 at both ends, 3 to 6 inches long, 1 to 2^ inches wide, sharply toothed, 

 smooth above, downy beneath, chiefly on the midrib and veins. Main 

 stalk grooved, stalk of leaflets one-fourth to one-half inch long. Flowers 

 white, in large terminal panicles. It resembles some of the big-leaved 

 forms of F. ornus, but the leaflets are normally much larger, more 

 prominently ribbed beneath, and longer pointed. Introduced first, Lou- 

 don says, in 1822, but killed in the winter of 1836-37." (W. J. Bean, 

 Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, vol. 1, p. 568.) 



39015. Gaultheria nummulaeioides Don. Ericaceae. 

 Distribution. — A procumbent shrub with small white flowers and blue- 

 black berries, found throughout the Himalayas at an altitude of 5,000 to 

 9,000 feet, on the Khasi Hills in India, and in Java. 



