82 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



39102 to 39141— Continued. 



the Khasi Hills and in Martaban. The leaves of this species are used as 

 an auxiliary in dyeing with Morinda tinctoria and lac. The wood is 

 white and soft and is used for fuel and for rough house posts." {Watt, 

 Dictionary of the Economic Products of India.) 



39139. Talauma hodgsoni Hook. f. and Thorns. Magnoliacese. 



" One of the 15 species of Magnoliacese which are distributed through- 

 out the Tropics of eastern Asia, Japan, and South America. This species 

 is a native of India and may be found in the forests of the Sikkim 

 Himalayas and the Khasi Hills at elevations ranging from 4,000 to 

 5,000 feet. The wood is very soft and even grained, and weighs about 21 

 pounds per cubic foot." {Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of 

 India.) 



39140. Trachycarpus martiana (Wall.) Wendl. Phoenicaceae. Palm. 

 See S. P. I. No. 38739 for previous introduction. 



39141. Yaccinium glauco-album Hook. f. Yacciniacese. 



Distribution. — A shrub with large white persistent bracts under the 

 pinkish flowers which are borne in dense racemes, found on the slopes 

 of the Himalayas at an altitude of 7,500 to 10,000 feet, from Sikkim to 

 Bhutan, in northern India. 



"An evergreen shrub, 2 to 4 feet high; young stems smooth. Leaves 

 stiff and hard in texture, oval or ovate, li to 2^ inches long, five-eighths 

 to li inches wide ; pointed, with bristlel jke teeth on the margins, green 

 and smooth above, of a vivid blue-white and slightly bristly on the mid- 

 rib beneath. Racemes slightly downy, 2 to 3 inches long, produced 

 from the leaf axils and conspicuous for their large, persistent, blue- 

 white bracts, edged ^^ith bristles. Corolla pinkish white, one-fourth 

 inch long, cylindrical ; calyx smooth, shallowly l^bed. Berries one-third 

 inch in diameter, globose, black, covered with blue-white bloom. 



" Native of the Himalayas at 9,000 to 10,000 feet altitude, only hardy 

 in the milder parts of the kingdom. It is remarkable for the vivid blue- 

 white bloom on the fruit, bracts, and under surface of the leaves." 

 (ir. J. Bean, Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, vol. 2, p. 626.) 



39142. CoTTMAROUNA ODORATA Aublet. Fabaccae. Tonka bean. 



{Dipteryx odorata Willd.) 



From La Guayra, Yenezuela. Presented by Mr. Thomas W. Yoetter, 

 American consul, who received them from the consular agent at Ciudad 

 Bolivar. Received August 5, 1914. 



For previous introduction and description, see S. P. I. No. 35904. 



39143. ViGNA SINENSIS (Tomer) Savi. Fabaceae. Cowpea. 



From Johannesburg, Transvaal, Union of South AJrica. Presented by 

 Mr. J. Burtt Davy. Received July 30, 1914. 



" Known as imhoomba among the Zulus and grown by them for food. It is 

 said to be a rank grower and prolific bearer ; the 49 seeds were taken from 3 

 pods. It is grown down the coast as far as Pondoland, and should prove useful 

 in Florida and elsewhere in the Gulf States." {Davy.) 



