24 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



48551 to 48586— Continued. 



48570. Ipomoea beptans (L.) Poir. Convolvulacefe. 

 (/. aquatica Forsk.) 



'* (Foochow, China. September 10, 1919.) This plant is an impor- 

 tant leaf vegetable or potherb. Several varieties are grown, but the com- 

 mon wide-leaved aquatic form grown in paddy and pond-edge culture 

 is more abundant in markets. A dry-land form is found even on the 

 hilltop up to 3,000 feet. Its growth is not nearly as tender as the 

 aquatic form, but some say the two forms are different only in the 

 cultural methods. In the flats on Nantai Island forms were found with 

 narrow leaves. While they were cultivated in a half-hearted way, it 

 seemed that these strains were little improved from the wild type, 

 which, however. I did not see in this region, so that the plant is evi- 

 dently not a native of Foochow. Some of the aquatic dry-land forms 

 showed no bloom up to September, but the hill dry-land forms were in 

 bloom in July and well seeded late in August. The quality of this 

 plant is only mediocre, as the flavor has nothing distinctive about it. 

 The upland forms are more or less fibrous, but the water-grown shoots 

 of the flat plains are quite brittle. On early mornings in June and 

 July one sees great loads of the shoots about 18 inches long in the market 

 streets. The hollow stems, over half an inch in diameter, and the 

 succulent leaves are cut up and cooked into a spinachlike table vegetable. 

 The Chinese say that they carry the aquatic form through the winter 

 without seed, renewing the field from cuttings in the spring. Both forms 

 are attacked by white rust very badly. These seeds were obtained from 

 a patch grown in very wet soil, but not under paddy conditions." 



48571. JuGLAXS Regia L. Juglandace£e. Walnut. 

 " (Kobe, Japan. October 28, 1919.) Thin-shelled Persian walnuts 



from China procured here, where they were being transshipped. The 

 shipment was apparently from ungrafted seedlings, but all the nuts were 

 much thinner shelled than those from Japan and were as good as high- 

 grade stock from California." 



48572 and 48573. Kochia scopabia (L.) Schrad. Chenopodiacefe. 



48572. "(Saigo, near Nagasaki, Japan. October 10, 1919.) A plant 

 used for brooms all along the eastern coast of China and in 

 Japan. The stems are very tough and durable. It is an orna- 

 mental border plant. This is not the same as the common Kochia 

 of American seed catalogues. These plants are not highly colored 

 in the fall and are fastigiate inverted pyramidal rather than ovoid. 

 The branches and twigs are wonderfully tough and wear resistant. 

 Every little garden has a few of these plants, first for ornamentals, 

 then to pull for brooms to sweep the walks and yard." 



48573. "(Foochow, China. September 14, 1919. ) Another sample of 

 the plant used for brooms by the Chinese and Japanese." 



48574. OsTERDAMiA jAPoxiCA (Stcud.) Hitchc. Poacece. Grass. 

 (Zoysia japonica Steud.) 

 "(Mogi. near Nagasaki, Japan.) Mixed seed of two forms of the 

 common lawn grass of Japan. These seem distinct from the forms 

 grown at Miami and Pasadena. If they are free-fruiting strains they 

 will prove an important addition to our grass importations, as Oster- 

 damia when properly handled is one of the best lawn grasses for the 

 South." 



