12 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



48428 to 48503— Continued. 



48469 to 48471. Parinari mobola Oliver. Rosaceae. 



Nocha or iwxa. One of tlie most handsome and useful trees of all the 

 IluiUa district, forming extensive forests in the mountainous parts of 

 Morro de Lopollo. It rises to a height of 15 to 40 feet with a maximum 

 diameter of 4 feet ; the trunk branches dichotomously and tortuously. 

 The crown is dilated, and the dense, leathery evergreen foliage, deep 

 green above and snowy white beneath, is of extraordinary effect. The 

 wood of the noxa is generally employed in Huilla for the manufac- 

 ture of furniture and other domestic articles and when properly seasoned 

 makes good lumber. But what is most advantageous in this tree is its 

 fruit, since at the time of its ripening, a large proportion of the native 

 population is sustained almost exclusively on noxas. So great is the 

 abundance of these fruits in the neighborhood of Lopollo and Humpata 

 that the natives offer large baskets of them to the European colonists 

 at the price of about ten cents for a hundred fruits. The fruits are of 

 the size of a small peach, containing the bulky stone enveloped in a 

 farinaceous-pulpy mass, sweet and of a very agreeable aroma. (Adapted 

 from Hiem, A Catalogue of Wehcitch's African Plants, pt. 1, p. 320.) 



48469. " (No. 110.) Mobola phim. From Choma, Northern Rhodesia." 



48470. "(No. 114.) From Elizabethville, Belgian Kongo." 



48471. " (No. 182.) Moopundu. A large tree from Elizabethville, Bel- 

 gian Kongo ; the fruit is e-aten by monkeys." 



48472. Phaseolus vulgaris L. Fabacefe. Common bean. 

 " (No. 184.) Haricot bean grown by natives in the Belgian Kongo, 



farther north than Elizabethville. It is supposed to be indigenous to the 

 country." 



For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 47873. 



48473. Plectronia sp. Rubiace^e. 



" (No. 168.) From termite nests near Elizabethville, Belgian Kongo." 



48474. PsETJDOLACHNOSTYLis sp. Euphorbiaccse. 



"(No. 1.39.) Moosalie. Fruit eaten by small antelopes." 

 "(No. 206.) From Broken Hill, Northern Rhodesia." 



48475. Pterocarpus dekindtia]!^us Harms. Fabacese. 



"(No. 115.) Moolemho. A rare and valuable timber tree from Eliza- 

 bethville, Belgian Kongo; yields a kino. [A kino is a dark red or 

 blackish tanniferous product similar to catechu, obtained from various 

 tropical trees. It is commonly used in medicine as an astringent, but 

 less often than catechu in tanning and dyeing.] " 



A tree, 16 to 33 feet in height, with pinnate leaves and numerous- 

 flowered racemes. The roundish membranaceous legume is broadly 

 winged. (Adapted from Engler, Botanische JahrMlcher, vol. 30, p. 89.) 



48476. RiciNUS communis L. Euphorbiacese. Castor-bean. 

 "(No. 200.) Growing wild by a railroad track at Baya, Katanga 



Province, Belgian Kongo." 



48477. Securidaca longipedunculata Fres. Polygalacese. 

 "(No. 172.) From Elizabethville, Belgian Kongo." 



A much-branched divaricate shrub, sometimes attaining a height of 

 10 feet, native to Upper Guinea, Abyssinia, and Mozambique district. 



