10 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



48428 to 48503— Continued. 



48448. CoMBBETUM sp. Combretaceffi. 



"(No. ir>2.) Near Kiinbembe River, Katanga, Belgian Kongo. Large 

 fruits in dense clusters." 



48449. CoMBRETUM sp. Combretacese. 



•*(No. 154.) Kifoola-huto. Near Kimbembe River, Katanga, Belgian 

 Kongo." 



48450. CoMBRETUM sp. Combretacese. 



"(No. 104.) Governor's garden, Ellzabethville, Belgian Kongo." 



48451. Commiphora sp. Balsameacese. 



"(No. 57.) A spiny, green-barked, deciduous tree. The trunk or 

 branches, cut off and set in the ground during the rainy season, strike 

 root readily and make good living posts for fences or kraal walls. From 

 Bulawayo, Matabeleland, Southern Rhodesia." 



48452. DiGiTARiA ERiANTHA Steud. Poacese. Grass. 

 "(No. 214.) One of our best native sweet-grasses." 



Common throughout the eastern half of South Africa, rare in the west. 

 Said to be good fodder for cattle. (Adapted from Oliver, Flora of Tropi- 

 cal AfHca, vol. 9, pt. 3, p. Ji29.) 



48453. DioscoREA sp. Dioscoreacese. 



"(No. 173.) Bulbils from termite nests at Ellzabethville, Belgian 

 Kongo." 



48454. DiosPYROs senegalensis Perr. Diospyracese. Inkulu. 

 "(No. 121.) Hookas je. Near Ellzabethville, Belgian Kongo." 



A shrub or tree, from 6 to 40 feet high, bearing edible fruits up to an 

 inch in diameter. The compact, ebonylike wood is useful in many ways 

 and is much thought of by the natives, who call it imnkey guava in 

 West Africa and aje in Abyssinia. The tree is widely scattered, ranging 

 from Abyssinia and Mozambique on the east to the Gold Coast an'I 

 Angola on the west. (Adapted from Hiem, Ehenacew, p. 165.) 



A fruiting tree of the inkulu is shown in Plate I. 



48455. DiPLORHYNCHus sp. Apocynacese. 



"(No. 155.) Muengwe. Near the Kimbembe River, Katanga, Belgian 

 Kongo." 



48456. Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn. Poaceai. Ragi millet. 

 "(No. 143.) A small-seeded millet cultivated by the natives and 



chiefly used for the manufacture of pombe, a kind of beer." 



A isubstitute for sorghum, called by the Arabians teleboon, by the 

 Abyssinians tocusso; it is grown only on the poorest soil and where the 

 ground is* too wet to admit a better crop. The grain is very small and 

 generally black and is protected by a thick, hard skin ; it has a disagree- 

 able taste and makes only a wretched sort of pap. It yields a yeast that 

 is more fit for brewing than for baking; in fact, not only do the Niam- 

 Niam, who are the principal growers of the Eleusine, but also the Abys- 

 sinians make a regular beer by means of it. (Adapted from Schwein- 

 furth, The Heart of Africa, p. 2Jt8.) 



For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 46295. 



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