APRIL 1 TO MAY 31, 1&20. 



53 



60288 to 50306 — Continued. 



50304. RuBus VEiTCHii Rolfe. Rosaceje. 



One of the handsomest. of all the Chinese brambles. The plants grow to a 

 height of 6 to 7 feet, have blue-white stems and attractive, much-divided 

 fernlike foliage. At first erect, the stems are gracefully drooping with age. 

 Both stems and petioles are very spiny. The pinnate leaves are dark green 

 above and white beneath. The purple flowers are borne in small terminal 

 panicles; the blue-black fruits are of moderate size. (Adapted from Gardeners' 

 Chronicle, third series, vol. 51, p. 148.) 



50305. RuBus XANTHOCARPUS Bur. and Franch. Rosaceae. 



A Chinese trailing plant with large, ovate, bright-yellow fruits which are 

 fragrant and palatable. 



For pre\'ious introduction, see S. P. I. No. 24155. 



50306. Staphylea pixxata L. Staphyleaceae. 



A treelike shrub, widely distributed thro^ighout Europe to western Asia, 

 with deciduous leaves and terminal clusters of small flowers and much-inflated 

 membranaceous podlike fruits, (xi-dapted from Gardening Illustrated, vol. 39, 

 p. 476.) 



50307. SoLAXUM TUBEROSUM L. Solanace^e. Potato. 

 From Teteko, New Zealand. Tubers presentel by Charles G. Hallett. Re- 

 ceived May 11, 1920. 



"Tubers of a peculiar potato that grows in this district. I was given one little 

 tuber by a Government overseer of rabbiters who had taken some tubers from the 

 spring in which they grow and had grown them in his garden for a year or so. He 

 assured me that frost does not affect the plants when growing in the spring. The 

 tubers I am forwarding you grew in my garden from the one I received from the 

 j rabbiter, so they have been out of the water for two or three generations." {Hallett.) 

 j "On the northern side of the Rangitaiki River, in the Bay of Plenty district, oppo- 

 fflte the old Maori settlement called Waiohau, where a splendid spring of fresh water 

 issues from the base of a hill and flows between banks heavily fringed with water 

 cress to the near-by river, a remarkable instance of a plant forsaking its normal en- 

 vironment may be observed. There water cress and potato plants flourish together, 

 and tubers are found among the cress roots from 12 to 18 inches under water. Some 

 of the tubers are almost in midstream, others may be found snuggled into the bank 

 fiber, and the foliage of cress and potato mingle on the water surface. It may be that 

 the plants are dependent for their growth upon the earthy particles held by the cress 

 roots and also that there is some fertilizing quality in the water which drains from the 

 great volcanic area. The potatoes when cooked are not all mealy, but waxy. They 

 grow to a fair size and are fit for eating as early as August. 



"I forwarded some of the tubers for testing at the Moumahaki Experimental Farm 

 last season. The manager's report on the trial is as follows: 



"'Some of the water-potato tubers were planted on August 31, 1916, in the potato- 

 variety trials, having the same treatment, soil, and manured as the 66 other varieties 

 planted on the same date. The potato in question came away vigorously and is dis- 

 tinct in foliage, with a large blue flower, bearing seed apples naturally. The crop was 

 lifted on February 6, 1917, and was free from disease. The jdeld was as follows: Market- 

 able tubers (table and seed), at the rate of 11 tons per acre; pig potatoes, 1.87 tons ; 

 total 12.87 tons. The cooking test made on FebruarA^ 6, by boiling, showed that the 

 potatoes kept their color 24 hours, but they could not be classed as good cookers. The 

 starch content is believed to be high. About the same date one root was lifted, and 

 the tubers were put into running stream water. In less than a month the tubers had 

 rotted. ' 



