APRIL 1 TO MAY 31, 1920. 



63 



50369 to 50373 — Continued. - " ' - 



over 3 inches long; the bracts are densely brown velvety, with a very long 

 rigid point. The flowers are said to be eaten in Kangra as a potherb. This 

 shrub is prized as a fodder for sheep and goats. (Adapted from Hooker, Flora 

 of British India, vol. 2, p. lOd, and Watt, Dictionary of the Economic Products of 

 India, vol. 4, V- S85.) 



50370. Photinia sp. Malaceae- 



Received as Photinia integrifoVm, but the seeds do not agree with a previous 

 sample from the same source. 



50371. PuERARiA PEDUNCULARis (Bentli .) R . Grab . Fabace«?. 



A copiously twining plant with slender branches clothed with short deflexed 

 deciduous hairs. The membranous green leaflets are gray with a thick down. 

 The reddish flowers with a deep purple tipped keel are in moderately close 

 racemes 6 inches to 1 foot in length. Native to the temperate regions of the 

 eastern Himalayas, Khasi Hills, Nepal, Sikkim, and Mishmi, at altitudes of 

 5,000 to 9,000 feet. (Adapted from Hooker, Flora of British India, vol. 2, p. 197.) 

 60372. Themeda gigantea villosa (Poir.) Hack. Poaceae. Grass. 



A stout grass 8 to 16 feet high, with glabrous or scaberulous branches and 

 branchlets, linear leaves 4 to 8 feet long, and a large decompound panicle. 

 Native to Assam, the Khasi Hills, Java, and Malacca. (Adapted from Hooker, 

 Flora of British India, vol. 7, p. 217.) 



50373. Trachy(;arpus martianus (Wall.) Wendl. Phoeniraceae. Palm 

 A tall, slender tree, 40 to 50 feet high, stunted on dry ground or in otherwise 



unfavorable localities, with a globose crown of dark shining leaves. The 

 trunk below the crown is clothed with a network of brown fibrous rhomboid 

 meshes formed by the sheathing bases of the 3-foot petioles. The blade is 

 roundish, consisting of 30 to 40 linear segments, 15 to "20 inches long, joined for 

 half their length, emarginate at the top. The drooping compound panicle 

 bears only one berry, which is oblong, yellow at first, dark glossy blue when ripe. 

 The fruit is eaten, though the pulp is scanty and almost tasteless. (Adapted 

 from Brandis, Forest Flora of India, p. 546.) 



For previous introduction, see S. P. I. No. 48281. 



50374 and 50375. Saccharum officinarum L. Poaceae. 



Sugar cane. 



From Coimbatore, South India. Cuttings presented by T. S. Yenkatraman, Agri- 

 cultural College. Received May 27, 1920. 

 ' ' Indigenous Indian canes of the type of the Japanese forage cane which seems to be 

 immune to the mosaic disease, which apparently attacks more or less severely all other 

 sugar-cane types." (CO. Townsend.) 



50374. ''Shamsara. A hardier variety than the following one, chiefly grown in 

 North India, green when young, turning greenish brown at maturity. It 

 yields in northern India 15 to 20 tons in cane, with 16 to 17 per cent sucrose 

 in the juice, and a purity ranging from 80 to 85 per cent. It matures in 10 

 months. Probably an introduction into this country." ( Venkatraman.) 



50375. " Vcllai. A thick, juicy cane of South India, green or greenish yellow 

 when young, turning golden yellow at maturity. It fields 20 to 25 tons in 

 cane, with 17 to 18 per cent sucrose in the juice, and a purity ranging from 85 

 to 90 per cent. It requires 12 to 14 months to mature, is rather delicate, 

 requires careful cultivation, and can not stand water-logging. Not an indige- 

 nous cane, but apparently introduced into this countr^' about a century ago." 

 ( Venkatraman.) 



