44 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



51027 to 51033— Continued. 



51028. GossYPiuM sp. Malvaceae. Cotton, 

 '•(No. 398a. June 18, 1920.) Cotton seed from a planf growing in 

 the park at Alajuela, Costa Rica. The variety is one with brown fiber, 

 of unknown origin." 



51029 to 51031. Persea Americana Mill. Lauracese. Avocado.. 

 (P. gratissima Gaertn. f.) 



51029. "(No. 400. June 18, 1920.) Bud sticks of avocado No. 45, 

 from the property of Padre Zuniga, in Alajuela, Costa Rica. This 

 tree was called to my attention by Don Anastasio Alfaro, who has 

 been familiar with it for years. He states that it is one of the 

 best avocados in Alajuela, if not the best of all. I have seen very, 

 little of the variety. The parent tree is old, and not in good' 

 condition. It stands in an inclosed property behind the principal 

 church of Alajuela. The fruit is slender pyriform in outline, green 

 when ripe, and probably 12 to 16 ounces in weight. The quality 

 is said to be very good, but I suspect the seed may be too large, 

 by our standards. The variety is evidently of the West Indian race, 

 and ripens its crop in July and August." 



51030. "(No. 383 and No. 402. May 27 and June 18, 1920.) Bud 

 sticks of avocado No. 43, from the garden of Pantaleon Cordoba, 

 San Jose. This variety has something of a local reputation as an 

 avocado of excellent quality, and in addition ripens later than the 

 average. In some of its characters it looks much like a Guate- 

 malan ; but more likely it is simply a highland form of the West 

 Indian race (there is, of course, no hard and fast line which 

 separates the two races, anyway). The parent tree, which stands 

 about 50 feet to the rear of Sr. Cordoba's house, is 25 or 30 feet 

 high, with a scanty crown and a straight trunk nearly 2 feet 

 thick at the base. The fruit at this time (June, 1920) is not 

 half grown, but I have seen a model of the mature fruit, made by 

 Don Anastasio Alfaro, Director of the National Museum. The 

 form is nearly spherical, with a tendency to longitudinal ribbing; 

 the weight is perhaps 18 ounces and the color deep green. I 

 believe the seed is proportionately smaller than in most of the 

 Costa Rican avocados, and the quality of the flesh is said to be 

 excellent. The ripening season is September to November." 



51031. "(No. 392a. June 18, 1920.) Seeds of aguacate de anis, the 

 wild avocado, from the region of La Palma." 



" The character of the tree and fruit is such as to suggest that 

 this species, which is certainly indigenous in the mountains of 

 central Costa Rica, is the wild prototype of the cultivated Guate- 

 malan race, if not of the West Indian as well. The wild tree has 

 been observed up to the present only at altitudes between 4,500 

 and 5,000 feet. It is not found in the forest, but frequents open 

 places close to small streams and brooks, or is found associated 

 with a few other trees along the margins of such watercourses. 



" In general appearance the trees can scarcely be distinguished 

 from Guatemalan avocados; the foliage is of a somewhat lighter 

 shade of green than is common in the latter. The flowering 

 season is March and April, and the fruits ripen a year from 

 the following May or June — that is, in from 12 to 15 months. The 



