58 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



51843 to 51855— Continued. 



51852. Saussurea lappa (Decaisnej C. B. Clarke. Asteracese. 



. The aromatic root of this tall perennial, native to Kashmir, at altitudes 

 of 8,000 to 12,000 feet, is of medicinal value. The annual export has been 

 as much as 1,000 tons, a large portion used for incense, further as an in- 

 secticide, keeping moths from cloth. The leaves are used as an insecticide 

 as emballage for shawls. (Adapted from Mueller, Select Extra-Tropical 

 Plunts, p. 492.) 



51853. Viburnum sp. Caprifoliaceje. 

 [Received without notes.] 



Viburnums are among our best ornamental shrubs, and this may be use- 

 ful in breeding work if not for its own intrinsic value. 



51854. Viola serpens Wall. Violgfcese. Violet. 

 An herbaceous perennial with lilac-colored flowers found in woods 



above 7,000 feet altitude in the hilly districts throughout India and in 

 China and Java ; glabrous or with scattered hairs. The stems are short 

 but distinct, covered with withered scales, and often producing runners. 

 The broadly ovate, deeply cordate leaves are 1 to 2 inches long. (Adapted 

 from CoUett, Flora Simlensis, p. J^O.) 



51855. Viola sp. Violacese. 



[Mixed seed, received without notes.] 



51856 to 51869. Lotus spp. Fabacese. 



From Madrid, Spain. Seeds presented by the Botanic Garden. Received 

 November 26, 1920. 



51856. Lotus angustissimus L. 



A plant with upright, sometimes decumbent to ascending, slender stems. 

 The dark-green leaves are short stalked with small leaflets, the lower 

 rounded obovate, and the upper lanceolate to linear. The golden-yellow 

 flowers are often reddish at the tips. Found in meadows, on roadsides^ 

 on the less salty of the salt-pasture formations with Gynodon dactylon, 

 on moist salt meadows rich in humus, and also in carbonates and 

 sulphate salts, from the Mediterranean region to Hungary and southern 

 France. (Adapted from Ascherson and Graehner, Synopsis der Mittel- 

 europdischen Flora, vol. 6, aht. 2, p. 685, and Hayek, Die PflanzendecM 

 Oesterreich-Ungams, Leipsig and Vienna, pp. 159, 494-) 



51857. Lotus angustissimus gracilis (Waldst. and Kit.) Aschers. and 



Graebn. 



Th:s plant differs from the species in its ascending or partly decumbent 

 stem 1 to 3 decimeters long, its broader, elliptic, acute stipules, and its 

 shorter peduncles. It is also less abundant. (Adapted from Ascherson 

 and Graebner, Synopsis der Mitteleuropdischen Flora, vol. 6, aht. 2, 

 p. 685.) 



51858. Lotus arabicus L. 



A kind of vetch indigenous to Egypt, where it grows along the bed of 

 the Nile, especially above Luxor. During the first Sudanese war this 

 species of lotus was a continual source of trouble to the military authori- 

 ties, since it w^as frequently cropped by the transport animals at the 

 various encampments and led to a high mortality among them. By a 

 chemical investigation it was ascertained that the toxicity was due to the 

 production of prussic acid when the plant was moistened with water, as 

 the result of the interaction of a glucosid and an enzym occurring to- 

 gether in its cells. The glucosid (lotusin) was obtained in a pure state 

 and shown to be a derivative of a yellow coloring matter (lotoflavin), the 

 latter in addition to dextrose and prussic acid being produced when 

 lotusin is hydrolyzed, either by the action of the enzym (lotase) present 

 in the plant or by boiling it with dilute mineral acids. 



The Arabs are aware that Lotus arabicus, which is called *'klutcher" 

 in the vernacular, is poisonous only in the immature condition and that 

 when allowed to ripen until seeds have formed it becomes innocuous 

 and is then available as an excellent fodder. A chemical investigation 

 of the fully ripe plants show^ed that they contained none of the poison- 



