66 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



52715 to 52735— Continued. 



Victor Oviedo, at Catiglata, near Ambato ; it is usually known, however, 



as the ' Gonzales tree,' from the name of a former owner of the property. 



" In size and quality of fruit this variety is far superior to the great 

 majority of capulfs seen in Ecuador and other tropical American coun- 

 tries. It is worthy of propagation by grafting and should be planted in 

 all those regions where the capuli can be grown. It will probably suc- 

 ceed in California, and perhaps also in the Gulf States. It would be a 

 valuable acquisition for the highlands of Mexico and Central America, as 

 well as for other tropical countries where there are plateaus or cultivated 

 regions at altitudes between 6,000 and 10,000 feet. 



" The parent tree is probably very old and is one of the largest capulins 

 I have seen. It is about 50 feet high and has a spread of 60 feet. Its 

 fruits, which are very abundantly produced during the first months of 

 the year, (from January to March), are as large as the Black Tartarian 

 cherry of California (three-quarters of an inch in diameter), dark ma- 

 roon, with soft juicy flesh and a seed of about the same size as that of 

 our northern cherries. The flavor is sweet and very agreeable, with a 

 faint trace of bitterness if the fruit is not fully ripe." 

 52721. Carica sp. Papayacese. Babaco. 



"(No. 547. Anabato, Ecuador. January 12, 1921.) This is called 

 bahaco throughout the interandean region of Ecuador, where it is culti- 

 vated in many places, from Loja Province northward to Carchi Province. 

 I have never seen it except in cultivation, and this only between 6,000 and 

 10,000 feet in altitude ; nor have flowers other than purely pistillate ones 

 been found on any of the numerous plants examined. 



" This is, in fact, the most remarkable and valuable of the several in- 

 teresting species of Carica cultivated in Ecuador. Because of its large 

 fruits, which yield an excellent sauce, because of the relatively low tem- 

 peratures which the plant can withstand, and because of its habit of 

 producing seedless fruits it is worthy of attention in other countries. It 

 is a smaller plant than Carica papaya, rarely reaching more than 10 feet 

 in height. The stem is visually slender, especially when the plants are 

 set closely together, as they are in the small commercial plantations of 

 Ambato. The leaves are glabrous like those of the higacho {Carica 

 sp., S. P. I. No. 53578), but with fewer lobes than in the latter. The 

 fruits are commonly about a foot long and 3 to 5 inches in diameter; 

 they are truncate at the base, sharply acute at the apex, and conspic- 

 uously 5-angled in transverse outline. The flesh is about half an inch 

 in thickness, nearly white, distinctly fragrant, and very acid. It is eaten 

 only after cooking. The large cavity in the center of the fruit contains 

 a quantity of white cottony substance and occasionally a few seedi. 

 The latter are possibly produced when the flowers are fertilized with 

 pollen of other species of Carica (since staminate flowers of the hahaco 

 are not seen in cultivation). 



" The plant is propagated by cuttings and in no other manner. 

 Whether it represents a wild species which I have not seen, or whether it 

 has been derived by cultivation from the higacho, 1 am unable to say; 

 the latter hypothesis does not appear unreasonable. It is worthy of a 

 careful trial in California and Florida." 



Fruits of the babaco are shown in Plate IV. 



