78 



SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



52802 and 52803. 



From Burma. Seeds collected by J. F. Rock, Agricultural Explorer of 

 the United States Department of Agriculture. Received April 5, 1921. 



52802. CoRYPHA UMBRAcuLiFERA L. PhcenicacesB. Talipot palm. 

 " Talipot palm. From Monywa, upper Chindwin River, Burma." 



(Rock.) 



" The talipot palm is one of about five species belonging to the genus 

 Corypha. It has a ringed trunk, generally remarkably straight and 

 reaching a height of over 80 feet. Its leaves are of gigantic size, possibly 

 the largest fan leaves of all palms. The petiole is 7 feet long and armed 

 with spines on the margins. The blade is about 6 feet long and 16 feet 

 broad with segments numbering from 95 to 100, and these are again 

 bilobate. The flowers are white to cream colored and are borne in huge 

 terminal panicles often 20 feet long. The palm flowers but once, after 

 which it dies. The fruit is a roundish one-seeded drupe. 



" This enormous palm is a native of Ceylon and the Malabar coast but 

 is now cultivated in most tropical countries. The flowering time begins 

 usually in the hot season, and the seeds ripen about 9 or 10 months after- 

 wards. Each tree has a spread of about 200 square feet. 



" The leaves of this palm are made into fans, mats, and umbrellas ; 

 the segments were used by the Cinghalese to write on. The sacred Pali 

 texts of the Buddhist literature of Ceylon are all written on the leaf 

 segments which are supposed to have withstood the ravages of ages. 



" The seeds, which are like ivory, are employed in India for the manu- 

 facture of beads ; they are sometimes colored red and sold as coral. The 

 pith of the trunk yields a kind of sago ; it is beaten to flour and baked 

 into cakes." (Rock, The Ornamental Trees of Hawaii, p. 19.) 



For an illustration of the talipot palm, see Plate VI. 



52803. Taraktogenos kurzii King. Flacourtiacese. Chaulmoogra tree. 

 "(True chaulmoogra from the upper Chindwin, January, 1921.) The 



bark of these trees is smooth and pale yellowish brown ; the trunks are 

 straight ; the branches, which appear quite low down, are at right angles 

 to the trunk but droop downward, giving the trees a pyramidal shape 

 and the aspect of an old Abies, or fir. The fruits, which are perfectly 

 round and not pointed at the apex, are the size of a large orange, of a 

 light-fawn color and velvety tomentose. They are on short thickened 

 peduncles and are borne on the ends of the flexible branches which be- 

 come pendent, owing to the weight of the fruits." (Rock.) 



For further information concerning this tree and allied species, see 

 Rock, " The Chaulmoogra Tree and Some Related Species," United States 

 Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 1057, pp. 10-27. 



The chaulmoogra tree is illustrated in Plate VII, and its fruits are 

 shown natural size in Plate VIII. 



52804. Chayota edulis J acq. Cucurbitacese. Chayote. 

 (Sechium edule Swartz.) 

 From Guatemala. Fruit presented by Harry Johnson. Received March 

 17, 1921. 



'* These chayotes come from the damp, hot coastal region, near Lake Izabal. 

 They, may do well in Florida and not damp-off so badly in the rains." 

 (Johnson.) 



