SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 



54282 to 54296— Continued. 



54289 to 54292. These four numbers represent a series of forms of 

 so-called floating rices, rice with a different flavor from that of or- 

 dinary rice. For the first two months floating rice grows like ordinary- 

 rice, but later floods of the Mekong River, which start in July, gradu- 

 ally submerge all of the plant except the leaf tips. The water recedes 

 after November, the stalks bend down, and when the lower part touches 

 the ground the nodes take root. 



The stalk of floating rice is thicker than that of ordinary rice and 

 is from 2.5 to 5 meters (8 to 16 feet) long. Only the tips of the stalks 

 are leafy. The growing period is 8 to 9 months, from April or May 

 to December or January. No care is given the crop after the sowing. 

 (P. 46.) 



54289. Nam-vian, or ha sao. A recent introduction from Cambodia, 

 with stalks 12 feet long and thick heads, up to a foot long. (P. 49.) 



54290. Nmig-dum. A recent introduction from Cambodia. Of the 

 floating rice group, this is the only variety which yields white 

 fine rice; it requires only a medium supply of water. The grain 

 falls easily from the short head. (F. 48.) 



54291. Ndng-gdng-trang. A variety of the Gocong type, sent out 

 from Saigon, with medium-sized grain yielding (1917, December 

 11, to 1918, February 26) 2,337 to 2,967 kilograms per hectare 

 (2,080 to 2,747 pounds per acre). (P. J,2.) 



54292. Nang-rum. A variety from Saigon with a normal growing 

 period of 120 days, maturity from December 20 to January 5 and 

 a normal yield of 1,500 to 2,167 kilograms per hectare (1,338 to 

 1,932 pounds per acre). {P. 41.) 



54293. Ramay. A large round grain of the type Gocong, which much re- 

 sembles Hueky. Maturity requires 166 to 228 days ; the yield is from 

 1,083 to 3,677 kilograms per hectare (966 to 3,281 pounds per acre). 

 Cultivated at Cantho, Saigon. (P. 4S.) 



54294. Rd-muoi. A fine variety with a large round seed, of the Gocong 

 type, with a growing period of 195 to 220 days and a yield (February 

 20, 21) of 1,684 to 3,722 kilograms per hectare (1,502 to 3,321 pounds 

 per acre). Originated at Dinhthoi (Cantho). (P. 4^-) 



54295. Sdo-ong. This fine variety of the Gocong type originated in the 

 neighborhood of the station of Cantho, has a growing period of 188 

 to 199 days, ripens January 25, and yields 2,474 to 3,466 kilograms per 

 hectare (2,207 to 3,092 pounds per acre). (P. 42.) 



54296. Song-Ion. The oldest known variety, extensively distributed from 

 Cambodia. The large thick grains are in heads 7 to 9 inches long. 

 (P. 4^.) 



54297. Waeszewiczia coccinea (Vahl) Klotzsch. Rubiaceae. 



From Panama. Cuttings collected by Dr. David Fairchild, Agricultural 

 Explorer in Charge of the Office of Foreign Seed and Plant Introduc- 

 tion. Received September 16, 1921. 



" This is a remarkable ornamental tree. Mr. Dorsett and I first saw it on 

 the banks of Gatun Lake at Rio Sucio. At a distance its racemes, over 2 feet 

 long, with their brilliant scarlet enlarged sepals produced a startling splash 

 of color against the dark-green foliage. The color is as vividly scarlet as the 

 autumn colors of the sour gum, the sorrel tree, or some species of Japanese 

 maple. The colored * leaves ' are in reality enlarged sepals. Only one flower in 

 each cluster of flowers on the raceme has an enlarged sepal. Though the 

 flowers themselves are not over a quarter of an inch in diameter, the en- 

 larged sepals are often 2i inches long. The fact that this tree blooms in 

 summer, the wet season, whereas most of the showy flowering trees of the 

 Tropics bloom in the dry season, would seem to make this an unusually valu- 

 able ornamental tree for tropical regions. It is certainly worthy of a place 

 in every collection of tropical trees." (Fairchild.) 



