8 



As to the quality of their rubbers Ule says that it does not possess 

 as great elasticity as Para but the characteristics of these Manihots 

 make them well worthy of cultivation. He also says that wherever 

 conditions are suitable the cultivation of Manihot Glaziovii will grad- 

 ually be replaced by that of the Manicobas of Bahia. 



It would appear that these two Manicobas have many good quali- 

 ties to recommend them particularly the soft tappable bark which 

 alone should enable it to supersede Ceara. It is, however, doubtful, 

 judging from our present knowledge, whether we will be able to grow 

 either species successfully here in our parts of the east. Manihot 

 dichotoma appears at from 12'5° — 14'5° S. lat., and the locality for 

 Manihot piauhyensis is from 8° — 10.° S. lat., both considerably south 

 of the Para and Ceara regions and in a drier climate. It is quite 

 reasonable however to expect them to do in many of the drier parts 

 and more sandy soils of the Peninsula. 



Each will be given a fair trial here and we hope to be able to 

 report favourably on them in future numbers of the Bulletin. 



T. Wilson Main. 



COMMELINA NUDIFLORA, Linn. 



Owing to a startling paragraph in the Westminister Gazette in 

 August we have had several enquiries about Gommelina nudijlora, Linn, 

 and its wonderful properties. 



It is spoken of as "a wonderful Tropical creeper," " Weed-eating 

 plant" etc, etc. It is said to be a splendid plant for destroying lalang 

 and has been recommended to owners and managers of rubber planta- 

 tions for this purpose. How such an unobtrusive little plant should 

 have gained such notoriety is quite remarkable. 



The habit and growth of this little creeper makes it quite unfit for 

 such purposes. In the first place it grows best in damp swampy places, 

 generally in small patches here and there or by the sides of ditches or 

 small streams and I have never seen it growing on dryer lalang land 

 or in conjunction with lalang. It is not by any means a robust grow- 

 ing creeper, never rising more than six or eight inches from the 

 ground and does not even possess the property of climbing over other 

 vegetation. It is this property of climbing over other plants and smoth- 

 ering them which recommends a plant as an eradicator of lalang, 

 for example, Passiflora foctida is recommended by many because it 

 possesses this habit. 



Commelina nudijlora, belongs to the natural order Commelinaceae 

 and is found throughout the hotter parts of India from the Punjab to 

 Ceylon and Singapore. The stems are creeping and rooting at the 

 nodes. Leaves glabrous scaberulous or puberulous, ciliate. Spathes 

 acute, base round or cordate, glabrous or pubescent, striate ; peduncle 

 \-\ in, cymes 2, branches 1-3 fid. Smaller petals blue, outer pale or 

 white. 



T, Wilson Main. 



