732 
THE TROPICAL AEICULTURIST. [May, 1, 1903. 
it to be native. There i3 no olher plant which 
produces so much nourishment in so small space, It 
is planted in' sprouts and needs little cultivation ; 
fruit can be gathered after the tenth month. One 
branch bears often from 160 to 180 bananas, and 
weighs from 80 to 100 pounds. Oae acre may contain 
600 to 8D0 banana plants, which will yield annually 
about 800 cwt. of fruit, nourishment enough for about 
forty persons. The best varieties are the platano 
gordo, Colorado, Costarica and manzana, 
Ramie, china grass, Urlica Bophmeria, Urticaoeas : 
Textile plant, introduced from China. 
Sandia, watermelon, Cuourbita citrullus, Cuonrbi- 
Sauz and Sauz lloron, willow and weeping willow, 
Salix pentranda and babilonica, Salicineas. 
Sempasnchil or Zempoalxochitl, Tagetes erecta, 
Compuestas : Yellow, favorite flower of the Indiana. 
Sierapreviva, house-leek, Aizoon canariensis, Cra- 
suiaofas: Many varieties, medicinal. 
Tabaco, tobacco, Nicotiana tabucum, Solanaoeaa : 
Native plant of Mt-xico; the yetl of the Aztecs, in many 
varieties in hot zone; wild in Tabasco, etc., best 
in Vei a Cruz, Oaxaoa and Tepio, further in Yucatan, 
Carapeohe, Chiapas, etc. ; important article of export. 
Talaycte, Gonolobus pednnculatas, A?clepedias : 
Eatable green fruit; harvest in summer. 
Tamarindo, tamarind, Tamarindus oceidentalis, Le- 
guminosas : Hot zone, fruit medicinal, exported. 
Ttjocote, Mexican thorn-apple or hawthorn, Cra- 
taegus Mexicanus, Bosaeeas : Native fruit tree of 
temperate and cool zones, abundant ia fruit ; harvest, 
October to December. 
Tepeguflje. Acacia acapulcensis Leguminosas : Hot 
zone, furnishes timber and gum. 
Timbiriche, wild pioeapple, Bromelia pinguin, Bro- 
meliaceas : Hot zone. 
Tomate, Pbyialis pubescens, etc., Solanaceas : 
Favorite Mexican condiment of many varieties. 
Trigo, wheat, Tritioum sativum, Gramineas : In- 
troduced »bout 1530 ; next to corn, most cultivated 
g'ain, in Mexico; sown in November to January, 
harvested in April and May, yields on an average 
from fifteen to thirty and up to 110 times, Humboldt 
considers the Mtxican wheat among the beat of the 
world- 
Trompetilla, Bouvardia angustifolia, Rnbiaceas : 
B.^ftutiful vine. 
Tuie, reeds, Ccperu?, Cyperaoeis : very prolific on 
the banks of the lakes ; green, used as food for 
animals ; dried to mnke mata, fire fans, etc., especially 
in the Valley of Toluca. 
Cva, grape vine, vitia viaifera, JVitiferas : Intro- 
duced from Spain, best in Coahuilv. Ohihuahna, 
Puebla etc. In Parras is manufactured a light, good 
wine and cognac. Wild grapes grow in various places. 
Vainilla, vanilla, Bpidendrum vanilla, Orchideas : 
Native plant of hot zone, the tlilxochitl of the Aztecs ; 
wiM and cultivated; blooms ia February and March ; 
harvest, March to June; best fruit in Vara Cruz 
(Papantla Misantla) ; production in 1.S80, ^651,958 ; 
formerly exported exclusively from Mexico : still an 
important article of export. 
Yoloxochitl or flor del coiazon, Magnolia mexicana, 
Magnoliaceis : Very fragran., flower. 
Yuca araavga, bitter cassava, Jatropha janipha, 
Euphorbiaceiis : Native plant of the same kind aa 
the sweet cassava or hnacamote and although poi- 
sonous furnishes, too, ift ir certain pr^paration^, the 
same tapioca ; the brown juice is used as sauce. 
Z ipote, sapota., fruit tree^ of many varieties 
Zapote bianco, white sapota, Caeimiroa edulis, 
Pv,utaceaa ; zapote borraoho, jellow sapota, Luciima 
Balicifolia, S^potacea?, especially in Morelos— zapote 
prieto, b'ack sapota, Dioipyroa obtusifolius, Eben- 
aceas. The gum of the sapotas called " Uhicle," is 
an article of export for making chewing gnm. 
Zirzamora, bramble or blackberry, Rubus fructico- 
8US, Rosaceas: Wild in the temperate and cool zones, 
is used ia the Valley of Toluca for blackberry wine. 
Zarzaparilla, sarasapilla, Smilax medica, Eaparra- 
gineas : Medicinal ; native plant of hot zone, especially 
in Vera Cruz; root exported,— J/oieni Mexico. 
PLANTING NOTES. 
A New Rubber-phoducing^ Plant. — M. B. de 
Wildeman describes in the Comptes Rendus, 1902, p. 
400, a new species of Clitandra (Apocynacese), from the 
Congo. The species is called C Arnoldiana, and the 
caoutchouc is obtained by boiling the latex or milky 
juice with water. — Gardeners' Chro-dcle. 
The Native Country or the Common LiLic, — M. 
LocHOT, in a recent number of the Revue Horticole, 
establishes the fact that the common LiUc is indigemus 
in the Balkan range from the Black Sea to Hun- 
gary, thus confirming the opinion of M. Aadre, wt»o 
found it growing wild in Servia and Bulgaira. — Ibid. 
West Indian Aghicoltuee. — Under the energetic 
direction of the Commissioner, Dr. Morris, the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture is making satisfactory progress. 
Over 5,000 copies of official bulletins and other 
publications were distributed among those concerned 
last year, and although practically nearly everything 
is distributed gratuitously, yet the sale of publica- 
tions reached nearly £100. Messrs. Dulan & Co., 
Soho Square, are the London agents. — Ihid. 
The Djuglas Pir. — A curious case of a woman 
being poisoned by handling the branches and leaves 
of this tree while gardening, and not washing her 
hands before eating, is recorded by Nsuio ffar in 
tbe Centralb.f. Innere Medicin. The symptoms were 
spasmodic convulsions, dyspnoea, and coma. Other 
persons appear to have been more or less affscted 
who were working at the same employment. It 
appears probable, therefore, that the tree which is 
cultivated for ornamental purposes, contains some 
poisonous ingredients to which some persona are more 
susceptible than others. Nouv. Rem., 1903, 65 — 
Journal of flie Phaniiaceutical Society. 
Ginseng (Arai.ia quinquefdlia) will not grow in 
this country. It has been tried agaia and again 
at Kew ; the last time according to directions given 
by Mr. Stanion, who grows it auccessfully near New 
York ; and t know of several other gardens in England 
where it has been tried. The directions given by 
Mr. J. J. Willis (p. 171) are, he informs me, taken 
from Bulletin 62 (1903) of the Pennsylvania State 
College, and are practically those given by Mr. 
Stanton. Mr. Budde, of Utrecht, in his note (p. 181) 
stated that Ginseng was easily cultivated in Holland, 
where it was grown as a market plant ; but the 
plant he means, and of which he kindly sent me a 
leaf, ia Pseudopanax (Aralia) crassifolium, a 
New Zealand shrub, of which there are large 
examples in the temperate-house at Kew. I hive 
seen a plant of Ginseng in flower in the rock-garden 
at Kew, but it was tha sole survivor of a large 
number that were planted a few months before. 
Evidently there is some condition, as in the case 
of (Ipecacuanha) (Cephaelis), ManilU Hemp (Mma 
texlili ), Sandalwood (Sancalum album), and certain 
other plants, which is essential, but as yet is unkaown. 
Probably it is in the soil. Ia it b icterja?I im told 
that attempts to extend the cul ivation of Gingscng 
in the United States have proved nnsuccesslal. 
Ginseng ha? a parennial tuberous rootstock, not 
unlike a small Parsnip, annual stems a foot or ao 
high with long-atalked palmatisect leaves, usually 
with five leaflets, hence the specific name. The 
flowers are in umbels, small, yellow, and they are 
succeeded by small Pea-like, bright red berries. The 
medicinal properties are in the roots. — W. W., Kew 
[Bailey's Gyolopmdia of American Horticidture, art. 
" Ginseng," may be consulted with reference to the 
culture of the plant in the United States.]— (7«rrfe«m' 
Chronicle, 
