74 SEEDS AND PLANTS IMPORTED. 
33100. Adansonia digitata L. Baobab. 
From Cuba. Presented by Mr. Robert L. Luaces, Camaguey, who secured them 
from Mr. Luis de Megret, editor, El Agricultor Practico, Guantanamo, Oriente, 
Cuba. Received March 13, 1912. 
"The tree that produces this fruit is native to Africa and was introduced into Oriente 
Province by the French immigrants from Haiti. The tree, from its gigantic corpu- 
lence, leaf, and branch formation, looks very much like the Ceiba. The fruit is long, 
gourd shaped, of very hard skin, containing, enveloped in a white pasty or starchy 
stuff, a large number of small seeds. This starchy substance when water is applied 
to it is somewhat like arrowroot, its taste is subacid, and makes a good refreshing soft 
drink with sugar and water. 
"It receives its name, 'monkey-bread', from the similarity of its seeds to the face of 
a monkey. 
"It can be propagated from seed or from cuttings. This last method is the best, giv- 
ing quickest results, for it takes some 10 years to grow it from seed. The fruit is hard 
and will keep for a long time. " {Megret.) 
Seeds. 
33101. (Undetermined.) 
From Kiayingchow, China. Presented by Mr. George Campbell. Received 
February 21, 1912. 
"This is a rather handsome tree, 25 or 30 feet high; the curious fruits have a pleasant 
nutty flavor and are ripe about the last of November. 
"I saw in a wayside inn up near the Fukien border three great planks of the wood 
of this Pit-kiu or Kit-Tciu tree. They were 16 to 18 feet long and 18 inches wide and 
about 3 inches thick. The owner told me he got five such planks out of one tree and 
sold two of them for $10 apiece. They are in demand for store counters, as they take 
a good polish and are very hard and dense in texture. But the fruit is the most inter- 
esting part of the tree. The fruit looks like the meat of hickory nuts, all crinkly, and 
is similar in taste. It is thin skinned and the texture is also somewhat like the hick- 
ory nut. The whole fruit is eaten, and there is a sort of string that comes from the 
fruit which you strip off as you eat. The seeds are little and black in color and are 
by themselves on the end of the fruit. They resemble a bedbug in appearance. This 
fruit is not of commercial value. The fruit is sold in China, however." (Campbell.) 
33102 and 33103. 
From Nice, Alpes-Maritimes, France. Presented by Dr. A. Robertson Pros- 
chowsky, Jardin d'Acclimatation Les Tropiques, Chemin des Grottes Sainte- 
Helene. Received March 11, 1912. 
Seeds of the following; quoted notes by Dr. Proschowsky: 
33102. BOCCONIA FRUTESCENS L. 
"These seeds are so oily that if they were produced in large enough quantity 
perhaps some use could be made of them. The plant is very beautiful and forms 
a large evergreen shrub of striking foliage. " 
Distribution.— Tropical America, extending northward to the valley of the 
Cordova in Mexico; also in the West Indies. 
33103. Grewia sp. 
"There is only a very little flesh on these fruits, but it is sweet and agreeable. 
As a beautiful flowering and very drought-resistant shrub it already has some 
value. 
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