1686 
collected in South America up to the present time. 
It should be given a careful trial in the southern 
and western portions of the United States." 
Stevia rebaudiana (Asteraceae) , 53918. From Buenos 
Aires, Argentina. Plants presented by the director 
of the Botanic Gardens, Asuncion, Paraguay, through 
Mr. D. S. Bullock, agricultural trade commission, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, American Embassy, 
Buenos Aires. "This plant has been the subject of 
at least two rather detailed researches , as follows: 
Rasenack, P., Arbeiten aus dem Kaiserlichen Gesund- 
heitsamte, 28 (1908), 420-443; and Dieterich, Karl, 
Pharmazeutische Zentralhalle , 50 (1909), 435-40; 
458-62 . 
"The latter reported the presence of two glu- 
cosides, rebaudin and eupatorin, whereas Rasenack 
found only one, whichhe terms only ' eupatoriumsuss- 
stoff . ' Both investigators were interested in this 
material as a possible substitute for licorice, 
but determined that the active principles were not 
closely allied to glycyrrhizin. Dieterich reports 
that the glucosides are present in very small a- 
mounts, that their isolation is rather expensive 
and attended by considerable difficulty, and that 
the crude preparation comparable to licorice ex- 
tract is with difficulty soluble and has a very 
bitter aftertaste. He states also that the plant 
is a very small one which occurs only in the moun- 
tainous regions of Paraguay. For these reasons he 
is very skeptical as to its potential commercial 
value, although both he and Rasenack suggest the 
advisability of cultivation experiments outside of 
South America. " (E. E. Stanford.) 
For previous introduction see S. P I . No . 
47515, Plant Immigrants No. 159, July, 1919, p. 
1459. 
Vaccinium sp . (Vacciniaceae) , 54281. From Ibarra, 
Ecuador. Plants collected by Mr. Wilson Popenoe, 
agricultural explorer. "No. 621. 'Mortino' from 
Hacienda La Esperanza, near El Angel, Ecuador, at 
an altitude of about 11,500 feet. A very abundant 
plant native throughout the Ecuadorean highlands 
at altitudes between 10,000 and 12,000 feet. It is 
not cultivated. The fruit is sometimes brought into 
the markets of Andean villages. In some parts of 
the country its ripening season, March to August, 
