1048 
4856.) "Randal. This is a beautiful tree and is giv- 
ing wood that, here on the spot, is sold by the square 
inch. It is rather like hazelnut, perhaps nicer." 
(Vereertbrugghen. ) 
Nannorrhops ritehieana (Griff.) Wendland. (Phoenica- 
ceae.) 43281. Seeds of the Mazri palm from Saharanpur, 
India. Presented by Mr. A. C. Hartless, Superinten- 
dent, Government Botanical Gardens. A low gregarious 
shrub, ascending to 5500 feet in Baluchistan and Mek- 
ran, stemless ordinarily, but sometimes with a stem 
10 to 20 feet long. The leaves are 2 to 4 feet long, 
grayish-green in color, and are beaten with a mallet 
to remove the fiber, which is used in making mats, 
baskets, etc. The fruit is a nearly round 1-seeded 
drupe. The flowers, leaf -buds, and fruits are eaten 
by the natives, and the seeds are made into rosaries. 
The reddish-brown wool of the petioles is impregnated 
with saltpeter and used as a tinder for matchlocks, 
and the whole plant when dried is used for fuel, in 
arid regions. In Europe it grows best in a compost 
of sandy loam, with good drainage, and is propagated 
by seeds and offsets. (Adapted from E. Blatter, Journ. 
Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. vol. 21, pp. 72-76.) 
Phytelephas microcarpa Ruiz & Pavon. (Phoenicaceae . ) 
43374. Seeds Of the vegetable ivory palm from Pernambu- 
co, Brazil. Presented by Mr. A. T. Haeberle, American 
Consul, at the request of the American Consul-General, 
Rio de Janeiro. This palm is found native along the 
banks of streams and on springy hillsides in the Per- 
uvian Andes at an elevation of about 3000 feet, and 
is closely allied to the one which furnishes the vege- 
table ivory or tagua nut of commerce (P. maeroearpa) , al- 
though it has smaller fruits. The slender Inclined 
stem, sometimes absent entirely, grows up to 10 feet 
in length, and the fruits are about the size of a 
child's head, resembling externally some Annonas to 
such an extent that the Peruvians call them Anon de 
palma, but the palm itself is called Yarina. The thick 
furrowed rind is tough and is reddish within, and may 
be eaten, having a flavor of melon or mouldy cheese. 
The albumen of the unripe seeds is drunk while still 
watery, or eaten when It becomes fleshy, resembling 
in taste a coconut in like states, but when quite 
ripe is too hard for eating. (Adapted from descrip- 
tion by Richard Spruce, furnished by C. B. Doyle.) 
