970 
ground will have germinated and the young plants will be • 
killed by the cultivation, so Natal grass can not become a 
troublesome weed." (C. V. Piper.) 
Virola sp. (Myristicaceae . ) 41945. Seeds from Brazil. 
Collected by Mr. H. M. Curran. "Biquiba or Bicuhyba. A com- 
mon ornamental and timber tree of large size, with brown, 
medium hard wood, well known on the Brazilian market. The 
seed is said to yield an oil used in medicine, or for soap- 
making." (Curran.) 
Vitis davidii Foex. (Vitaceae.) 41877. Seeds from Shang- 
hal , China.. Presented by Mrs. A. Anderson, through Mr. 
Frank N. Meyer. "A luxuriant, deciduous climber, the young 
shoots now downy, but covered with spiny, gland-tipped, 
somewhat hooked bristles, which give them a rough appear- 
ance. Leaves heart-shaped, slender-pointed, toothed; 4 to 
10 inches long, 2i to 8 inches wide; shining dark green 
and smooth above, bluish or greyish green beneath, and 
downy only in the vein-axils, but more or less glandular- 
bristly, as is also the leaf-stalk, which is from half to 
nearly as long as the blade. Fruit not yet seen in this 
country, but said to be about 2/3 inch diameter, black, and 
of a pleasant flavor. Native of Central China; introduced 
by Wilson for Messrs. Veltch in 1900, but if, as I believe, 
the vine called Spinovitis davidii is the same, it has been 
cultivated In France and In England since about 1885. The 
plant cultivated at Kew under the latter name has leaves 
more deeply lobed and more coarsely toothed than Wilson's" 
F. armata, and the spines are smaller; but in other re- 
spects it does not appear to differ. According to Carrlere, 
the leaves are very variable in shape." (W. J. Bean, Trees 
and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles, Vol. 2, p. 667, 
under F. armata.) 
