1959 
size of those of Weigelia, but more attractive in color and with the 
added value of interesting fruits." (D. N. Shoemaker, Takoma Park, 
D. C, April 4, 1924.) 
The Pacayito. 
Ten years ago, when conducting field work in northern Guatemala, 
0. F. Cook of the Department of Agriculture was impressed by the beauty 
of a dwarf palm which he encountered at Senahu, in the department of 
Alta Verapaz. He sent nine grams of seeds to Washington. S. P. I. No. 
38515 was assigned to the lot, and, for lack of a complete botanical 
determination, the species was listed simply as a Chamaedorea. Mr. 
Cook said that its native name in the Senahu region was Canquib. Later 
the botanical determination was considered incorrect, and the plant was 
catalogued as Nunnezharia sp. 
From the seed secured by Mr. Cook, a few plants were grown at the 
Yarrow Plant Introduction Garden, Rockviile, Maryland. In 1915, seven 
of these were sent to experimenters in Florida, the Canal Zone, Missouri, 
Nevada, and Maryland. Nothing was heard of them, and the pacayito 
dropped out of sight for the time being, though Mr. Cook had a few 
plants at his home in Lanham, Maryland, where he was carefully watching 
their behavior and informing himself regarding their cultural require- 
ments. 
Three years after this first introduction, I spent several months 
in northern Guatemala, where I went primarily to search for choice 
avocados. Like Mr. Cook, I was struck by the beauty of the pacayito 
in the forests of that region, and I determined to effect its intro- 
duction into the United States on a scale which would permit of its 
being tested widely. I commenced a search for seeds, but was surprised 
to find it impossible to secure more than a very small number of them. 
Though the plants flowered annually, and set abundant fruits, it ap- 
peared that the latter were eaten by insects before they reached ma- 
turity, in the great majority of cases. After spending some time in 
the search, and securing only 125 seeds, I decided to send live plants 
in place of seeds. With this object in view, I visited the mountains 
near Purula, department of Baja Verapaz, and with the aid of my Indian 
assistant, Jose Cabnal, located a spot where this palm occurred abund- 
antly. I dug several hundred fine young specimens out of the leaf- 
mold in which they grew, packed them in bundles of twenty-five, wrapped 
each bundle in moss which I found growing in the same region, and 
hurried them down to the coast. The shipment reached Washington prompt- 
ly, and most of the plants were saved. From this lot, and the seeds 
which were secured at the same time, a good stock of plants became 
available, and were distributed widely. Following is the Inventory note 
which accompanied this material: 
