804 
Acrista monticola. (Phoenicaceae.) 39188. Seeds of a 
palm from Mayaguez, Porto Rico. Presented by Mr. W. E. 
Hess, Plant Propagator, Porto Rico Experiment Station. 
"Palma de Sierra. The mountain palm of Porto Rico covers 
many mountain slopes especially in the eastern part of the 
island between 2000 and 3000 feet above sea level. It ap- 
parently thrives in this very humid cool atmosphere and 
usually forms a clear stand. This palm greatly resembles 
Areca bauerii grown to a great extent as a decorative palm 
in greenhouses, and young plants of Acrista are equally 
attractive. The bud of the mountain palm furnishes a good 
cabbage, but it is not as sweet as those of the palm. Its 
black fruits are the size of a cherry and are relished by 
hogs." (Hess.) 
Aeria attenaata. (Phoenicaceae.) 39189. Seeds of the 
Hume palm from Mayaguez, Porto Rico. Presented by Mr. 
W. E. Hess. "The tallest of Porto Rico palms, reaching a 
height of 60 to 100 feet. Its foliage resembles that of 
the royal palm, but is shorter; the trunk never exceeds 
6 to 8 inches in diameter. This palm is found only on 
limestone hills and usually feeds upon nothing but the 
humus collected in the cracks of these rocks. The large 
bunches of orange-red berries which are the size of a 
small cherry are very attractive and are fed to chickens 
and hogs . 11 (Hess . ) 
Balanites maughamii. ( Simaroubaceae . ) .39196. Seeds 
from Swaziland, Africa. Presented by Mr. J. Burtt-Davy, 
Agricultural Supply Association, Johannesburg, Transvaal. 
"The seed is considered a valuable oilseed in those parts 
of the country in which it grows, that is to say, at alti- 
tudes below 1500 feet in the sub-tropical belt, but with 
comparatively low rainfall, probably not more than 15 
inches, this coming during the summer season. The tree is 
a handsome one though not very large, and should be useful 
in Florida." (Burt-Davvy. ) "This species of Balanites is 
a native of Portuguese East Africa and may be found grow- 
ing in the Lebombo Mountains, the Madanda Forest and by 
the Umbeluzi and Rovuma Rivers. It is a tree which 
reaches a height of about 50 feet, with Irregular shaped 
bole up to one and two thirds feet in diameter. According 
to the report of the Imperial Institute, the fruits of 
Balanites maughamii seem unlikely to be of economic value 
for export use owing to the difficulty of removing the ex- 
ternal sugary pulp and extracting the kernel from the 
thick fibrous shell in which, Vt • Is enclosed, but may how- 
ever, be of considerable impo.ftan.Gre for local consumption. 
The oil obtained from theseCjfcejrnels is clear, yellow and 
liquid, possessing no marked 'smell or taste and having the 
