As heretofore, this inventory has been prepared by Miss May Riley, the botanical determinations of seeds introduced have been made by Mr. H. C. Skeels, and the descriptive and botanical notes arranged by Mr. S. C. Stuntz, who has also had general supervision of this inventory, as of all the publications of this office.

It is with deep regret that we record here the death of Mr. Stephen C. Stuntz, which occurred on February 2, 1918, while this inventory was in press. Mr. Stuntz had charge of the publications of this office for more than seven years. Through an unusual acquaintance with languages and with bibliography he had built up and systematized these publications, which are known throughout the country to thousands of amateur and professional gardeners and practical farmers, and many of the improved appliances and methods which have served to make the work of plant introduction a success were due to his thought and ingenuity.

DAVID FAIRCHILD,

Agricultural Explorer in Charge.

OFFICE OF FOREIGN SEED AND PLANT INTRODUCTION,

Washington, D. C., February 20, 1918.

40389.

INVENTORY.

PYRUS COMMUNIS L.

Malaceæ.

Pear. From Novospasskoe, Russia. Presented by Mr. A. D. Woelkoff, director, Jardin Expérimental de l'École Horticulture, Cholmy. Received April 7,

1915.

Var. caucasica.

40390. PHASEOLUS VULGARIS L.

From Foxboro, Mass. Presented by Rev. Father C. N. Field. Received April 2, 1915.

'Flowering beans, grown at St. Augustine's Children's Farm, Foxboro, last year. Quite pretty bunches of flowers, the seeds of several kinds of which were brought me from Jamaica." (Field.)

40391.

CAMOENSIA MAXIMA Welw.

Fabaceæ.

From Loanda, Angola, Africa. Presented by Mr. J. Gossweiler. Received April 7, 1915.

"The plant upon which this genus was founded was discovered in Angola by the late Dr. Welwitsch when in the Portuguese service, and by him it was in consequence named after the famous Lusitanian poet. It is a climbing shrub, 'common in the dense forests of the Golungo Alto, adorning the loftiest trees of the outskirts with its splendid bunches of pendulous milk-white flowers, tinged with gold on the edge of the petals.'

"The specimen before us is slightly puberulous, with long-stalked trifoliolate-acuminate leaves, minute stipules, and close racemes of flowers, which under cultivation are erect rather than pendulous, as originally described and figured, but which, when growing over tall trees, as described by Dr. Welwitsch, might well be pendent, as he described them. The inflorescence and outer portion of the calyx are thickly covered with dense, felted, coarse brown hairs. The bracteoles are about half an inch long, lanceolate, deciduous. The calyx tube, measuring about 2 inches in length, is leathery, cylindric, curved, dividing into a relatively short, irregularly 5-lobed limb, of which the thick segments are imbricate in the bud. The five petals, which are twice the size of the calyx, all have long white, narrow stalks, and all expand above into a spoon-shaped limb, somewhat papery in texture, plicate and crumpled in the bud, reticulate in venation, and edged with a narrow border of rich orange yellow, which Mr. Woodall describes as tipped with gold lace, so delicate and fairylike is the frilled edging. The uppermost petal, or standard, is much larger than the others, and has the inner surface of the disk as well as the margins flushed with yellow. The side petals, or wings, are at first upright and rigid within the standard, but, as the artist remarked while making his sketch, they are endowed with elasticity when touched by the pencil, and after the discharge of the pollen they become drooping. The two lower petals and the stamens are also at first quite rigid, but subsequently fall. The snow-white stamens are shorter than the petals, 10 in number, forming a tube at the base, filamentous above. The narrow, angular

ovary is stalked, its stalk adherent to the tube of the calyx for its lower half. The cylindric style is slightly hairy at the upper part, and terminates in a green, cushion-shaped stigma. The flowers have a delicate fragrance, which has been compared to that of vanilla. The yellow color of the edge of the petals is apparently due to the presence of coloring matter in the four or five rows of cells nearest to the margin. Those at the extreme edge are raised into pimplelike elevations, whilst those on the surface of the disk of the petal are flat and sinuous in outline, containing in some cases oil in small quantities and minute starch grains, or some substance faintly colored blue by iodine. The thin texture of the petals causes them to be fugacious, and the golden rim which is so beautiful an adornment to the frilled edge very soon turns to dirty brown. These circumstances detract greatly from the value of the flower in a gardener's eyes, but it must be remembered that the flowers are in clusters and open in succession and that when grown as seen by Welwitsch in Angola they no doubt amply justify his eulogium.

"Mr. Monteiro, to whom we are indebted for the introduction of this and many other African rarities sent by him at different times to Kew from Angola, thus writes of the Camoensia in his interesting book, Angola and the River Congo (MacMillan, 1875): 'It was at Quiballa (a large town situated on a low flattopped hill on the northern limit of Angola) that we were so fortunate as to obtain specimens of the flowers and a quantity of ripe seeds of the beautiful plant named Camoensia maxima by its discoverer, Dr. Welwitsch. We saw i' growing along the sides of the road as soon as we left the gneiss formation and entered on the mica slate; but more abundantly in the more bare places on the sides of the hills at Quiballa, in the very hard clay of the decomposed mica slate. The Camoensia grows as a hard, woody bush, with rather long straggling branches covered with fine large leaves and bearing bunches of flowers. Its roots spread underground to great distances and shoot out into other plants, so that on attempting to remove what we thought were nice small plants we always came to a great thick root, which we followed and found to proceed from old bushes at a considerable distance. Half a dozen of the seeds germinated on arrival at Kew Gardens, so that I hope this lovely flower will be shortly in cultivation, a welcome addition to our hothouses.' At Kew the plant behaves exactly as described in the above extract, the bed in which it is planted being a mass of woody roots whence numerous suckers spring. These, however, are not allowed to grow, the specimen being limited to about five stems, the thickest being now nearly 2 inches in diameter and very hard. The longest shoots are about 12 feet in length, and they are almost wholly clothed with bright-green trifoliate leaves. New shoots are developed freely all over the plant, and to keep it from becoming a thick tangle many of these are removed annually. It is pranted in a hot, moist stove in a raised border of rich well-drained loamy soil, below which there are several hot-water pipes. The stems are trained on wires close to the roof of the house, which is somewhat flat and faces due south. During bright sunshine the house is shaded with an ordinary canvas blind. This plant has been in this position for about 10 years, and all sorts of experiments have been made to induce it to flower; but although it has always grown most vigorously, it has never shown any signs of flowering before this year. Plants tried in the large palm house and other tropical houses, including the succulent house, were not so successful. If planted in a suitable position in a tropical garden, this plant would soon cover an enormous area. We intend to put in cuttings of the branches which are now in flower, in the expectation that they will respond more readily to treatment for flowers than has been the case hitherto. It would be interesting to hear if the plants in Trinidad and Ceylon have flowered regularly since they first yielded. Probably the exceptional amount of bright sun

(S. P. I. No. 40392).

A small tree or bushy shrub with fragrant white flowers and pointed red fruit a half inch in length. It is one of the most beautiful of all tropical shrubs for formal plantings, as attractive as box, but with the added beauty of exquisitely fragrant flowers and showy red fruit. It is a relative of Citrus, and lemons have been successfully budded on it as a stock. Its very vigorous root system makes it promising for stock purposes in certain regions. (Photographed at the Miami, Fla., Field Station, August 6, 1915; P34F'S-m.)