Useful plants in foreign lands

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Part of The American Chamber of Commerce Journal

Title: Useful plants in foreign lands
Language: English
Source: The American Chamber of Commerce Journal Volume 9 (Issue No. 9) September 1929
Year: 1929
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Fulltext: September, 1929 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 9 with ill-conc.ealed eagerness. Finally, he spoke. “I know! The sea is the place for you! It is many times greater than your river. It is so vast that I have flown a long time over the water toward the sun, but I have never been able to glimpse a tree top. As far as I could see there was no land. I am sure there is always enough water there to cover your backs.” “We should like the sea!” Brother and sister spoke simultaneously. “How cool it sounds! Do you think we could reach it today if we started immediately?” “Certainly you can! It is still early, and all you have to do is to follow this river and swim toward the sun.” “Thank you, Golden Oriole,’’ said Aeel, first to remember her manners. “I hope some day when we are nicely settled in our new home you will call on us. If we can ever help you, please let us know. Good-bye!” Wasting no time, she slipped gracefully off through the water toward the east. The prospect of realizing a Utopia long dream ed of was so exciting to Eolo that he had not listen ed carefully to the little bird’s instructions as to how to get to this wonderful place. Though he was larger, he was not as clever as his sister. “Would you mind telling me again about the sea? How shall 1 know where it is?” “The sea is also called the ocean. It is very clear and as blue as the sky, and as large as a thousand rivers. It makes a great noise, like thunder. Be sure to swim toward the sun and you cannot miss it.” “I’m terribly excited, but I think I’ll find it. Thank you and good-bye!” THE MANILA. HOTEL LEADING HOTEL IN THE ORIENT Designed and constructed to secure coolness, sanitation and comfort under tropic climatic conditions Provides every Western convenience combined with every Oriental luxury Finest Dance Orchestra in the Far East Management - - WALTER E. ANTRIM As Eolo swam slowly away, repeating to him self what the oriole had told him, the little bird burst into a lively song. How delighted the eels would be when they reached the big sea where they would have all the water in the world in which to frolic happily! Aeel had undertaken the journey to the sea in a businesslike manner, and she soon found the large body of water described by the golden oriole. Her more sentimental brother made his way dreamily, thinking of the pleasures await ing him. He was so engrossed in the alluring picture painted by his little friend that he did not notice that he had arrived where the river branched. He swam absent-mindedly on to the left, instead of to the right toward the sun. Presently he thought he would stop to rest, but just then he heard a noise which sounded like water rushing over large rocks. He listened intently. “That must be the sea. The oriole said it made a great noise. I must hasten if I want to reach it before dark.” And with renewed energy he swam onward. A moment or so later, the river widened and seemed to stop abruptly. He paused, thinking to himself “the sea must surely lie just beyond,” and with a tremendous lunge he threw himself forward. Poor Eolo had been mistaken. The noise he had heard was not the murmur of the ocean, but the sound of a mighty waterfall pltinging over a steep cliff to sharp boulders below. Headfirst, he went down and down and down, straight on to the cruel stones of the rapids below. He lay there stunned until the river gradually swept the life from his body. That evening, before Manama spread the dark star-sprinkled cover of the night over the earth, he thought again of his two enormous pets, and his eyes sought them in their resting place in the river. What was this? They were not there. He followed the river to the sea, where he saw Aeel cavorting unrestrainedly about in her new home, pausing now and then to look expectantly toward the river. But where was Eolo? Manama anxiously scanned the rivers until he finally discovered him, lying woefully crumpled on the rocks. Sighing for the loss of this pet, whom he had liked the better of the two, the god gazed medi tatively at the gigantic motionless mass. One fold of lifeless body rose over another like rolling hills on an undulating landscape. Manama was struck with an idea. “Some day,” he thought, “there will be little eels swimming up the rivers from the ocean. If I should remove this one they may be just as foolish as he and meet with the same unhappy Useful Plants in Foreign Lands By P. J. WESTER This is the second article in a series next will appear in Realizing its potentialities for the creation of new wealth, the United States department of agriculture for more than 20 years has main tained an office of foreign plant introduction. This is manned by a large staff, has one or more field explorers in foreign lands, maintains several plant introduction gardens in different regions of the United States, and has made more than 70,000 separate plant or seed introductions since the organization of the service. A review of the more important plant introductions made by this office will be made in a subsequent article. Since its organization the Philippine bureau of agriculture likewise has pursued a policy of in troducing new plants, and one after another the new plant immigrants gradually find their way throughout the islands. During my inspection trips I often run across relatively new plant introductions in unexpected remote localities. Among the most valuable plant introductions are the new improved sugar cane varieties, the Robusta and Excelsa coffee, improved kamotes, standard varieties of oranges, mandarins, lemons and grapefruits, the chayote, cherimoya, and the cinchona or quinine tree. Other useful plants that could be introduced to advantage include the following species: For Your Electrical Work Phone MORA 2-32-40 MORA ELECTRIC CO., INC. 7 CALLE SODA MANILA, P. I. end. 1’11 change him into a mountain, so tha.. whenever they raise their heads above the water they will see his folds and take heed where they swim.” Thus it was that poor sentimental Eolo, dream ing of an ocean paradise, suddenly became a range of high mountains, the highest peak of vvhich is called Mount Apo. Aeel, his shrewd sister, lived an obscure happy life, in time raising a large family. She did all she could to dis courage them from becoming dreamers, but, though many of her descendants still live con tentedly in the great sea, there are some who, in spite of her warnings, swim up the Davao and other Mindanao rivers. When they lift their heads out of the water and behold the sun linger ing intimately on the summit of Mount Apo, perhaps they agree with Bogobo children that Eolo’s fate was not so unfortunate after all. on this subject by Mr. Wester. The an early issue.—Ed. The tamani, Bauhinia escalenta, a perennial plant with trailing vines up to 5 meters long, growing from a large cone-shaped woody stem, found in the Transvaal and Bechuana, South Africa, to at least 100 meters elevation, doing best in sandy soils. The yellow flowers are followed by pods containing 2 to 6 large beans which are a staple food in some localities. They are eaten roasted or boiled, or ground into a powder and made into a beverage said to taste somewhat like cocoa. Europeans use them like almonds. They are an excellent hog feed. The tamani is a relative of the peanut. The blakea, Blakea gracilis, is a handsome terrestrial shurb or epiphyte, a native of Costa Rica. The leaves are long-petioled, leathery obovate-elliptic and pointed. The large hand some flowers are borne on long stems growing from the leaf axils. The flowers are common in the markets of Cartago, and the thick fleshy petals are eaten, and made into an excellent jelly, for which purpose they are much esteemed. The ryera, Bombax globosum, is a large forest tree with a trunk 10 meters high related to the kapok, ranging from Guiana to northern Brazil. The white flowers are followed by round fruits 4 to 5 cm. across, containing seeds the size of filberts enclosed in silky fiber. The seeds are eaten roasted, when they are of good taste. The rihi, Brachystegia edulis, is a large spread ing tree found from Kenya to Rhodesia below’ 1300 meters altitude, thriving on sandy land. It belongs to the bean family. The pinnate leaves are up to 12 cm. long and have 3 to 5 pairs of leaflets. The large beans are eaten. A good timber tree. The breadnut, Brosimum alicastrum, is a tall tree related to the breadfruit, native of tropical America. The leaves are «oblong and pointed, to 18 cm. long. The round fruit contains a large seed. In Jamaica the seeds or nuts are roasted or boiled and pounded into a paste, in taste resembling the chestnut. Both the leaves and {Please turn to page 12) IN RESPONDING TO ADVERTISEMENTS PLEASE MENTION THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL 12 THE AMERICAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE JOURNAL September, 1929 Useful Plants in Foreign Lands (Continued from page 9) seeds make a valuable feed for domestic animals. The tree yields excellent timber. The emi, Butyrospermum parkii, is a tree to about 12 meters high, resembling a gnarled oak in habit; found at low elevations in central and tropical West Africa. The leaves are oblanceo late-oblong, leathery and thinly hairy beneath, 15 to 22 cm. long. The fragrant white flowers, borne in dense axiliary clusters, are rich in honey. The fruit is ellipsoid, to 5 cm. longi yellow and one-seeded. The pulp is of pleasant taste and consumed in large quantities by the natives. The emi thrives in a dry climate and on poor stony soil, is of slow growth and suckers freely from the roots. In many regions, especially in the French Sudan, Upper Dahomey and Nigeria there are big emi plantations. The large seeds constitute 35 to 60 per cent of the fruit, and are dried and exported like copra. They contain about 50 per cent edible fat, known as shea butter in the trade. A productive tree may yield 40 kilos dried nuts per annum. Owing to lack of transportation from the interior to sea board, large quantities of seeds annually go to waste. So far little or no cultural attention has been paid to the emi, though it would appear to have commercial possibilities as a source of vegetable fat. It is a relative of the chico. The poleo, Clinopodium laevigatum, is a shrub to 150 centimeters high, native of Sinaloa to Oaxaca, Mexico, related to the coleus. The opposite leaves are lance-oblong to ovate-oblong, 2 to 8 cm. long, and are made into a popular tea in some places on the west coast of Mexico. The ritali, Clitandra orientalis, is a shurb related to adelfa, native of Kongo to Uganda below 1200 meters altitude. The leaves are oblong or lanceolate, leathery, glossy above, 8 cm. long. The flowers, borne in dense clusters, are followed by roundish warty pale green to orange-yellow fruits 5 to 12 cm. long. The fruit has a thick rind containing blood red stcid edible pulp much esteemed in Belgian Kongo. The plant yields excellent rubber. The olosapo, Couepia floccosa, is a medium sized tree with spreading top, found in cultiva tion only in Costa Rica, at low altitudes. The thick leaves are ovate, dark green above and white velvety below, to 8 cm. long. The flower clusters are followed by oblong-ovoid wrinkled, yellowish-green fruits 6 to 8 cm. long, with yellow highly aromatic deliciously flavored flesh, ripening from May to July. The olosapo is highly prized by the Costa Ricans. The cuchinito, Elaterium ciliatum, is a vine, related to the squash and chayote, a native of Central America below 1200 meters altitude. The white star-shaped flowers, tender shoots and immature fruits are crushed and mixed with cheese. This mixture is placed between two tortillas and cooked. This is a popular dish in Salvador. The fonio, Digitaria exilis, is an annual slender grass to about 60 cm. high, a native of the high lands of tropical West Africa, where it is exten sively cultivated as a grain and, together with rice, forms a staple food of the natives. Several varieties are grown, maturing in from 90 to 150 days. The yield varies from 800 to 1000 kilos per hectare in the early maturing sorts, to 1500 to 2000 kilos in the late ones. Fonio thrives on poor sandy soil and is fairly drought resistant. The grains are small, white and shining. They are of pleasant taste and are eaten as porridge or pudding, with butter, milk, or palm oil. Milled and mixed with wheat flour they make a good light bread. The fonio was first noted by Euro peans in 1798, but probably was domesticated very long ago. The anserine, Chenopodium amaranticolor, is an annual erect branching leafy herb, sometimes more than three meters high. The leaves are reddish on both sides and make excellent spinach. The anserine is a mutant which appeared in the environs of Marseilles, and was described in 1907, since which time it has been successfully introduced in Tunis, Madagascar, Indo-China and other parts in the tropics. In Java, where it is cultivated as a vegetable, it has become natu ralized above an elevation of 1200 meters. The anserine was introduced into the Philip pines last year and as in Java would appear to have a future here as a vegetable. The perah, Elateriospermum tapos, is a large tree, often more than 25 meters high, native of the Malay peninsula and the western part of the Malay archipelago. Tt is related to Pará rubber, lumbang, and cassava. The leaves are linear oblong, to 17 cm. long. The cream-colored waxy flowers are assembled in clusters 10 cm. long. The fruits are roundish, three-ridged, to about 45 mm. in diameter. The seeds are oblong-oval, about 3 cm. long, and much esteem ed as a food by some of the native tribes in the Malay Peninsula. In Sumatra they are market ed in rather large quantities. They are usually eaten boiled or roasted like chestnuts, and con tain 39 per cent of an edible oil. The cabacinha, Eugenia Klotzchiana, is a small shrub with many stems, to at most 2 meters tall, commonly unbranched, native of Brazil. The leaves are lanceolate to obovate-oblong, shining and dark green above and whitish below, to 14 cm. long. The fruits are elongate-pyri form, golden yellow, 5 to 10 cm. long, the flesh resembling a pear in color and texture, juicy, spicy, aromatic and of refreshing taste, contain ing one to 4 relatively small seeds. The andesberry, Rubus glaucus, is a semi climbing bramble, which trained in bush form attains a height and spread of about 3 meters, found in the mountain regions of Mexico to Ecuador. The canes are whitish. The leaves are trifoliolate with toothed leaflets. The flow ers are large and white, nearly 25 mm. across, borne in large terminal sprays to 30 cm. long. The fruits are oblong to oblong-oval, often more than 25 mm. long, of rich aromatic pleasantly subacid taste recalling the raspberry. They are used as a dessert fruit and also made into pre serves and syrup. There are two forms, one dark maroon and another light red which latter has more delicate flavor. Rubus erythrocladus is a spiny shrub about 1.5 meters high, found in the mountain regions of the States of Minas Geraes and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The leaves are 3 to 5 foliolate, with large leaflets, 5 to 10 cm. long. The fruit is Stomach Disorder? FORMULA: Alcanfor............ 0.03% Ess. Menta........0.03% Ex. fl. Cannabis, Elixir Paregorico aa.......... 0.30% Alcohol............ 17.6% Excipiente c.s.. M/. Why suffer the pain — take LICOR STOMACAL of Dr. Luna —it will relieve you of stomach ailments such as DYSENTERY COLIC, INDIGESTION, DIARRHEA, and other stomach complaints. Keep a bottle or more in your home—its necessity is indispensable. 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