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Title: Catalogue of Economic Plants in the Collection of the U. S. Department of Agriculture

Author: William Saunders

Release Date: January 22, 2008 [EBook #24402]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1

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U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.


CATALOGUE

OF

ECONOMIC PLANTS

IN THE COLLECTION OF THE

U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE.


BY WILLIAM SAUNDERS.


PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE.


WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1891.




Transcriber's Note

Variant and obsolete spellings remain as printed. Minor
typographical errors have been corrected without note, whilst more
significant amendments have been listed at the end of the text. The
oe ligature is shown as [oe].




CATALOGUE OF ECONOMIC PLANTS IN THE COLLECTION OF THE U. S. DEPARTMENT
OF AGRICULTURE.


U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,
_Washington, D. C., June 5, 1891._

SIR: I have duly prepared by your direction a descriptive list of the
more important economic plants at present contained in the collection of
the Department, in such a form as will, in my opinion, most
satisfactorily meet the wants of the numerous visitors and others
interested in the work performed by the Department in this direction,
and I beg to submit the same herewith for publication.

WILLIAM SAUNDERS,
_Superintendent of Gardens and Grounds._
Hon. J. M. RUSK,
_Secretary of Agriculture._




DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF PLANTS.


1. ABELMOSCHUS MOSCHATUS.--This plant is a native of Bengal. Its seeds
were formerly mixed with hair powder, and are still used to
perfume pomatum. The Arabs mix them with their coffee berries. In
the West Indies the bruised seeds, steeped in rum, are used, both
externally and internally, as a cure for snake bites.

2. ABRUS PRECATORIUS.--Wild liquorice. This twining, leguminous plant
is a native of the East, but is now found in the West Indies and
other tropical regions. It is chiefly remarkable for its small
oval seeds, which are of a brilliant scarlet color, with a black
scar at the place where they are attached to the pods. These seeds
are much used for necklaces and other ornamental purposes, and are
employed in India as a standard of weight, under the name of Rati.
The weight of the famous Kohinoor diamond is known to have been
ascertained in this way. The roots afford liquorice, which is
extracted in the same manner as that from the true Spanish
liquorice plant, the _Glycyrrhiza glabra_. Recently the claim was
made that the weather could be foretold by certain movements of
the leaves of this plant, but experimental tests have proved its
fallacy.

3. ABUTILON INDICUM.--This plant furnishes fiber fit for the
manufacture of ropes. Its leaves contain a large quantity of
mucilage.

4. ABUTILON VENOSUM.--This malvaceous plant is common in collections,
as are others of the genus. They are mostly fiber-producing
species. The flowers of _A. esculentum_ are used as a vegetable in
Brazil.

5. ACACIA BRASILIENSIS.--This plant furnishes the Brazil wood, which
yields a red or crimson dye, and is used for dyeing silks. The
best quality is that received from Pernambuco.

6. ACACIA CATECHU.--The drug known as catechu is principally prepared