Produced by Stephen Blundell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) 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. 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.