98 



Willardia Mexicaua. Small trees 10 to 30 feet bigli, very straiylit, with smooth 

 bark and 1 foot or more in diameter: leaves (only a few of tho oUl ones remain- 

 ing) 4 to 7 pairs, oblong-elliptical, obtuse at each end or subemarginate, 8 to 15 

 lines long, 6 to 8 lines broad, finely and softly pubescent, especially beneath: 

 racemes somewhat paniculate many-flowered : ' calyx 2 lines long with very short 

 teeth: petals 5 lines long: stamen tube truncate at apes: ovules 8 to 10, pods 

 very thin, narrowed at each end, 2 to 5 inches long, 4 to 6 lines wide, more or lees 

 constricted, dehiscent : seeds 5 lines long, smooth and shining, pale salmon color. 

 — In flower March 25 to April 8 {No. 332), in fruit September 16 to 30 (No. 717). 

 Also collected in SW, Chihuahua in 1884 by Palmer. Coursetia (?) Mexicana 

 Watson. Proc. Amer. Acad. XXI. 424. 

 Called "Nesco " or " polo piojo. " 



Common in the Alamos Mountain, where it is much used by the miners for 

 "props." Only two trees seen near the base of the mountain. The trees near 

 tho settlements are mostly destroyed. 



Desmodium plicatum Schl. and Ch. The plant has two or three slender stems and 

 a few loose, hanging branches: racemes axillary or terminal, 6 to 8 inches long: 

 flowers in verticillate clusters, crimson, becoming dark purple when dry. On the 

 side of a ravine in the upper portion of the Alamos Mountain. March 26 to 

 April 8. No. 347. We have not seen a description of this plant, but it corresponds 

 with liourgoau's ])]ant referred here by Hemsley. 



Rhynchosia precatoria DC. (?) This plaut seems to belong to this species and to 

 be different from li. phaseoloides, to which it is often referred by authors. The 

 latter species can be distinguished by its glabrous shining pods aud large flowers. 

 Several very similar forma have been referred to R. phaseoloides by Mr. Watson, 

 and while the two, as represented in the National Museum, seem distinct, a 

 fuller representation may show they are the same species. Along a river bank 

 near Alamos. March 26 to April 8. No. 378. 



Eriosema graudiflorum Seem. About 1 foot high. Only a single plant seen. At 

 the base of the Alamos Mountain. March 26 to April 8. No. 360. 



Nissolia Schottii Gray. A climbing shrub, glabrous, leaves alternate; leaflets 5, 

 thin, oblong to obovate (6 to 10 lines loug), obtuse with appendiculate tip : flowers 

 axillary, 2 to 5 (?) in a cluster : fruit 10 lines loug, 1 to 2-8eeded. This shrub was 

 found climbing over fences, etc., about Alamos, September 16 to 30. No. 638. 



Fiscidia mollis, u. sp. Apparently a second species of this genus, A tree 15 to 25 feet 

 high, a foot in diameter : leaves II to 13 pinnate ; leaflets elliptical or broad 

 lanceolate, acute, hoary, veins prominent beneath, indistinct above : fruit 4- 

 winged, 2 somewhat abortive. — Common on ridges aud plains about Alamos 

 March 26 to April 8. No. 355. Called "palo bianco," from the excessively white 

 appearance of the tree. 



Parkinsonia aculeata L. Called " Guacoporo." A shrub 10 to 15 feet high. Com- 

 mon along river banks, ravines, etc. Alamos. March 26 to April 8. No. 375. 



Cassia Tora L. One of the commonest plants of the region and found everywhere 

 in waste places, especially in sandy soil. Alamos. September 16 to 30. No. 738. 



Cassia biflora L. One to one and a half feet high. Grows on wooded hills about 

 Alamos. March 20 to April 8. No. 393. September 16 to 30. Letter B. 



Cassia emarginata L. A email tree 10 to 15 feet high, with a very large top. The 

 abundance of orange-colored flowers makes it an attractive tree. This is the 

 same as Palmer's No. 210, Chihuahua, 1885, Near Alamos. March 26 to April 

 8. No. 299. 



'All the flowers were more or less infested by a little encysted insect which Mr. L. 

 O. Howard has described as a new genus Tanaostigma. For a description and an 

 interesting account of this insect see Insect Life, vol. ii. 



