347 



" Replying to ynur postal, ' Priniavera " or ' white mahogany ' are the two namea 

 for the same wood, which grows ia Mexico. It is used largely in the manufac- 

 ture of Jino fnruiture and interior decoration. We handle it in the logs and 

 lumber, also veneers. Worth from 12 c(*nts per foot in the log to 15 to 25 cents 

 ill Iniiiln'r."' 



William E. I'ptegrove & Uro. write, under date of December 29, 1892: 



" We do handle ' J'rimavera' or ' white mahogany.' The two names are used 

 for the .same wood. The former is correct. It is a native of Mexico. That 

 growing on the west coast is the best. It is used only moderately and costs 

 somewhat liigher than 'red' mahogany. We do not consider it a desirable 

 cabinet wood." 



A condensed account of the original descri]ition is given in Hardwood (vol. 



iii.2l), by (^eo. IJ. Sndworth. 

 Prof. C. S. Sargent, in Garden and Forest (vol. vi, p. 12), says : 

 *' III the December issue of Th(^ Botanical Gazette there is a figure reproduced 

 from one of Mr. Faxon's drawings of a species of Tahebiiia, a native of Mexico 

 and Central America, which I'rof. Kose, of the Department of Agriculture, 

 describes as a now species, and which he dedicates to Mr. John Donnoll Smith, 

 of Baltimore, its discoverer. For the lawt twelve or fifteen years a handsome, 

 light-c()l()red wood has been imported into the market of San Francisco from the 

 west coast of Mexico, and is said to have been prodnced by a tree called • Prima 

 vera.' This wood, of late years, has been «iuite extensively brought into the 

 Eastern markets under the name of 'white mahogany,' and is now considered 

 here one of the most valuable and useful of all cabinet woods. Its origin has 

 long remained unknown, and although there may bo still some doubt as to the 

 identity of white mahogany with the 'Primavera' of Manzanillo, Prof. Rose's 

 note gives the indication of the direction iu which further investigations of the 

 origin and source of supply of this wood should be made." 



Tecoma stana (L.) Juss. Gen. Plant. 139(1789); Bignonia starts L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. ii. 

 871 (17(53). Collected in the public S(]uaro at Guaymas, July 30, 1891. 

 This plant is c(unmonly cultivated iu Mexico for its handsome llowers. 



Parmeiitiera sp. A small tree, 12 feet high with horizontal branches: leaves in 

 fascicles of 2 to 5 subtended by a single spine; leaflets 3, obovate, obtuse, 

 entire or toothed towards the apex; petioles slightly winged, about the length 

 of the leaflets: pods 10 incites long, yellow. In shady woods about Manzanillo, 

 March 2 to 18, 1891. No. 1347. 



This species differs certainly from P. cereifem and i'. eduUs, which by some are 

 con.sider«Hl the only two species ; from the former it differs in its pods, acuminate 

 leaflets and calyx: from the latter, in its pods, etc. Miers considered there 

 were six species; of these it seems nearest to P.folioJosa, but diflers in being 

 spiny; P. aciileata has similar s])ines, but its leaflets are often simple; in P. 

 lanceolata all th(i leaflets are simple; P. alata has very properly lieen referred to 

 the genus Crescrntid. 



Mr. John Donnell Smith has since written me that he has in his collection two 

 numbers which ho considers the same as mine, which he has referred to P. 

 ediiUs. 



ACANTHACE^. 



Calophanea sp. Armeria, February 1.5, 1891. No. 1274. 



Calophaues sp. Compart i)lant, 2 to 3 feet high: leaves oblong, acuminate, 

 tapering at base into a short petiole, glabrous beneath, slightly scabrous above, 

 3 to 6 inches long; upper leaves smaller and narrower : flowers arillary or formr 

 ing leafy spikes: calyx puberulent; tube 2 lines long; lobes unequal, flliform 

 3 to 4 Hues long: corolla violet, puberulent without, 1^ to 1| inches long; tube 

 §}enderj Ipbei^ obtuse, eiiual, spreading: staniens 4, nearly equal, slightly 



