334 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM, 
Pithecolobium tortum Mart.? 
This species was collected in fruit on the road from Santa Anita to Miraflores, Jan- 
uary 19. It was rather common, growing as a tree 4.5 to 6 meters high. Brandegee 
refers our specimen provisionally to P. tortum Mart., the name he used with reser- 
vation for the species recorded in his Flora of the Cape Region as growing at low 
elevations at San José del Cabo and Todos Santos. This was described as a hand- 
some small tree with horizontal dark-green leaves. 
Prosopis glandulosa Torr. MESQUITE. 
One of the most abundant and generally distributed plants in Lower California. 
It spreads over nearly the whole of the Peninsula, ascending from the desert, border- 
ing the shores of the Gulf of California through San Matias Pass into Trinidad Valley, 
San Rafael Valley, and other valleys west of the higher mountains and occurring up 
to 1,350 meters on southwest slopes. It is absent, however, on the upper slopes of 
the Sierra del Pinal, the San Pedro Martir Mountains, and the high mountains of 
the Cape District. Tt varies in size from a small shrub toa tree 4.5 to 9 meters in height. 
Usually it grows more abundantly and to a larger size in the alluvial soil in arroyos, 
in some places to the exclusion of other trees, but it may also overspread desert plains 
and rocky hills. Economically it is one of the important plants of the Peninsula. 
The pods, leaves, and even twigs furnish valuable forage for stock, and the pods are 
eaten by many of the native mammals. A specimen in fruit was collected on the 
road from Santo Domingo to Matancita, November 15. 
Prosopis odorata Torr. & Frém. SCREWPOD MESQUITE. 
This species occurs rather sparingly on low-lying areas in the delta of the Colo- 
rado River. 
Prosopis palmeri 8. Wats. PALMER MESQUITE. 
First noticed by us while crossing the rugged backbone of the Peninsula near 
Guajademi, on our way from Mulegé to La Purisima. It was more abundant, how- 
ever, along much of our route from Matancita to La Paz, occurring as the principal: 
species on the more fertile soil in some of the arroyos between 30 and 150 meters alti- 
tude. Brandegee records the species as abundant on the high, rocky mesas near La 
Purfsima and Comanddé. It forms a tree 4.5 to 7.5 meters high, with the trunk thick- 
ened from the ground up to about 3 meters, where a great number of small, spreading 
branches are given off. The bark is rough and splits off in long strips. Specimens 
bearing flowers and ripe fruit were taken between Agua Colorada and Cerro Colorado, 
December 15. 
Vachellia farnesiana (L.) Wight & Arn. HUISACHE. VINORAMA, 
The “ huisache,”’ as it is commonly called, is widely dispersed in tropical and sub- 
tropical Mexico and ranges well into the Lower Sonoran Zone. Its irregular distribu- 
tion in Lower California may be due to its not being native, having supposably been 
introduced and cultivated about some of the missions. This would explain its absence 
from large areas apparently well suited to its growth. A few trees were noted by us 
along the road from Onyx to Agua Dulce, but the species was more abundant from 
San Ignacio southward to San Jorge. South of San Jorge it was not again seen until 
we entered the Cape District south of La Paz, where it was abundant in many locali- 
ties, especially in the vicinity of towns. At Miraflores it has received the local name 
“vinorama.”” It was collected in flower between Tres Pachitas and Valle Flojo, 
December 25. Brandegee records the species from San José del Cabo. 
