WOOTON AND STANDLEY—FLORA OF NEW MEXICO. 333 
1. Hoffmanseggia densiflora Benth.; A. Gray, Pl. Wright. 1: 55. 1852. 
CAMOTE DE RATON. 
Hoffmanseggia stricta Benth.; A. Gray, op. cit. 56. 1852. 
Ho{/manseggia stricta demissa Benth.; A. Gray, loc. cit. 
Hoffmanseggia stricta rusbyi Fisher, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1: 144. 1892. 
Tyre Locauity: Valley of the Pecos, Texas. Type, Wright’s no. 148. 
Rance: Southwestern Texas, southern New Mexico and Arizona, and adjacent 
Mexico. 
New Mexico: Tucumcari; Los Lunas; Socorro; Deming; Tularosa; Alamogordo; 
Hillsboro; Roswell; Carlsbad; Mangas Springs; Animas Valley; Hachita; Mesilla Val- 
ley; Nogal. Plains and river valleys, in the Lower and Upper Sonoran zones. 
This species is common in hard alkaline soils in the lower valleys, especially in 
locations which are flooded occasionally. The small, ellipsoidal or spheroidal 
tuberous roots 2 to 4 cm. long, which give it its common name, are produced 15 to 30 
cm. below the surface, on slender tough roots. They are rather sweet and of not 
unpleasant flavor, although tough. They are commonly eaten by the Indians. 
The various subspecies which have been proposed are probably forms caused by 
varying quantities of water received by the plants at different times of the year. 
They can all be found in a small patch of the species by careful search. Bentham 
himself observed that H. densiflora was perhaps too near H. demissa, and Doctor Gray in 
publishing it reduced H. demissa of Bentham’s manuscript to H. stricta demissa. It 
is unfortunate that he should have published these two forms before the H. stricta, 
which is really the typical form of the plant, whose name is distinctive of its most 
characteristic difference from H. falcaria Cav. But according to the rules of priority 
the name densiflora must stand. The type of H. falcaria rusbyt was collected by 
Rusby at Mangas Springs. 
2. Hoffmanseggia drepanocarpa A. Gray, Pl. Wright. 1: 58. 1852. 
Type Loca.ity: ‘New Mexico, or between Texas and El Paso.’’ 
Ranae: New Mexico to southern California. 
New Mexico: Acoma; Socorro; Mangas Springs; Organ Mountains; Guadalupe 
Mountains; Lake Valley; Knowles. Dry hills, in the Upper and Lower Sonoran zones, 
3. Hoffmanseggia brachycarpa A. Gray, Pl. Wright. 1: 55. 1852. 
Type Locauity: ‘‘New Mexico.’’ Type collected by Wright in 1851. 
Ranae: Southern New Mexico, southwestern Texas, and probably adjacent 
Mexico. 
We have seen no specimens from New Mexico, but it isincluded here on the strength 
of the citation of the type, for which no number is given. Wright’s later collections 
of the same species are from Texas east of the Pecos. It is possible that the original 
citation is incorrect, as Doctor Gray was indefinite in this citation, while he was 
usually very particular about this point. 
4. Hoffmanseggia jamesii Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 393. 1840. 
Pomaria glandulosa Cav. err. det. Torr. Ann. Lyc. N. Y, 2: 193. 1828, 
Type LocaLity: “Sources of the Canadian River,’’? probably in New Mexico. 
Type collected by James, 
Ranae: Colorado to Texas, Arizona, and Mexico. 
New Mexico: Farmington; Zuni Reservation; Kennedy; Tijeras Canyon; Sabinal; 
mesa near Las Cruces; Gage; Clayton; Buchanan; Redlands. Sandy hills and plains, 
in the Upper and Lower Sonoran zones. 
This is the common black-glandular species, occurring mostly in sandy soil, the 
branching leafy stems arising from a thickened woody root often 10 to 20 cm. long and 
3 cm. thick. The dull yellow flowers and sublunate pods are distinctive. 
