242 BIvAKE: REVISION OF ICHTHYOMETHIA 



but it is not listed in the United States Dispensatory. The 

 active principle, according to Hart as quoted by Felter and 

 Lloyd, ^ is a neutral body, piscidin (C29H24O8), which has narcotic 

 and analgesic properties. It has been used for alleviating 

 insomnia and neuralgia, for allaying spasms, and for similar 

 purposes. Experimentally it has been found to bring about 

 death in animals by causing heart failure or by arresting respira- 

 tory action. 



Although this genus has generally been known under the name 

 Piscidia, given it by Linnaeus in 1759, it is necessary under the 

 American Code of Botanical Nomenclature to adopt for it the 

 name Ichthyomethia, published by Patrick Browne in 1756, 

 with a reference to the original species, Eryihrina piscipula L. 



In addition to the original species, Ichthyomethia piscipula 

 (L.) Hitchc. (Eryihrina piscipula L., 1753; Piscidia erythrina L., 

 1759), and some species wrongly ascribed to the genus by early 

 authors, four species have been described : Piscidia Americana Moc. 

 Sesse, P. mollis Rose, P. cubensis Urban, and Ichthyomethia 

 havanensis Britton & Wilson. A sixth species is Derris grandifolia 

 Donn. Smith, the fruit of which, unknown to the describer of the 

 species, shows it to be a member of this genus. In addition to 

 these species, study of the specimens in the National Herbarium, 

 supplemented by material from the New York Botanical Garden 

 and the Gray Herbarium, has shown the existence of three new 

 species, closely related to /. piscipida but distinguished by 

 constant characters and definite geographical ranges. My 

 thanks are due to the curators of the herbaria mentioned for 

 the loan of the material. 



Of the eight species here recognized, three (/. grandifolia, 

 I. mollis, and I. cubensis) are very distinct in characters of foliage 

 and pubescence. The other five form a closely related group 

 centering around the original species, /. piscipula. In making 

 out the characters which distinguish these species, and in cor- 

 relating them with distribution in definite floristic regions, I 

 am indebted for advice and assistance to Mr. William R. Maxon. 

 The first of these, /. piscipula, definitely known as a native only 



' King's Amer. Dispensatory ed. XI. (3d revision) 2: 15 10. 1900. 



