Trees Peculiar to Texas. 47 



Legal Tenders, Sucker States, or Stump-the-AVorkl. Let us have no more long, un- 

 pronounceable, irrelevant, high-flown, bombastic names to our fruits, and, if j)ossi- 

 ble, let us dispense with the now confused terms of Belle, Beurre, Calebasse, Doy- 

 enne, Pearmain, Pippin, Seedling, Beauty, Favorite, and other like useless and 

 improper titles to our fruits. The cases are very few where a single word will not 

 form a better name for a fruit than two or more. Thus shall we establish a stan- 

 dard worthy of imitation by other nations, and I suggest that we ask the co-opera- 

 tion of all pomological and horticultural societies, in this and foreign countries, in 

 carrying out this important reform. 



As the first great national Pomological Society in origin, the representative of 

 the most extensive and promising territory for fruit culture of which we have any 

 knowledge, it became our duty to lead in this good work. Let us continue it, and 

 give to the world a system of nomenclature for our fruits which shall be worthy of 

 the Society and the country — a system pure and plain in its diction, pertinent and 

 proper in its application, and which shall be an example, not only for fruits, but 

 for other products of the earth, and save our Society and the nation from the dis- 

 grace of unmeaning, pretentious and nonsensical names, to the most perfect, useful 

 and beautiful productions of the soil the world has ever known. 



Ou motion of Mr. Gibbs, of Minnesota, the President was in- 

 structed to tender the congratulations of the Society to President 

 Wilder. 



The following paper was then read by its author: 

 TEEES PECULIAE TO TEXAS. 



BY T. V. MUXSON, OF TEXAS. 



From the want of authentic references and the meager botanical work 

 which has been done in this extensive region, this paper is necessarily very 

 incomplete as to species, and imperfect as to descriptions. 



Strictly, few, if any, species are entirely within the State, that are here , 

 mentioned as " peculiar to Texas."' They either extend over one edge or 

 another on to other territory, yet in the main are so much more noticeable 

 here than elsewhere that they can be properly classified as Texas. The re- 

 gion extending from the low forest country of Eastern Texas, beginning on 

 the x^avasota river, westward some two hundred or more miles, till we reach 

 the high, dry, sandy staked plains of Tom Green and adjoining counties, is 

 the transitional region from the great cypress, pines, magnolias, oaks, hick- 

 ories, gums, sycamores, cottonwoods, etc., of the forest region of the South 

 to the arid plateau elevations of the Rocky Mountains of New Mexico and 

 Arizona, and the Cordilleras of Mexico, where the cacti, acacias, mimosse, 

 and numerous other families give nature a thorny and forbidding as])ect. 

 Texas, then, comprises within herself a natural division of country, capable 

 of giving a peculiar and characteristic flora. Were it the province of this 

 paper, the peculiarities of the country could be far more distinctly and beau- 



