TBE PLANT WORLD. 137 



in this locality, and it is now only to be found farther up on the op- 

 posite bank. There is at this point a high cliff so densel}^ clothed with 

 shrubs and trees, many of which in their foliage so exactly resem})led 

 Neviusia^ that even with the aid of Dr. Wynian's careful instructions 

 I was unable to find the shrub. The next morning, however, I had the 

 satisfaction of examining a fine plant, transplanted from the type sta- 

 tion, and o^rowino; in the o^arden of Dr. Smith, the State g-eoloo^ist. It 

 is a shrub about four or five feet in height, with long slender branches 

 and elm-like leaves; in the early spring it bears a profusion of delicate 

 white flowers somewhat like those of a l)lackberry. The most wonder- 

 ful fact in connection with the plant, however, is that up to the pre- 

 sent time it has never been found elsewhere in the world; and the 

 chances are that in a few years it will be entirely unknown in a wild 

 state, though not uncommon in cultivation. 



PLANT NAMES OF THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED 



STATES 



By Myrtle Zuck Hough. 



A S might be inferred, the common names of plants in the southwest 

 /\ are of Mexican origin. The Mexicans are skilled in the medi- 

 ^ cinal properties of herbs, and as a result the names have a 



meaning and lore as well as sonorousness of the Castilian quite at vari- 

 ance with the rough-and-ready nicknames applied by settlers from the 

 states. Moreover, the Mexicans, like the Moki and other Indian tribes, 

 had utilized most of the plants in the scant}^ flora of the southwest for 

 various purposes, and had given them well-recognized names. Lists of 

 these plants, which could easily be gleaned from Mexicans in Arizona, 

 New Mexico, California and Texas, would prove interesting and reveal 

 a wide field of beliefs and customs connected with primitive botany. 



The following list, though incomplete, is presented for the pur- 

 pose of attracting further contributions to the subject. 

 Adam's needle — Yucca glauca Nutt. 

 Alamo — Fopulus deltoides Marsh. This tree gives its name to a 



num])er of towns in the southwest. 

 Alfileria, alfileree, fileree — Erodium cicutarium I/PIer. From 

 Spanish word for pin, because of the i)in-Hke tails of the carpels. 

 Anil de la muerte (New Mexico) — Actinella sp. 



