EMPETRACEAE 443 



1. B. microphylla Gray. Elephant Tree. Low round-headed tree with very 

 thick steins and branches, 4 to 10 feet high; trunk diameter i/^ to 2 feet; herbage 

 glabrous; leaflets 13 to 25, linear-oblong, 2 to 3 lines long; flowers 5-merous. 



Rocky banks of washes : between Fish Creek and Carrizo Creek, southwestern 

 Colorado Desert, the only known locality in California. Arizona to Lower Cali- 

 fornia and Sonora. The Mexican name is Torote. 



Eefs. — BuRSERA MICROPHYLLA Gray, Proc. Am. Acad. 5:155 (1861), type loc. Sierra Tule, 

 Sonora, Mex., Schott; Jepson, Man. 607 (1925). EJaphrium microphyllum Eose; Eydb. N. Am. 

 Fl. 25:250 (1911). Terebinthus microphylla Eose, Contrib. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10:120 (1906). 



BUXACEAE. Box Family 



Evergreen shrubs with leatliery simple leaves and unisexual apetalous flowers. 

 Calyx of 5 (4 to 6) sepals. Ovary superior, 2 or 3-celled; styles 2 or 3; -ovules 1 or 

 2 in each cell. — Genera 6, species 30, temperate and subtropical, all continents 

 save Australia. 



Bibliog. — Watson, S., Buxaceae in Bot. Cal. 2:67 (1880). Pax, F., Buxaceae in Engler & 

 Prantl, Nat. Pflzfam. 3^:130-135, figs. 83-86 (1896). 



1. SIMMONDSIA Nutt. 



Leaves opposite, entire. Flowers dioecious, on short axillary peduncles, the 

 pistillate solitary, the staminate in a capitate cluster; sepals distinct, somewhat un- 

 equal. Stamens 10 to 12. Styles 3 ; ovary 3-celled, becoming by abortion a 1-celled 

 1-seeded 3-valved fruit. — Species 1. (The naturalist, F. W. Simmonds.) 



1. S. californica Nutt. Jajoba. Goat-nut. Rigid much branched shrub 2 

 to 7 feet high; leaves minutely, but the branchlets, peduncles and calyx obviously 

 pubescent; peduncles 1 to 3 lines (rarely 1 inch) long; leaf -blades oblong to ovate, 

 1 to iy2 inches long, barely petioled; staminate flower 11/2 to 2 lines long, its sepals 

 broadly oblong or subspatulate; pistillate flower much larger than the staminate, 

 6 lines long, its sepals ovate or lanceolate and often abruptly contracted above the 

 roundish base; capsule short-cylindric, short-pointed, somewhat acorn-like, rather 

 less than 1 inch long. 



Arid or rocky hills, 50 to 2400 feet : mountains of north side of Colorado Desert; 

 San Jacinto Mts.; San Diego Co. South to Lower California and Mexico, east to 

 Arizona. Apr. 



Field note. — Simmondsia californica is an important forage plant for cattle browse, -which 

 often accounts for its irregular shape. The nuts are a great resource to the native people in 

 Lower California, as formerly in Southern California. They are roasted in order to prepare 

 them for eating, and a drink, somewhat similar to chocolate, is also prepared from them. The 

 shrubs grow in the most arid situations, yet even so they often fruit heavily, at least in places not 

 accessible to cattle. The natives have a saying that it requires only one rain to make a Jajoba 

 crop. Deer Nut is also a folk name and about Mt. San Ysidro native tribesmen call the shrub 

 Cow-nuckle. 



Locs. — Chuckwalla Mts.; Cottonwood Spr., Cotton,wood Mts., Jepson 12,577; Indio Hills, 

 Clary 1168; Lookout Mt., n. of Indio, Jepson; Coyote Holes, e. of Warrens Well, Conchilla Eange, 

 Jepson 5973; Palm Canon of San Jacinto, Jepson 1359; San Felipe Wash, e. San Diego Co., 

 J. T. Eowell 3244; Box Canon, Blair Valley, e. San Diego Co., Jepson 8645; Vallecito, e. San 

 Diego Co., Jepson 4- Button 8607; Myers Creek bridge, sw. Imperial Co., Jepson 11,781; betw. 

 Cahuilla Valley and Aguanga, Jepson 1480 ; Cottonwood Creek valley, s. San Diego Co., J. T. 

 Howell 2968; betw. Del Mar and La Jolla, Newlon 307; San Diego, Harriet Schneider. 



Eefs.— Simmondsia californica Nutt.; Hook. Lond. Jour. Bot. 3:401, t. 16 (1844), type 

 loe. San Diego, Nuttall; Jepson, Man. 607, fig. 601 (1925). S. pabulosa Kell. Proc. Cal. Acad. 

 2:21 (1859), type loc. Cedros Isl., L. Cal. Featch. Buxus chinensis Link, Enum. PI. 2:386 

 (1822); Mueller in DC. Prod. 16^:23 (1869), as synonym. Simmondsia chinensis Schn. 111. 

 Handb. Laubholz. 2:141 (1907). 



EMPETRACEAE. Crowberrt Family 



Small evergreen shrubs. Leaf -blades linear with a deep groove on the under 

 side. Flowers dioecious, monoecious or perfect, 3-merous, Ovary superior, 6 to 



