of the plants, including species of Stevia, remains the subject of 



conjecture. 



Stevia or possible Stevia species mentioned in Hernandez's 



book and others reported elsewhere are listed below, according 



to their vernacular names, in alphabetical order. 



1. Albahaca del campo 



A species of Stevia collected in Argentina in 1936 and referred 

 to as Albahaca del campo is listed in von Reis AltschuFs book 

 (1973), without further details. 



2. Anonima mechoacanense 



In Hernandez's book (1943, p. 481), a plant referred to as 

 third Anonima mechoacanense is listed, and has been inter- 

 preted as a Stevia sp. From the illustration provided, it can be 

 said that it is not a species of Stevia, since the illustrated plant 

 has verticillate (in 5's) leaves, which does not occur in Stevia. 

 Interestingly, Hernandez's text stated that his notes concerning 

 the uses of plant were lost, hence the use of the word Anonima, 

 which means anonymous. 



3. Camopaltic 



Several plants in Hernandez's book are called the first, second 

 and third Camopaltic, a Nahuatl word which means herb with 

 purple color. The identity of the third Camopaltic is given as 

 Stevia clinopodia DC. (Hernandez, 1946, p. 844). According to 

 Grashoff (1972), the legitimate name for S. clinopodia DC. is S. 

 jorullensis HBK. An illustration of the plant is here reproduced 



(Fig. 1). 



Concerning uses, Hernandez noted that the plant is a "cold 



herb", and that "half an ounce of the roots taken with water 



evacuates the urine". 



In an earlier work by Urbina (1906), the third Camopaltic was 



given a different interpretation as either Stevia linoides. S. laxi- 



flora, S. purpurea or S. paniculata, but it was noted that the 



most likely was S. linoides, due to the similar form of the leaves 



to flax. These Latin binomials are all illegitimate names and, 



according to Grashoff (1972), their legitimate names are Stevia 



13 



