290 



ever, by tlie time the description appeared, lie liad been forosialled 

 bv Humboldt and Bonplaod, vrho liad come across the i>laut near 

 the mines of Moran (now in the State of Hidalgo), at an altitude 

 of 2600 m., in Eebruarv, 1804. A yerv fnll description and aii 



exc 



ellent plate were publislied by tliem in tlieir " Nova Genera et 

 Species ''"^ under the name of Mespilus pithescens. They Jaiow it 

 only in the flowering state and gave no information as to its uses- 

 Of the more recent Mexican literature on tlie subject two publican 

 tions maybe quoted, nanielv, ''Dates para la Materia Medica 

 Mexicana '' (1900), by Jos. Kaniirez, and " Manual Terapeuticcj. 

 de Plantas Mexicanas'' (1909) by Leop. Flores. E^aniirez'i 

 account is so much vitiated by his confusion of the Mexican trefs 

 with the North American C\ Cfus-gaUi and C. herherifoh'a, of 

 which he copies figures from Sargent's '' Silva of North America/* 

 that little can be gleaned from it that is new or reliable; but he, 

 too, describes the tree as conmion in the valley of Mexico, and we» 

 may also accept his statement that decoctions of the root are used 

 in Mexico as an aj)eritivc and diuretic and of the fruit as a useful 

 pectoral. He devotes several pages to the cbemistry of the root. 



but it is not worth while to enter into this subject here. He- 

 further states that the wood of Tejocote is used in Mexico in 

 cabinet-making, and the stems to graft apples and pears on, since- 

 these thus become more resistant. His statement that the tree- 

 lias been in cultivation for a long time may be taken to apply to 

 the Mexican hawthorn or to C\ Crus-galli, Flores, however, is 

 more decided on this point, saying that '^ Texocotl ''' has ^^ there ^' 

 (that is, in Mexico) been in cultivation for a long time. Other- 

 wise his account is merely a condensed repetition of Ramirez's 

 observations. The plant represented by Humboldt and Bonpland's 

 figure and Mocino and Sesse's drawing is characterised by a some- 

 what compact habit, due to the shortness of the leaf-bearing 

 branches and by the more or less lanceolate (3-5-5 cm. by 1-2-2 cm.) 

 and serrate to dentate leaves, covered beneath with a fairly con- 

 spicuous tomentum. The stj2)ules are deciduous at an early stage, 

 and the corymbs are rather few-tlowered with thin, narrow bracts. 

 The following specimens in the Kew Herbarium ma^^ be considered 

 to correspond to this form : 



1. Graham, nos. 193 and 194, collected '-'Mexico," 1830; uo. 

 193 bears spines; no. 194 is spineless and has the following note 

 attached: ''Cultivated- Like the wild, but no thorns, and the 

 fruit a little larger." 



^ 2. J. Greg|r, no, 618c, collected " Mexico," 1848-1849. Exactly 

 like Graham's unarmed specimen. 



3. Bourgeau, no, 50, collected at Santa Fe, in the Valley of" 

 Mexico. An unarmed fruiting specimen with gnarled branches, 



4. H- Christie, received 18^1, collected "Mexico." 



5. C. C. Parry and Ed. Palmer, no. 228, collected in the region 

 of San Luis Potosi, 1878. A fruiting specimen like Bourgcau's. 



6. C. G. Pringle, no. 11,440, collected in open woodlands near 

 Eslaba, Federal District, 17, ix, 1903. A fruiting branch exactly 

 like the preceding, and a flowering branch, evidently collected at 



* Humboldt, Boupland and Kuntli, Nova Genera et Species Piantarum 

 Tol. vi. p. 213, t. 555, ^ 



