178 BUXACEAE. 
SIMMONDSIA. Jojoba. 
(Family Buxaceae). 
Shrub or small bushy tree: 
evergreen. Twigs rather slender, 
terete, often forking, the bark fis- 
sured: pith somewhat angled and 
colored, continuous. Buds com- 
monly superposed, the upper often 
developing promptly, sessile, 
round, very hairy and with indis- 
tinguishable _ scales. Leaf-scars 
opposite, raised, crescent-shaped: 
bundle-trace 1, large, in the upper 
part of the scar: stipule-scars 
lacking. Leaves rather small, el- 
liptical, sessile, entire. 
Some years since, Simmondsia 
attracted attention as a plant 
worthy of trial in the Mediter- 
ranean region because of its oily 
seeds. 
Simmondsia affords an example 
of the misfortunes that may attend 
the use of names indicating the source or peculiarities of 
plants. What is called S. californica, now, was grown in the 
botanical garden at Berlin a century ago, supposedly from 
China. Link, recognizing its now admitted but sometimes 
questioned relationship to the box, christened it Buzxus chi- 
nensis. The genus Simmondsia was described two decades 
later, when Nuttall found and named its original if not only 
species S. californica. Strict application of the nomenclato- 
rial rule of priority would cause restoration under Simmond- 
sia of the totally misleading name chinensis. 
Appressed-puberulent: leaves thick. $. californica. 
a ii ee 
