500 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 



Acacia Wrightii, Beuth. 



Often found west and south of San Antonio as a small, round tree, 

 with stem 6 to 8 inches tliick. Wood very hard. 



Acacia Rcemeriana, Schlecht. 



Stout shrub, common in Western Texas, with foliage much like that 

 of the preceding. Good hedge-plant. 



Acacia Berlandieri, Beuth., and A. amentacea, DC. 



The former covering the arid bluffs of the Lower Eio Grande, the 

 latter extending farther north and west, being common at San Antonio; 

 both excellent hedge shrubs, especially the amentacea, with its strong, 

 stiff, prickly branches; unfortunately its seeds seldom develop and 

 ripen ; the A. Berlandieri, on the contrary, is very fructiferous. 



Mimosa biuncifera, Beuth., aud M. borealis, Gray. (Una de Gato.) 



Common bushes west of the Pecos, on dry gravelly soil, noted for the 

 abundance and stoutness of their prickles; possible hedge-plants. 



Pithecolobium brevifolium, Beuth. (Huajillo.) 



Shrub on the Lower Rio Grande, with permanent foliage readily eaten 

 by sheep and goats in winter. 



Sesbania Cavanillesii, Watson. 



Very graceful shrub or small tree on the Lower Rio Grande, with 

 showy racemes of bright yellow flowers in August, and winged legume. 

 Seeds used as a substitute for coffee. 



Sophora secundiflora, Lag. (Frijolillo; Coral Bean.) 



Stout ornamental shrub, with deej) green foliage, common from the 

 Gulf Coast to the Pecos ; thence smaller and less frequent, but found in 

 mountain caiions as far west as El Paso. Only a shrub on the Lower 

 Eio Grande, but described by Lindheimer as a small tree, 30 feet high, 

 on the shores of Matagorda Bay. The showy bunches of violet flowers 

 give off a strong, nauseating and very offensive smell. Wood yellow, 

 hard and heavy, dyeing yellow. 



The pod holds 3 or 4 round, red beans, the size of small marbles, 

 and very poisonous. They contain an alkaloid, sophoria, isolated 

 by Dr. H. C. Wood in 1877. It is a whitish, amorphous substance, with 

 strong narcotic properties and capable of producing convulsions, tem- 

 I)orary loss of voluntary movement aud distressing vomiting. Accord- 

 ing to Dr. Eothrock (who quotes Mr. Bellanger, of Texas, as his inform- 

 ant) "The Indians near San Antonio used this bean as an intoxicant, 

 half a bean producing delirious exhilaration followed by a sleep which 

 lasts 2 or 3 days, and it is asserted that a whole bean would kill a man." 



Sophora affinis, T. & G. 



Small ornamental tree, 10 to 15 feet high, with stem 4 to 8 inches in 

 diameter. At San Antonio and sparingly in Southern and Eastern 

 Texas. Wood yellow and very heavy. 



