504 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1^85^ 



very bard and durable. Berries greenish, or at last becoming purplish, 

 globose, half an inch in diameter, with sweetish and palatable pulp. 



Juniperus flaccida, Schlecht. 



Small tree, only seen in the Ohisos Mountains. 



Taxodium distichum, Richard. (Bald Cypress; the Sabino of the Mexicans.) 



Large, valuable tree, growing sparingly on the San Antonio River 

 and some few other streams between it and Devil's Eiver ; also at scat- 

 tered points on the Lower Eio Grande. 



Ephedra antisyphilitica, C. A. Meyer, and E. trifurca, Torr. (Canatilla ; Tepo- 

 pote. ) 



Shrubs, 2 to 4 feet high, with long, slender, greenish branches, the 

 leaves reduced to short bracts which are opposite in the first, and in 

 threes in the second species. They are exactly alike in habit and mode 

 of growth, and may be only forms of the same species. These shrubs 

 are hardly ever absent from the gravelly mesas and bluffs of Western 

 and Southern Texas. They are popular remedies among Mexicans and 

 frontiersmen in the treatment of syphilis and gonorrhoea, especially the 

 latter. The decoction or infusion of the stems has an acid reaction and 

 an astringent taste resembling that of tannin. It is used as an injec- 

 tion and internally; some caution should be observed as it has been 

 known to cause strangury. Dr. Eothrock [Botany West of the 100th 

 Meridian], summing up Dr. Loew's analysis of E. antisyphilitica, says: 



" The filtrate of the aqueous solution proved the presence of tannin 

 and tartaric acid. Pectin was also shown to be in the filtrate by the 

 jelly-like precipitate produced by the addition of alcohol. The tannin 

 belongs to the glucosid group, furnishing sugar on treatment with acids 

 and various other compounds, and, upon dry distillation, pyrogallic and 

 carbonic acids. This tannin splits up into sugar and a red amorphous 

 powder. The powder. Dr. Loew considers quite a distinct body which 

 he names ephedrin, and to this he attributes (probably correctly) the 

 remedial properties of the plant." 



CUPULIFERiE. 



Quercus virens, Ait. (Live Oak.) 



Common along most water-courses from San Antonio to Eagle Pass 

 and Devil's River ; hardly extends beyond the Pecos. Tree of vigorous 

 growth, with thick but short trunk ; wood invaluable as timber or fuel. 



Quercus grisea, Liebm. (Gray Oak.) 



The most abundant, I may say the characteristic. Oak of Western 

 Texas. Found west of the Pecos in all mountain canons and on most 

 foot-hills, high ridges, and bluffs. It is a small tree, seldom more than 

 a foot thick, but its heavy, compact, tough and exceedingly hard wood 

 could be used advantageously. The cross-section is remarkable for the 



