510 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [Ib85. 



Fraxinus cuspidata, Torr. 



Small tree iu the Chisos Mountains and some of the canons of the 

 Great Bend. 



Fraxinus G-reggii, Gray. 



Stout shrub, noticed near the mouth of the Pecos and at Maxou's 

 Spring ; only good for fuel. 



Forestiera reticulata, Torr. 



Small tree, only seen in canons near the mouth of the Pecos. 



Forestiera angustifolia, Torr. 



Stout shrub, rather common on bluffs and in mountain arroyos, with 

 a black, edible, but not very palatable, berry. 



BORRAGINACBiE. 



Cordia Boissieri, A. DC. (Anacahuita. ) 



. A small tree on the bluffs of the Lower Rio Grande, with hard, close- 

 grained wood. Its various parts, flower, fruit, leaf and wood, all im- 

 pregnated with the same pleasant aromatic principle, are i^opularly 

 used by Mexicans in bronchial affections. An extract of the wood is 

 kept in drug stores and prescribed for colds, asthma, phthisis, &c. ; it 

 probably acts as a stimulating expectorant and diaphoretic. The fruit 

 is nearly an inch long, with a pointed stone and pulpy, sweet mesocarp 

 of which Mexicans are foud. Most animals, likewise, eat it. A jelly 

 made with it is given to coughing children. A decoction of the leaves is 

 also used internally and externally in rheumatism. 



Ehretia elliptica, DC. (Anaqiia.) 



Seen sparingly near New Braunfels ; very common on the Lower Rio 

 Grande as a tree 20 to 35 feet high and stem 1 to 2 feet in diameter, 

 with dark green foliage. Wood tough, making good lumber and fair 

 fuel. Fruit the size of a large pea, yellow, with a thin, edible pulp. 



ANACARDIACE^. 



Rhus copallina, L. aud var. lanceolata, Gray. (Dwarf Sumach.) 



Shrub, 8 to 12 feet high, found, the variety chiefly, in many places 

 west of San Antonio. 



Rhus virens, Liudb. (Live Sumach.) 



Shrub found in shady arroyos and on lower slopes of mountains, west 

 of the Nueces River. The leaves, mixed with tobacco, are smoked by 

 Mexicans aud Indians, 



Rhus aromatica, var. trilobata, Gray, aud R. xnicrophylla, Engelm. 



Both abuudaut on blufls aud slopes. 



li. copalliria contains tannin in its leaves and bark; this acid may 

 also be present iu the other species mentioned. The, berries of all 

 Sumachs are astringent, acidulous, and make agreeable infusions. 



