/STANDLEY — TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 7 



names are obviously erroneous and others doubtful, but the same 

 statements are likely to be true of most lists of similar nature. The 

 present writer is under particular obligations to Dr. Bias P. Reko, 

 who has kindly permitted the use of a very extensive list of the ver- 

 nacular names current in Oaxaca, which he has compiled. Valued 

 assistance has been rendered likewise by Dr. Alfonso Herrera, Di- 

 rector de Estudios Biologicos, of the Mexican Government. 



The names applied to plants vary greatly in different parts of 

 Mexico, largely because of the diverse languages which preceded 

 Spanish in different parts of the country, and which are still spoken 

 in many regions, notwithstanding that Spanish is the language used 

 by the great majority of the inhabitants. The Spanish names are 

 the most generally used, as a rule. Many of them date back to the 

 time of the Conquest, and are the same as naftnes in common use 

 for Spanish plants of more or less similar aspect, although often of 

 no close relationship. In many instances the Carib names of West 

 Indian plants were brought to Mexico by the early explorers and ap- 

 plied to the same or similar plants growing in the latter region. In 

 the case of plants first discovered in Mexico, and quite unlike any- 

 thing previously known to them, the Spaniards aften adopted the 

 native Mexican names, especially those of Nahuatl origin. It is in- 

 teresting to observe how generally some of the Nahuatl names — often 

 greatly modified in spelling and pronunciation, it is true — are now 

 used among the Spanish-speaking people of North America, often 

 in regions far remote from those where the Nahuatl language was 

 ever spokeu. Many of them are in common use among the Spanish- 

 speaking people of Arizona and New Mexico, and some, like "mes- 

 quite," have become recognized English words. 



A large number of Nahuatl plant names are known, and many are 

 listed here. Many more have been reported — particularly by Her- 

 nandez — whose application is obscure or unknown. The Nahuatl 

 language was the one spoken at the time of the Conquest by the 

 inhabitants of the Valley of Mexico. The people of this prosperous 

 region possessed a great love for flowers as objects of admiration and 

 adornment, and Avere familiar with the properties and uses of many 

 plants, consequently their botanical vocabulary was a remarkably 

 large one. Less is known of the plant names of other parts of Mexico. 

 Many names are known, however, from the Maya, which is the origi- 

 nal and more or less current language of the Yucatan Peninsula 

 and adjacent regions. Some names are available, also, from the 

 Tarascan language of Michoacan ; the Otoml, of north-central Mex- 

 ico; and the Mixtec and Zapotec, of Oaxaca and Chiapas. Besides 

 the vernacular names employed in Mexico, the writer has listed those 

 from Central America, Colombia, and Venezuela, and from those 

 islands of the West Indies in which Spanish is spoken, excluding, so 



