STANDLEY — TREES AND SHEUBS OF MEXICO. 61 



gogue and diuretic, and tlae leaves are applied as a resolutive and as a cure 

 for itch. Chips of the wood are placed in an excavation in the ground, covered 

 with earth, and fired, and as a result there is obtained a kind of pitch which 

 is used commonly as a cure for bronchitis and other chest affections.^ 



5. JUNIPERUS L. Sp. PI. 1038. 1753. 

 Trees or shrubs with small scalelike leaves, these opposite or verticillate ; 

 fruit a small globose cone, often berry-like. 



Cedar wood is of much economic importance, being useful for many purposes, 

 one of the most common of which is the manufacture of lead pencils. The 

 bark is rich in tannin and is used for tanning leather. The volatile oil 

 obtained from the fruit of some species is aromatic, stimulant, and diuretic. 

 Spirits distilled with the berries of common juniper (J. communis L., of North 

 America, Europe, and Asia) constitutes the gin of commerce. The leaves, or 

 their decoction, of ./. sohiiia L. (of Europe) and ,/. virginiana L. (of the United 

 States) have been used as a teniafuge and abortifacient, although their use is 

 dangerous. The trees are very commonly planted for ornamental purposes. 



Reko gives the Mixtec name (in Oaxaca) as " yutnu-itne." 

 Leaves of the branchlets ternate, obtuse. Fruit 1.2 to 1.8 cm. in diameter, 



1 or 2-seeded 1. J, califomica. 



Leaves of the branchlets opposite. 

 Bark checkered. Leaves obtuse ; fruit dry, usually 4-seeded. 



2. J. pachyphloea. 

 Bark shredded. 



Fruit brownish, dry, fibrous, with 4 or more seeds ; leaves very acute. 



3. J. flaccida. 

 Fruit blue, fleshy, resinous, with 1 or sometimes 2 seeds ; leaves obtuse. 



4. J. mexicana. 



1, Juniperus califomica Carr. Rev. Hort. 1854: 352. 1854. 

 Juniperus cerrosianus Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. 2' 37. 1863. 



Baja California, at altitudes of 150 to 1,000 meters. California (type 

 locality ) . 



Usually a shrub but sometimes a tree 12 meters high, with a tnink diameter 

 of 60 cm. ; bark thin, peeling off in long gray shreds, the inner bark reddish 

 brown; fruit reddish brown, maturing the second year; wood soft, close- 

 grained, light reddish brown, its specific gravity about 0.63. " Cedro " (Baja 

 California ) . 



The wood is very durable and is used for fencing and for fuel. The Indians 

 employed the fruit, either fresh or dried, ground and made into cakes, for food. 



2. Juniperus pachyphloea Torr. U. S. Rep. Expl. Miss. Pacif. 4: 142. 1857. 

 Low dry hillsides. Chihuahua and Sonora to Zacatecas and Puebla. Arizona 



to western Texas ; type from New Mexico. 



Shrub or tree, sometimes 18 meters high, with a trunk diameter of 1.8 meters ; 

 trunk usually short, covered with thick, reddish brown bark, this divided into 

 coarse 4-sided plates; fruit about 1.2 cm. in diameter, with dry sweet flesh; 

 wood soft, weak, brittle, close-grained, light red, with a specific gravity of 

 about 0.58. " Tascate " (Chihuahua, Durango). 



The bark is very different from that of any other species. The fruit is often 

 used as food. Palmer reports that in Chihuahua the plant (presumably the 

 leaves) is used as a remedy for rheumatism and neuralgia. Because of its 



^Tom^s Noriega. El Ahuehuete. Naturaleza 4: 35-^0. 1877. 



