98 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. ' 



2. Beaucarnea inermis (S. Wats.) Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 88. 1906. 

 Dasylirion inerme S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 26: 157. 1891. 



San Luis Potosi and Veracruz ; type from Las Palmas, San Luis Potosi. 



Tree, openly branched, sometimes 13 meters high, with a trunk 1.5 meters in 

 diameter, this covered with hard scaly black bark; leaves 1.2 to 1.5 cm. wide. 

 "Soyate" or " zoyate " (San Luis Potosi) ; " palma culona " (San Luis Potosf, 

 Ramirez ) . 



The soft spongy wood is used for corks. 



3. Beaucarnea pliabilis (Baker) Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 89. 1906. 

 Dasylirion jMabile Baker, Journ. Linn. Soc. Bot. 18: 240. 1880. 

 Yucatan ; type from Sisal. 



Leaves 1.5 cm. wide. 



4. Beaucarnea goldmanii^ Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 261. 1909. 

 Known only from the type locality, San "Vicente, Chiapas. 



Tall slender tree with swollen base, the trunk covered with thick, deeply 

 furrowed bark ; leaves 80 to 90 cm. long, 1 to 1.5 cm. wide, erect or reflexed ; 

 panicles 30 to 50 cm. long. 



5. Beaucarnea striata Lem. 111. Hort. Lem. 8: Misc. 61. 1861. 

 Beaucarnea f/lauca Roezl, Belg. Hort. 33: 138. 1883. 

 Beaucarnea purpusi Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 89. 1906. 

 Dasylirion strictum Macbride, Contr. Gray Herb. n. ser. 56: 17. 1918. 

 Puebla and Oaxaca ; described from cultivated plants. 



Tree, 6 to 8 meters high, the trunk moderately swollen at the base, covered 

 with the old leaves ; leaves about 60 cm. long, 8 to 15 mm. wide, with yellowish 

 margins. " Izote " (Oaxaca). 



6. Beaucarnea gracilis Lem. 111. Hort. Lem. 8: Misc. 61. 1861. 

 Beaucarnea oedipus Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 10: 88. pi. 23. 1906. 

 Dasylirion gracile Macbride, Contr. Gray Herb. n. ser. 56: 17. 1918. 

 Puebla; described from cultivated plants. 



Tree, 6 to 12 meters high, with stout branches, the trunk enormously swollen 

 at the base and 2 to 7 meters in circumference ; leaves 25 to 50 cm. long, 4 to 7 

 mm. wide, glaucous. 



8. DASYLIRION Zucc. Allg. Gartenz. 6: 258. 1838. 



Refebence: Trelease, Proc. Amer. Phil. Soc. 50: 431^41. 1911. 



Acaulescent or arborescent plants ; leaves linear, usually with very spiny mar- 

 gins, the bases much broadened ; flowers small, whitish, paniculate. 



The plants grow mostly on dry, rocky mesas or hillsides and are often vei*y 

 abundant and conspicuous. The trunks are used frequently for building houses 

 and for fuel. When one of the plants, covered with the dead leaves, is set on 

 fire it will burn for some time, and the burned stumps are a familiar sight in 

 regions where the plants occur. The leaf bases remaining on such burned 

 plants, when removed from the trunk, make very satisfactory beds upon camp- 

 ing expeditions, for they are elastic and not uncomfortably hard. The trunks 

 are often split open to permit cattle to eat the spongy interior, for this, as well 

 as the leaf bases, contains much sugar and has been found t^ be an excellent 



^ Named for E. A. Goldman (1873-), of the Bureau of Biological Surve.v, 

 U. S. Department of Agriculture, who has engaged in biological exploration of 

 nearly all parts of Mexico. He has obtained a large collection of botanical 

 material, which is deposited in the U. S. National Herbarium. Mr. Goldman 

 has published a valuable paper dealing with the plants of Baja California 

 (Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 16: 309-371. pi. 10J,-1S3. 1916). 



