STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 223 



1, BENDROPHTHORA Eichl. in Mart. Fl. Bras. 5 ': 102. 1868. 



1. Dendrophthora pedicellata Van Tiegh. Bull. Soc. Bot. France 43: 182. 1896. 



Type from " Mesa Chica." 



Stems terete ; leaves oblong or oblong-lanceolate, 3.5 to 5 cm. long, obtuse or 

 rotmded at apex, glabrous ; spikes 1 cm. long, 2 or 3-jointed, the flowers pedi- 

 cellate. 



2. RAZOUMOFSKYA Hoffm. Hort. Mosq. 1808. 



1. Razoumofskya vaginata (H. B. K.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 1:587. 1891. 



Viscum vaginatum H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 3: 445. 1817. 



Aixeuthobium. cryptopodum Engelm. Bost. Journ. Nat. Hist. 6: 214. 1850. 



Arceuthobium vaginatum Eichl. in Mart. Fl. Bras. 5^ 105. 1868. 



Sonora to CoahuiUi, Mexico, and Oaxaca ; type from Cofre de Perote. Western 

 United States. On pines ; reported also on Abies religiosa. 



Plants 6 to 20 cm. high, often forming dense tufts, much brauciied, brownish ; 

 leaves reduced to small scales; flowers spicate. " Ingerto " (Durango). 



Hemsley ^ reports A. campylopodxim Engelm. from Orizaba and A. oxyccdri 

 Bieb. from Veracruz and Oaxaca. It may be that more than one species is 

 represented in the material examined* by the writer, but there are no readily 

 apparent characters for their separation, 



3. PHORADENDRON Nutt. Journ. Acad. Phila. II. 1: 185. 1847. 



Reference : Trelease, The genus Phoradendron, pp. 1-124, pi. 1-245. 1916. 



Branches terete, angulate, or compressed ; leaves opposite, sometimes reduced 

 to scales ; flowers usually dioecious, sessile or immersed in the rachis of a 

 spike. 



Mistletoe plants are much used in the United States for Christmas decora- 

 tions, and on this account are of some commercial importance. The American 

 mistletoes are different from the true mistletoe of Europe, Viscum album L., but 

 some of them are similar to it in general appearance. The Spanish names 

 applied to the European mistletoe are " muerdago," " liga," and " visco," v»'ords 

 adopted in Spanish America for the native plants of the same family. The 

 species of Phoradendron often occur upon trees in such abundance as ultimately 

 to kill them. The fruit of some species has been reported as poisonous, but that 

 of other species is said to be edible. The species apparently are little used 

 in domestic medicine. The Coahuilla Indians of southern California are said 

 to use the dried and powdered stems of one species (growing on Juniperus) as 

 a remedy for saddle sores on horses. Ramirez gives the names applied to 

 various species of doubtful identification as " cabellera," " liga," " visco cuer- 

 cino," and " chachahua." 



Stems with scales near the base of the branches ; leaves always developed. 



Scales present on all the joints 1. P. piperoides. 



Scales present only on the basal joints of the branches. 



Leaves pinnately nerved, oval or oblong-oval 2. P. oliverianum. 



Leaves palmately nerved. 



Flowers mostly 2-ranked on each joint. 

 Stems quadrangular. 

 Fruit not tuberculate ; leaves twice as long as broad_3. P. townsendi. 

 Fruit tuberculate ; leaves nearly as broad as long__4. P. yucatanum. 

 Stems not quadrangular. 



Spikes filiform ; branchlets compres.^ed 5. P. wawrae. 



Spikes stout; branchlets subterete 6. P. vernicosum. 



'Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 83^. 1882. 



