STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 237 



1. XIMENIA' L. Sp. PI. 1193. 1793. 

 Shrubs or small trees, sometimes with spinose branchlets ; leaves subcori- 

 aceous ; flowers whitish, solitary or in small axillary cymes ; calyx 4 or 5-den- 

 tate ; corolla 4 or S-lobed. 



Leaves and outer surface of the petals densely pubescent 1. X. pubescens. 



Leaves and outer surface of the petals glabrous. 



Petioles 4 to 10 mm. long; leaves mostly 1.5 to 3.5 cm. wide; petals 7 to 10 



mm. long, densely long-barbate within 2. X. americana. 



Petioles 3 mm. long or shorter ; leaves 0.6 to 1.5 cm. wide ; petals 5 to 6 mm. 

 long, short barbate 3. X. parviflora. 



1. Ximenia pubescens Standi. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 20: 212. 1919. 



Known only from the type locality, between Mixtepec and Colotepec, Oaxaca. 

 Spiny shrub, the leaves small, mostly orbicular. 



2. Ximenia americana L. Sp. PL 1193. 1753. 



Veracruz to Colima, Cliiapas, and Yucatan. Florida, West Indies, Central 

 America, South America, and in the tropics of the Old World. 



Spiny shrub or small tree, in some parts of its range 6 meters high ; bark 

 smooth, reddish, very astringent ; leaves oblong or elliptic, 3 to 7 cm. long, 

 pale beneath, roundetl at apex; flowers yellowish white, fragrant; fruit yellow, 

 subglobose, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter, with peculiar odor and acid flavor ; wood 

 hard, tough, close-grained, yellow, its specific gravity about 0.92. " Xkuk-ch§ " 

 (Yucatan, Maya); " pepe nance" (El Salvador); " chocomico " (Nicaragua); 

 " limoncillo " (Colombia); " yanS," " jia manzanilla," " ciruelo cimarron," 

 " ciruelillo " (Cuba); "manzanilla" (Guatemala, Honduras); " albarillo del 

 campo " (Argentina). 



The fruit, which resembles a plum in appearance, is edible, either raw or 

 cooked. It is stated that oil has been extracted from the seeds in Brazil. The 

 fruit is said to have purgative properties, and Grosourdy states that a sirup 

 made from it is used in the West Indies for dropsy, rheumatism, etc. The 

 plant is seldom large enough to furnish wood of importance, but the wood has 

 sometimes been employed as a substitute for sandalwood {Sa^italum), which 

 it somewhat resembles. In Florida and the British West Indies this species 

 is known under various names, such as " hog plum," " tallow-wood," " moun- 

 tain plum," " false sandalwood," and " wild olive." 



3. Ximenia parviflora Benth. PL Hartw. 7. 1839. 



San Luis Potosi to Siualoa and Oaxaca; type from Leon, Guanajuato. 



Spiny shrub, 1 to 2 meters high, with angled branches, the lower ones long 

 and slender ; leaves oblong or obovate ; fruit globose, yellow. " Ciruelillo " 

 (Guanajuato). 



The fruit is edible. 



^ The genus was named in honor of Francisco Ximenez, a native of Luna in 

 the Kingdom of Aragon. In the early years of his life he was a soldier, and in 

 1605 he came to New Spain. He became a lay brother of the Convento de 

 Santo Domingo de Mexico February 25, 1612. The date of his death is not 

 known. In 1815 there was published in the City of Mexico under his author- 

 ship a volume entitled " Quatro libros de la naturaleza y virtudes de las plantas, 

 y animales que esbiln receuidos en el uso de medicina en la Nueva Espaiia, y la 

 methodo, y correcci6n, y preparacion, que para administrarlas se requiere con lo 

 que el Doctos Francisco Hernandez escriuio en lengua Latina." This was re- 

 printed at Morelia in 1888. Xinienez's work is not a mere translation of Her- 

 nandez, but contains much original information upon Mexican plants. 



