238 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



2. SCHOEPFIA Sclu-eb. Gen. PI. 129. 1789. 



Glabrous shrubs or small trees ; leaves coriaceous ; flowers in short axillary 

 racerues. or solitary or fasciculate in the leaf axils; calyx small, cuplike, ob- 

 scurely denticulate; corolla 4 to 6-lobed. 



Leaf blades narrowly oblanceolate or rarely obovate 1. S. californica. 



Leaf blades lanceolate to broadly ovate. 

 Perianth about 3 mm. long, the lobes nearly as long as the tube. 



2. S. angulata. 

 Perianth 4 to 6 mm. long, the lobes much shorter than the tube. 



Perianth 5-parted 3. S. mexicana. 



Perianth 4-parted. 



Perianth 4 to 5 mm. long, the lobes half as long as the tube or longer ; 



leaves mostly 1.8 to 3.5 cm. wide 4. S. schreberi. 



Perianth 6 to 7 mm. long, the lobes one-third as long as the tube or 

 shorter; leaves scarcely more than 1 cm. wide 5. S. parvifolia. 



1. Schoepfia californica T. S. Brandeg. Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 2: 139. 1889. 

 Southern Ba.ja California ; type from San Gregorio. 



Shrub or small tree, 2 to 6 meters high, with stiff divaricate branches, the 

 older branches whitish ; leaves glaucous, puberulent ; flowers reddish yellow ; 

 fruit oval, 6 mm. long. 



2. Schoepfia angulata Planch. ; Henisl. Diag. PI. Mex. 5. 1878. 

 Veracruz ; type from Zacuapan. 



Shrub, nearly glabrous ; leaves lanceolate or ovate, 2.5 to 5 cm. long, bright 

 green ; flowers small, yellow. 



3. Schoepfia mexicana A. DC. in DC. Prodr. 14: 622. 1856. 

 Known only from the type locality. Tlacolula, Oaxaca. 

 Leaves ovate or ovate-elliptic, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, obtuse. 



4. Schoepfia schreberi Gmel. Syst. Veg. 2: 376. 1791. 



San Luis Potosi and Veracruz to Colima and Yucatan. Central America. 

 West Indies, and northern South America. 



Shrub or tree, 1.3 to 6.5 meters higji ; leaves broadly ovate, obtuse or acute, 

 bright green ; flowers yellow or greenish. 



5. Schoepfia parvifolia Planch. ; Henisl. Diag. PI. Mex. 5. 1878. 

 Sinaloa to Oaxaca. 



Glabrous shrub or tree, sometimes 7 meters high, with a trunk 40 cm. in 

 diameter, the branches stiff, gray ; leaves ovate or oval, 2 to 3 cm. long, obtuse, 

 bright green. "Palo fierro." " tecolotillo " (Sinaloa). 



The wood is said to be heavy and blackish, and to be valued for carpenter 

 work. 



30. ARISTOLOCHIACEAE. Birthwort Family. 



1. ARISTOLOCHIA L. Sp. PI. 960. 1753. 



Reference: Duchartre in DC. Prodr. 15^:432-498. 1864. 



Erect or usually scandent plants ; leaves alternate, entire or lobate ; inflor- 

 escence axillary (sometimes borne at the base of the plant), the peduncles 1- 

 flowered and solitary, fasciculate, or racemose, the perianth very variable in 

 form ; fruit a capsnile. 



It is difficult to determine from herbarium specimens or descriptions which 

 species are fruticose and which herbaceous ; perhaps other species should be 

 included and some of those in the present list excluded. A number of herbaceoua 

 species occur in Mexico. 



The species are highly valued in tropical America as a remedy for snake bites. 

 Whether they have any real value for this purpose is uncertain. The Nahuatl 



