STANDEE Y TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 261 



Mature fruit 7 to 10 nun. thick 1. P. macranthocarpa. 



Mature fruit 3 to 4 mm. tliiclv. 



Staminate flowers yellowish green, in loose open cymes 2.5 to 6 cm. hroad. 



2. P. aculeata. 



Staminate flowers dark red, in compact headlike cymes 1 to 2.2 cm. broad. 



Leaf blades acute or acutish, obovate or oblong-obovate, nearly glabrous; 



spines straight 3. P. flavescens. 



Leaf blades rounded or obtuse at apex, orbicular or rounded-obovate, 

 densely pubescent; spines usually recurved 4. P. capitata. 



1. Pisonia macraftthocarpa Donn. Smith, Bot. Gaz. 20: 293. 1895. 

 Pisonia aculeata macranthocarpa Donn. Smith, Bot. Gaz. 16: 198. 1891. 

 Chiapas. Central America, Venezuela, and Cuba ; type from Escuintla, 



Guatemala. 



Shrub or small tree with reddish brown branches, armed with few, usually 

 straight spines ; leaves elliptic to broadly oval ; flowers greenish yellow ; fruit 

 1 to 2 cm. long. 



2. Pisonia aculeata L. Sp. PI. 1026. 1753. 



Tamaulipas to Sinaloa and southward, chiefly along sea beaches. Southern 

 Florida, West Indies, Central America, tropical South -America, and southern 

 Asia. 



Densely branched shrub, often with a thick trunk, the branches long and 

 drooping or subscaudent, very spiny ; leaves mostly 3 to 10 cm. long, variable 

 in shape ; flowers sweet-scented ; fruit 9 to 12 cm. long. " Beeb " or " hbeeb " 

 (Yucatan, Maya) " garabato " (Durango) ; " garabato prieto," " uiia del diablo " 

 (Michoacan, Guerrero) ; "coma de una" (Tamaulipas) ; "una de gato " (Ta- 

 basco, Cuba, Santo Domingo, Porto Rico) ; " huele de noche " (Oaxaca, Guate- 

 mala) ; " espino y camote" (Oaxaca or Chiapas, Seler) ; " gu-ichi-gu " (Oaxaca, 

 Seler) ; " zarza " (Cuba) ; " escambrSn " (Porto Rico) ; "espino negro" (Nica- 

 ragua ) . 



The branches are said to be used in Jamaica for barrel hoops. A decoction 

 of the leaves and bark is used in Yucatan, Jamaica, and elsewhere for rheu- 

 matism and venereal diseases. The glands of the fruit are extremely viscid, 

 and in herbarium specimens they retain their viscidity indefinitely. The fruits 

 adhere easily to the feathers of birds, sometimes in such abundance as to 

 prevent their flying. 



3. Pisonia flavescens Standi. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 13:389. 1911. • 

 Extreme southern Baja California ; type from San Jose del Cabo. 

 Branches slender, gray; leaves 4 to 6.5 cm. long; fruit about 1 cm. long. 



4. Pisonia capitata (S. AVats.) Standi. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 13: 388. 1911. 

 Cryptocarpus capitatus S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 24: 71. 1889. 



In sandy soil, Sonora to Tepic; type from Guay mas, Sonora. 



Densely branched shrub or small tree, sometimes 5 meters high, branched to 

 the ground or often with a distinct trunk; leaves 2 to 6 cm. long; fruit 7 to 10 

 mm. long. " Bainoro prieto." " vainoro prieto," "garabato prieto" (Sinaloa); 

 " garambullo " (Sonora, Sinaloa). 



A decoction of the fruit is said to be used for fevers. 



4. PISONIELLA (Heimerl) Standi. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 13: 385. 1911. 

 1. Pisoniella arborescens (Lag. & Rodr.) Standi. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 

 13:385. 1911. 

 Boerhaavia arhorcsccns Lag. & Rodr. Anal. Cienc. Nat. 4:257. 1801. 



