288 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



5. Litsea parvifolia (Hemsl.) Mez, Jahrb. Bot. Gart. Mus. Berlin 5: 4S1. 1889. 

 Vmbellularia parvifolia Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Anier. Bot. 3: 77. 1882. 

 Coahuila and perhaps elsewhere. 



Shrub ; leaves 1.3 to 4 cm. long, green above, pale beneath. 



6. liitsea novoleontis Bartlett, Proc. Amer. Aead. 44: 601. 1909. 



Nuevo Le6u and San Luis Potosi; type from the Sierra Madre near Mon- 

 terrey. 



Shrub, 1 to 5 meters high ; leaves ovate or lance-ovate, 2.5 to 5.5 cm. long ; 

 fruit black. "Laurel" (San Luis Potosi). 



Tea made from the leaves is used as a beverage, with the addition of sugar 

 and milk. It is used also for asthma and to induce perspiration. 



7. Litsea glaucescens H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 2: 168. 1817. 

 Litsea cervantesii H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 2: 168. 1817. 

 Tetranthera glaucescens subsolitaria Meissn. in DC. Prodr. 15 *: 193. 1864. 

 Litsea glaucescens suhsolitaria Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 3: 76. 1882. 

 Tamaulipas to A^eracruz, Chiapas, and Tepic; type from Acapulco. Central 



America. 



Tree or shrub, sometimes 6 meters high ; leaves ovate or lanceolate, 5 to 8 

 cm. long, acute or attenuate, petiolate, glaucous or green beneath. " Laurel " 

 (Oaxaca, Veracruz, Chiapas, Guatemala, etc.); " sufricaya " or " suf ricago " 

 (Veracruz, etc.); "ziz-uch" (Chiapas, Seler). 



A tea made from the leaves is used as a beverage, as in the other species, also 

 for colic, etc. L. glaucescens suhsolitaria is a form with solitary or fasciculate 

 (rather than corymbose) inflorescences. 



8. Litsea schaffneri Bartlett, Proc. Amer. Acad. 44 : 601. 1909. 



San Luis Potosi and Guanajuato; type from San Miguelito Mountains, San 

 Luis Potosi. 



Shrub 2 to 3 meters high ; leaves narrowly lanceolate, 2 to 5 cm. long, acute. 

 "Laurel" (San Luis Potosi). 



2. UMBELLULARIA Nutt. N. Amer. Sylv. 1: 87. 1842. 

 1, TJmbellularia calif ornica (Hook. & Arn.) Nutt. N. Amer. Sylv. 1: 87. 1842. 



Tetranthej-a calif ornica Hook. & Arn. Bot. Beechey Voy. 159. 1833. 



Probably in northern Baja California, although no specimens from the Mex- 

 ican side of the Boundary have been seen. California. 



Shrub or tree, sometimes 30 meters high, with a trunk 1.6 meters in diam- 

 eter, the bark scaly, brown ; leaves oblong-lanceolate, 5 to 14 cm. long, acute ; 

 flowers yellow ; fruit yellowish, 2 to 3 cm. long ; wood light brown, strong, hard, 

 its specific gravity about 0.65. 



The fruit was eaten by the California Indians, and the leaves are some- 

 times used for seasoning food. The wood is used for furniture, boats, etc. 



3. PERSEA Gaertn. f. Fruet. & Sem. 3: 222. 1805. 



References : Blake, A preliminary revision of the North American and 

 West Indian avocados, Journ. Washington Acad. Sci. 10: 9-21. 1920; Popenoe, 

 in Bailey. Stand. Cycl. Hort. 436-438, 2555-2556. 1914-16; G. N. Collins, The 

 avocado, a salad fruit from the tropics, U. S. Dept. Agr. Bur. PI. Ind. Bull. 77. 

 1905. 



Usually trees ; flowers in axillary or subterminal, pedunculate panicles ; 

 perianth 6-lobed, the 3 outer lobes often smaller than the inner ones ; perfect 

 stamens 9, those of the first and second series eglandular, those of the third 

 series with a gland on each side at the base; anthers extrorsely 4-celled ; fruit 

 small or often very large. 



Species nos. 5 to 9 are referred by some authors to a separate genus, Notha- 

 phoehe. 



