326 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



8. COWANIA D. Don, Trans. Linn. Soc. Bot. 14: 574. 1825. 

 Erect shrubs or small trees ; leaves dentate, pinnatifid, or entire, coriaceous, 

 viscid, gland-dotted, the margins usually revolute ; flower solitary; petals 5; 

 stamens numerous ; achenes 1 to 12, each with a long feathery taiL 



Leaves entire 1. C. ericaefolia. 



Leaves dentate or pinnatifid. 



Petals purple or rose; leaves 5 to 9-dentate ; sepals cuspidate-acuminate. 



2. C. plicata. 

 Petals white or yellowish ; leaves 3 or 5-cleft ; sepals rounded at apex. 

 Calyx tube campanulate, abruptly contracted at base; lobes of the leaves 



entire 3. C. mexicana. 



Calyx tube funnelform, gradually narrowed at base; lobes of the leaves 

 cleft or dentate 4. C. stansburiana. 



1. Cowania ericaefolia Torr. ; A. Gray, PI. Wright. 2: 106. 1853. 



Western Texas ; type collected on rocks along the Rio Grande below Presidio 

 del Norte; doubtless also in Chihuahua, although no Mexican specimens have 

 been seen. 



Shrub, 1 meter high or less, with dark brown bark ; leaves linear-subulate, 4 

 to 6 mm. long ; petals white or yellowish, 6 to 8 mm. long. 



2. Cowania plicata D. Don ; Sweet, Brit. Flower Gard. II. pi. JfOO. 1838. 

 Coivnnia purpurea Zucc. Abh. Akad. Wiss. Miinchen 4^: 7. 1845. 

 Greggia rupestris Engelm. in Wisliz. Mem. North. Mex. 114. 1848. 

 Rocky hillsides, Coahuila, San Luis Potosi, Zacatecas, and Guanajuato. 

 Shrub, 0.5 to 2 meters high, with shredded bark ; leaves obovate, 6 to 20 mm. 



long, white-tomentose beneath ; petals 10 to 12 mm. long. 



3. Cowania mexicana D. Don, Trans. Linn. Soc. Bot. 14: 575. 1825. 

 Gcum dryadoklcs DC. ; Seringe in DC. Prodr. 2: 554. 1825. 

 Durango and Guanajuato ; reported from Jalisco. 



Shrub, 1 to 2 meters high, with brownish bark ; leaves usually 3-cleft, 5 to 10 

 mm. long; petals cream-colored, about 8 mm. long. "Romero cedro " (Guana- 

 juato, Jalisco); " chivatillo " (Durango, Patoni) ; " romerillo cimarron " 

 (See^Tiann). 



4. Cowania stansburiana Torr, in Stansb. Expl. Great Salt Lake 386. 1852. 

 Dry hillsides. Chihuahua and Sonora. Colorado to southern California ; 



type from Great Salt Lake, Utah. 



Shrub, 1 to 3.5 meters high, with gray shredded bark ; leaves 8 to 15 mm, 

 long, viscid ; petals white or pale yellow, 8 to 10 mm, long ; tails of the fruit 

 4 to 5 cm. long. 



Before the advent of European races the Indians of Utah and Nevada 

 obtained material for clothing from this shrub. The thin, silky inner bark was 

 removed in strips and woven or braided together. The bark was used also 

 for sandals, ropes, and mats. The Gosiute Indians are said to have used the 

 plant medicinally, but in what manner is not stated, 



9, CHAMAEBATIA Benth. PI, Hartw, 308, 1848, 

 1. Chamaebatia australis (T. S. Brandeg.) Abrams, Bull. Torrey Club 34'. 

 263. 1907, 

 Chamaebatia foUnlosa australis T, S, Brandeg. Bot. Gaz. 27: 447. 1899. 

 Northern Baja California ; type from La Grulla. Southern California. 

 Low shrub, glandular-pubescent, with blackish branches; leaves 3 to 6 cm. 

 long, 2 or 3 times pinnatifid into very numerous minute segments ; flowers 

 white, cymose-paniculate, the 5 petals 4 to 5 nun. long ; stamens numerous. 



