328 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



5. Cercocarpus rotundifolius Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 22: 421. 1913. 



Baja California ; common in canyons at 1,440 to 1,700 meters. Southern 

 California ; type from Los Angeles County. 



Shrub, 3 to 5.5 meters high, with dark branches, sometimes forming dense 

 thickets ; leaves rounded-oval or suborbicular, 1 to 3 cm. long ; tails of the fruit 

 6 to 7 cm. long. 



6. Cercocarpus betuloides Nutt. ; Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 1: 427. 1840. 

 Northern Baja California. California ; type from Santa Barbara. 



Shrub or tree, 3 to 10 meters high, the trunk sometimes 25 cm. in diameter; 

 bark thin, separating into irregular scales ; leaves oval or obovate, 1.5 to 5 cm. 

 long; wood close-grained, reddish brown, its specific gravity about 0.93. 



The wood is sometimes used for tool handles, and is useful for fuel. 



7. Cercocarpus eximius (C. Schneid.) Rydb. N. Amer. Fl. 22: 422. 1913. 

 Cercocarpus 'breviilorus eximius C, Schneid. Handb. Laubh. 1: 530. 1905. 

 Dry rocky hillsides. Chihuahua and Sonora. Arizona and New Mexico; 



type from Capitan Mountains, New Mexico. 



Shrub or small tree, 1 to 7 meters high, the trunk sometimes 20 cm. in 

 diameter, with very hard wood ; bark thin, scaly ; leaves obovate or elliptic, 

 rounded at the apex ; tails of the fruit 4 to 5 cm. long. 



8. Cercocarpus paucidentatus (S. Wats.) Britton, Trans. N. Y. Acad. 14: 



31. 1894. 

 Cercocarpus parvifolius paucidentatus S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 17: 



353. 1882. 

 Cercocarpus treleasei C. Schneid. Handb. Laubh. 1: 530. 1905. 

 San Luis Potosi to Hidalgo ; type from San Miguelito, San Luis Potosi. 

 Shrub with gray bark; leaves 5 to 10 mm. long; tails of the fruit about 3 

 cm. long. 



9. Cercocarpus breviflorus A. Gray, PL Wright. 2: 54. 1853. 



Chihuahua, Coahuila, and Sonora; type from Fronteras, Sonora. Arizona 

 to western Texas. 



Shrub, 1 to 2 meters high, with dark gray, fissured bark ; leaves elliptic, 

 acute, 8 to 15 mm. long. 



11. RUBUS L. Sp. PI. 492. 1753. 



Erect, prostrate, or scandent shrubs, usually armed with prickles or bristles; 

 leaves persistent or deciduous, petiolate, simple or palmately or pinnately 

 compound ; ffowers usually racemose or paniculate, large and showy ; fruit 

 of numerous small juicy drupes, these united and falling off like a cap or 

 sometimes united to the receptacle, rarely falling off separately. 



The genus contains the cultivated blackberries (" zarzamoras "), dewberries, 

 and raspberries (" frambuesas "), some of which are grown in Mexico, although 

 not very extensively. The native species are known in Mexico as " zarzamora " ; 

 the Tarascan name is said to be " situni " ; the name " coatlamitl " ^ is reported 

 from tlie Valley of Mexico. The fruit of all the native .species is edible, and 

 is used extensivelj' in Mexico. 



The root bark of the wild blackberries is official in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. 

 The decoction has long been a favorite domestic astringent remedy for di- 

 arrhoea. 



'The name should probably be " coatlantli " ("serpent's tooth"). The 

 Nahuatl name for the fruit is " coatlanxocotl." 



