350 CONTRlBUTIOiSrS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



I.arge scandent shrub ; leaflets mostly oblong and 2 to 4 cm. long ; flowers 

 small, greenish, in dense spikes ; fruit 5 to 6 cm. wide. " Bejuco de amole " 

 (Guerrero, Tabasco) ; "bejuco de mondongo " (Tabasco, Rovirosa) ; " haba de 

 la costa," "bejuco de panune," "bejuco de estribo " (Oaxaca, Reko) ; "bejuco 

 de hierro " (Nicaragua); " guiamol " (El Salvador); " parra rosa " (Costa 

 Rica) ; "bejuco de garza " (Colombia). 



The tough stems are used as cordage. When macerated in water they are 

 said to afford a substitute for soap. In Trinidad the roots are employed as 

 a remedy for venereal diseases. 



Entada scandens (L.) Benth. is reported from Tabasco, where it is said 

 to be linown as " haba," " haba de la costa," and " tacalote." The vvriter has 

 seen no Mexican specimens, and it may be that the plant so referred to is 

 really E. polystachia. E. scandens is distinguished by its much larger fruit and 

 enormous seeds (these 5 to 6 cm. broad). 



2. PROSOPIS L. Mant. PI. 1: 10. 1767. 

 Spiny shrubs or trees; leaves bipinnate, the pinnae usually 1 or 2 pairs, the 

 leaflets small and numerous; flowers small, spicate or capitate; fruit inde- 

 hiscent, linear, sometimes constricted between the seeds, in some species 

 spirally coiled. 



The first two species, with spirally coiled fruit, are sometimes referred to a 

 separate genus, Strombocarpa. 

 Fruit spirally coiled ; flowers spicate or capitate. 



Flowers capitate 1. P. cinerascens. 



Flowers spicate 2. P. pubescens. 



Fruit not coiled ; flowers spicate. 



Corolla dentate; fruit 7..5 cm. long or shorter 3. P. palmeri. 



Corolla deeply lobate; fruit usually much longer. 



Leaflets commonly rounded at apex, broad in proportion to tlieir length. 



Leaflets glabrous, often ciliolate; fruit usually glabrous 4. P. julifl^ora. 



Leaflets puberulent ; fruit usually puberulent 4a. P. juliflora velutina. 



Leaflets usually acutish at apex, linear, often very long. 



4b. P. juliflora g'landulosa. 



1. Prosopis cinerascens A. Gray; Benth. Trans. Linn. Soc. Bot. 30:381. 1875. 

 Strombocarpa cinerascens A. Gray, PI. Wright. 1: fil. 1852. 



Tamaulipas and Nuevo Leon; type from Azulfrorn, Nue^■o Leon. Southwest- 

 em Texas. 



Shrub, about 30 cm. high, armed witli long slender spines, pubescent; leaf- 

 lets 8 to 12 pairs, oblong, 1.5 to 3 mm. long ; fruit 1.5 to 4 cm. long. 



2. Prosopis pubescens Benth. Lond. Journ. Bot. 5: 82. 1846. 

 Htroinhocarpa piihcscens A. Gniy, PI. .Wright, 1: GO. 1852. 



Northern Baja California, Sonora. and Chihuahuji. chiefly in alluvial soil of 

 river valleys. Southern California to western Texas ; type from California. 



Shrub or tree, sometimes 10 meters high, with a trunk 30 cm. in diameter, 

 tbe bark brownish^ separating into thin flakes; spines stout, whitish; leaves 

 deciduous, the leaflets 1 cm. long or shorter, pubescent ; flowers greenish, the 

 spikes 5 to 8 cm. long; fruit 3 to 5 cm. long, yellowish; wood very hard, brittle, 

 close-grained, light brown, its specific gravity about 0.76. Known generally 

 as " tornillo." 



The screwpod mesquite is oftcni abundant in river valleys, forming dense 

 thickets of considerable extent. The wood is very durable and is used for 

 fence posts, tool handles, etc., juid in the Kid Grande V.-illey it is iin important 

 source of fuel. The fruits are edible like those of P. juliflora, and are used in 



