STANDEE Y TKEES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 351 



much the same way. They are so sweet that they can be eaten as picked, 

 without any special preparation. The Indians of the Colorado River region 

 obtained a fermented drinli from tlie pods, and by boiling, them they prepared 

 a sirup. The Pimas of Arizona cooked the poods in a pit lined with the stems 

 of Tessaria borealts, alternating them with layers of cocklebur {Xanthium 

 sp.) leaves. The pit was covered with earth and left three or four days 

 before being opened. The pods were tlien* spread in the sun, dried, and stored. 

 Later they were pounded into a fine flour, which was eaten *in the form of 

 pin<»le. The Pimas also used a decoction of the root bark as a dressing for 

 wounds, and as the wound healed the dried and pulverized bark was substi- 

 tutetl. 



3. Prosopis palmeri S. Wats-. Proc. Amer. Acad. 24:48. 1889. 

 Baja California ; type from ^lulege. 



Shrub or tree, sometimes 7.5 meters high, with spreading crown; bark rough, 

 splitting off in long strips; leaflets 4 to 7 mm. long; flowers bright yellow, frag- 

 rant ; fruit almost terete at maturity, puberulent. " Palo de hierro." 



4. Prosopis juliflora (Swartz) DC. Prodr. 2: 447. 1825. 

 Mimosa juliflora Swartz. Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 85. 1788. 

 Mimosa rotund ai a Sesse & IMoc. PI. Nov. Hisp. 178. 1887. 



Nearly throughout Mexico. West Indies-, the type from Jamaica ; Central 

 America ; widely distributed in South America ; naturalized in Hawaii and tHe 

 Philippine Islands. 



Shrub or tree, sometimes 12 meters high with a trunk 1.2 meters in diameter, 

 the bark thick, brown or blackish, shallowly fissured; leaflets mostly 5 to 10 

 ram. long, linear-oblong ; flowers greenish yellow, s^\'eet-scented ; fruit mostly 10 

 to 20 cm. long, about 1 cm. wide, strongly compressed when young but thick at 

 maturity, brown or yellowish ; wood hard, clost^grained, dark red or brown, 

 with yellow sapwood, its specific gravity about 0.76. Known generally as " mez- 

 quite" (from the Xahuatl "m'zquitl"), but the following additional names are 

 reported: " Guisache " (Michoacan, Guerrero); " chiicata " (Michoaean. Taras- 

 can) ; " tziritzequa " (Michoacan, Ramirez); " algarroba " (Colima, and in 

 many other regions) ; " mezquite bianco," " mezquite amarillo," " niezquite Colo- 

 rado," " chachaca " {Alcocer) ; " manca-caballo " (Panama) ; "acacia de Cata- 

 rina " (Nicaragua) ; "aroma" (Philippines) ; " mezquite chino " (Tamaulipas) ; 

 " mezquicopal " (the gum, Robelo, from the Nahuatl mizqui-copalH) ; " ttahi " 

 (Otoml, BueJna) . 



One of the best-known plants of Mexico and of the ar'd regions of the United 

 States ; in Mexico often planted as a shade tree. In the more arid regions the 

 mesquite is usually a shrub, and it is only when fairly well supplied with water 

 that it becomes a tree. It thrives best in river valleys, where it attains the 

 greatest size, but on plains and mesas it is often abundant, frequently, indeed, 

 being the most characteristic plant for many miles, and forming thickets or for- 

 ests. The smaller trees are strikingly suggestive of peach trees, for which they 

 are of ten 'mistaken by inexperienced eastern travellers viewing them for the 

 first time from the train as they cross the State of Texas. The larger individuals 

 are much like apple trees in habit. The wood is valuable for many purposes, 

 such as railroad ties, carts, fence posts, charcoal, fuel, etc. In Texas it has been 

 used for paving blocks for streets. The wood and bark are employed for tan- 

 ning. In the northern part of its range the shrubby form develops enormous 

 underground stems (known in Chihuahua as "cepas") which, in many places 

 are the most important source of fuel. They requ're a great amount of labor to 

 remove them from the earth, but they form excellent firewood. The smaller 

 roots penetrate the soil to a great depth, sometimes, it is said, for as much as 15 



