352 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



to 23 meters. The Seri Indians of Tibur6n Island use the root fiber for cordage, 

 wetting the roots in water, and sometimes they manufacture a coarse fabric 

 from the liber. The wood of tlie roots is very hard, and the Pima of Arizona 

 employed it for their war clubs and for plows. 



The gum which exudes from the trunk (" goma de mezquite," " goma del pals," 

 " mizquicopalli ") is amber-colored and translucent, similar to gum arable, for 

 which it is often substituted in Mexico. Dissolved in water it makes excellent 

 mucilage, and lis infusion is used for dysentery and as a gargle for throat affec- 

 tions ; by the Pimas a solution of it was used for treating sore eyes and open 

 wounds. It is sometimes employed in making candy. The flowers are much 

 frequented by bees, and yield a good grade of light-colored honey. The Pima 

 Indians sometimes eat the flower spikes, stripping off the flowers between the 

 teeth. The same tribe employs the inner bark of the mesquite as a s'ubstitute for 

 rennet, and a decoction of it as an emetic and cathartic. 



The pods are, perhaps, the most important part of the plant. When chewed 

 they are sweet, for they contain much sugar, the pulp being composed of 25 to 

 30 per cent of grape sugar. They are eaten by stock of all kinds and where the 

 plants are abundant are important for forage. In Hawaii, where the mesquite 

 is naturalized, the fruits have become an article of some commercial importance 

 because of their use for stock feed. They are gathered in large quantities and 

 ground into meal. It is of interest to note that in the early days of the Spanish 

 occupation, when ships traded regularly every year between Acapulco and 

 Manila, the mesquite was introduced into the Philippines and has now become 

 naturalized there. It was even described from that country as a new species, 

 Frosopis vidaliana Naves. The pods have long been an article of human food 

 in North America, and are still so used to some extent, especially by the Indians. 

 Among some of the tribes, as with the Pimas, they were the chief food staple. 

 They are ground into a meal from which the seeds and coarser parts of the 

 pods are removed. The Apaches and other tribes often made use of holes or 

 depressions in the rocks as a mortar for grinding the pods, and these holes are 

 now of common occurrence in the mountains where mesquite plants are found. 

 The meal is made into cakes (known in Mexico as " mezquitamales ") which are 

 baked, or it is mixed with water to form a beverage known as " mezquitatole." 

 The meal is also mixed with water and fermented to make a kind of beer. 



The mesquite is discussed by Sahagun under the name " mizquitl." " From 

 the bark," he writes, " they prepare a drink which takes the place of pulque," 

 a statement whose accuracy is questionable. He reports that the juice of the 

 leaves and young shoots is dropped into the eyes to relieve affections of those 

 organs. Hernandez ' also treats of the plant in a chapter entitled " De Misquitl, 

 seu Siliqua Aeatiae." He states that the Chichimec Indians make cakes from 

 the pods, and, incorrectly of course, that the tree " is the true Acacia of the 

 ancients, which furnishes Gum Arabic." The tree is mentioned also by Clavi- 

 gero (Historia de California, 1789), who says, but doubtless erroneously, that 

 it is introduced in that region. He also mentions the use of the juice for the 

 relief of eye affections (a practice still followed in Mexico to the present day), 

 and he reports that the CochimI name of the plant is " guatrd." 



Frosopis juliflora is a variable species, but there seems to be no s-atisfactory 

 basis for separation of the forms. Some of the Mexican material exactly matches 

 that from Jamaica, but many specimens approach the two following forms. It 

 may be mentioned, incidentally, that the early writers state that the mesquite 

 of .lamaica is not a native plant, but was introduced in early days, very probably 

 from Mexico. 



Thesaurus 59. 1651. A figure is given on page 455. 



