STANDLEY TEEES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 353 



Berlandier^ once applied (but without technical description) the name Mi- 

 mosa " pseudo-echinus " to this species, because of the resemblance of the leaves 

 to those of " Echinus MoUe," the " arbol del Perti." The latter Latin name, of 

 course, is a typographical (?) error for Schinns molle. 

 4a. Prosopis juliflora velutina (Wooton) Sarg. Silv. N. Amer. 13: 15. 1902. 



Prosopis odorata Torr. in Frem. Rep. Exped. Rocky Mount. 313. 1843. 



Prosopis articulata S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 24: 48. 1889. 



Prosopis velutina Wooton, Bull. Torrey Club 25: 456. 1898. 



Sonora and Baja California to IMichoacan. Arizona (type locality). 



Shrub or often a tree, 2 to 6 meters high or larger. " Mezquite." 



This form is usually distinguishable from the typical juliflora by the small 

 pubescent leaflets. There are so many intermediate specimens, however, es- 

 pecially in Mexico, that it is not possible to recognize the form as a species. 

 In case the plant should receive such recognition, the proper name for it is 

 Prosopis odorata Torr. That name was based upon a flowering specimen of 

 the present plant and fruit of P. puhescetis, and for that reason has been 

 discarded by most writers. Taking into consideration the specific name, 

 "odorata," it seems reasonable to typify the name by the flowering specimen. 



Prosopis articulata was based upon a form in which the pods are strongly 

 constricted between the seeds. Specimens examined show great variation in 

 this respect, the prominence of the constrictions being dependent, apparently, 

 upon the amount of fleshy matter developed in the valves. 

 4b. Prosopis juliflora glandulosa (Torr.) Cockerell, N. Mex. Agr. Expt. Sta. 

 Bull. 15: 58. 1895. 



Prosopis glandulosa Torr. Ann. Lye. N. Y. 2< 192. 1828. 



Baja California to Tamaulipas, Veracruz, and Yucatan. Louisiana to south- 

 ern California ; type from New Mexico. 



Shrub or tree, either with a well developed trunk or without one. " Mez- 

 quite." 



If the material from the West Indies and the United States were studied 

 without reference to that from Mexico, as has been done, apparently, by 

 recent writers, Prosopis glandulosa might well be considered a distinct species. 

 In Mexico so many intergrading plants occur that it can not be regarded as 

 more than a form of P. juliflora. The leaflets are usually glabrous, but often 

 they are quite as pubescent as in P. juliflora velutina. Specimens from Peru 

 and Argentina are so like the plant of the United States that if they were 

 labeled as coming from the latter country no one would question their determin- 

 nation as P. glandulosa. 



3. NEPTUNIA Lour. Fl. Cochinch. 653. 1790. 



Low shrubs or herbs, unarmed ; leaves bipinnate, the leaflets small, numer- 

 ous, the stipules persLstent ; flowers small, capitate or in short oblong spikes ; 

 fruit short and broad, flat. 



Neptunia oleracea Lour., an aquatic herbaceous species, has been collected 

 in Tabasco. 



Fruit about 15 mm. wide; plants pubescent 1. N. pubescens. 



Fruit 8 mm. wide or narrower; plants glabrous 2. N. plena. 



1. Neptunia pubescens Benth. in Hook. .Tourn. Bot. 4: 356. 1842. 



Coahuila. Western Texas ; South America, the type from Peru. 



Low suffrutescent plant ; pinnae 2 or 3 pairs, the leaflets 15 to 35 pairs, 

 oblong, about 6 mm. long; fruit 2 to 2.5 cm. long. 

 » 



^ Diario de viage de la Comissi6n de LImites, p. 177. 1850. 



