STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 379 



(Nuevo Lefin, Tamaulipas, Jalisco, Quer^taro, Durango, Coahuila, Texas, etc. ; 

 from the Nahuatl huitz-axin) ; " guisache yondiro " (Michoacan, Guerrero); 

 "quisache" (Chiapas); " huisache de la semilla," " huixachin," " uisatsin " 

 (Morelos, Oaxaca, Seler) ; " xkantiriz " (Yucatan, Maya); " matitas " (Rami- 

 rez); "fifiisachi" (Guanajuato, Dugds) ', " bihi " (Oaxaca, Zapotec, Reko) ; 

 " espino " (Oaxaca) ; "aroma" or " aromo " (Yucatan, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, 

 Porto Rico, Colombia, Peru, Philippines, etc.) ; " zubin," " zubin-che " (Yucatan, 

 Maya, Seler); " gabia " or " gavia " (Durango, Patoni) ; " subin " (Honduras 

 Pittier) ; "aroma amarilla " (Cuba); "espino bianco" (Guatemala, El Salva- 

 dor) ; " cachito de aroma " (Nicaragua) ; " cuji " (Venezuela) ; " cuji cimarr6n," 

 "pels," " ufia de cabra " (Colombia); " espinillo " (Argentina, Uruguay). 

 Known in the southern United States as " opoponax." 



In many parts of Mexico the plant is found chiefly about dwellings and 

 seems to be naturalized, but in other regions it appears to be native. The wood 

 is used for many purposes. The bark and fruit contain tannin and are used for 

 tanning and dyeing, and the fruit is often used for making ink. The viscous 

 juice of the pods is employed in some places for mending broken china. The 

 gum which exudes from the trunk is employed locally in making mucilage ; 

 it is very similar to gum arabic. The leaves are of value as forage for stock, 

 especially in winter. In southern Europe the plant is cultivated extensively 

 for the* flowers (known in commerce as cassie flowers), from which perfume 

 is manufactured. As much as 100,000 pounds of them are harvested annually 

 about Grasse, France. In tropical America the flowers are often laid among 

 linen to impart their perfume to it. An ointment made from the flowers is 

 used in Mexico as a remedy for headache, and their infusion for dyspepsia. 

 The green fruit is very astringent, and a decoction is employed for dysentery, 

 inflammation of the skin and mucous membrane, etc. Seler reports even that 

 in San Luis PotosI a decoction of the roots is employed as a supposed remedy 

 for tuberculosis. The pulverized dried leaves are sometimes applied as a dress- 

 ing to wounds. 



This is probably the plant reported from Baja California by Clavigero as 

 " huisache." The pods, he states, were used there for making ink. Cattle, 

 he says, are fond of the tender branches, but these impart a bad flavor to their 

 flesh. 



38. Acacia tortuosa (L.) Willd. Sp. PI. 4: 1083. 1806. 

 Miviosa tortuosa L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 1312. 1759. 

 Prosopis microphvUa H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 6 : 308. 1823. 



Acacia subtortuosa Shafer in Britton, N. Amer. Trees .524. f. 485. 1908. 



Durango to Tamaulipas, Hidalgo, and Colima. Western Texas ; West Indies. 



Shrub or tree, 1 to 6 meters high, the trunk sometimes 15 cm. in diameter; 

 bark deeply fissured, blackish brown ; spines 1 to 2 cm. long, whitish ; pinnae 

 3 or 4 pairs, the leaflets 2 to 4 mm. long; flowers yellow, sweet-scented, the 

 heads about 1 cm. in diameter; fruit reddish brown. "Huisache" (Durango, 

 Aguascalientes) ; "huisache chino" (Jalisco). 



39, Acacia pennatula (Schlecht. & Cham.) Benth. Lond. Journ. Bot. 1: 390. 

 1842. 



Inga pennatula Schlecht. & Cham. Linnaea 5: 593. 1830. 



Sonora to Tamaulipas and Chiapas ; type from Hacienda de la Laguna, 

 Veracruz. Guatemala and Nicaragua. 



Shrub or tree, 3 to 6 meters high, copiously pubescent; spines short and 

 stout; pinnae very numerous, the leaflets crowded, 1 to 2 mm. long; flowers 

 yellow or orange, very fragrant, in rather large heads; fruit 7 to 13 cm. long, 

 compressed, dark brown, with very thick hard valves. " Tepame " (Jalisco); 



