394 CONTRIBUTIOISrS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



construction purposes, for fence posts, and for fuel. The bark yields a yellow 

 dye, and is much used for tanning skins ; it is used in domestic medicine, also, 

 because of its astringent properties. The gum exuding from the trunk is trans- 

 parent and deep reddish brown ; dissolved in water it makes good mucilage. 

 The flowers are much frequented by bees and yield a good quality of honey. 

 The fruit is highly esteemed in Mexico and is a common article in the markets. 

 The acidulous aril surrounding the seeds is eaten and is used in the preparation 

 of a beverage similar to lemonade. Stock of all kinds are fond of the pods, and 

 in India monkeys are said to eat them greedily. 



The tree is treated by Hernandez * in a chapter entitled " De Coaca machalU, 

 sen Maxilla Colubri." This name ("snake-jaws"), he states, is given because 

 tlie pair of leaflets somewhat resemble the jaws of a snake. " The leaves," he 

 says, " applied as plasters, allay pain, even those of venereal sores, and relieve 

 convulsions. In flavor they are astringent, sweet, and somewhat glutinous, and 

 in temper to a certain extent cold, or moderately warm." The tree is treated 

 on page 94 of the same work, in a chapter headed " De Quamochitl, seu arbore 

 fructus crepitantis." In this account he states that the root bark is good for 

 dysentery ; the leaves, with salt, cure indigestion, and also produce abortion ; 

 the juice of the seeds, sniffed into the nose, draws off humors from the head ; 

 and the pulverized seeds (especially if mixed with rue) cleanse internal ulcers. 



5. Pithecollobium ung'uis-cati (L.) Mart. Hort. Monac 188. 1829. 

 Mimosa unguis-cati L. Sp. PI. 517. 1753. 



Chiefly in coastal thickets, Tamaulipas to YucatSn ; Sinaloa. West Indies ; 

 northern South America ; type from Jamaica. 



Shrub or small tree, sometimes 9 meters high, with a trunk 30 cm. in diame- 

 ter, very spiny, the bark reddish brown or gray, shallowly fissured ; leaves more 

 or less persistent, the pinnae one pair, the leaflets one pair, obliquely obovate or 

 oval, 2 to 4 cm, long ; flowers greenish yellow, sweet-scented, the long stamens 

 purplish ; fruit 8 to 12 cm. long, 0.6 to 1.2 cm. wide, twisted, reddish brown ; 

 seeds dark brown or blackish, surrounded by a red aril ; wood very hard, close- 

 grained, red or purple, with yellow sapwood, its specific gravity about 0.90. 

 "Tzim-ch§," "tzin-ch€" (YucatSn, Maya, Seler) ; " espino de playa " (Nica- 

 ragua); "espinuelo" (Venezuela); " dinde " (Colombia); " manca montero " 

 (Cuba) ; "una de gato" (Nicaragua, Cuba, Porto Rico) ; "rolon" (Porto Rico). 



The English names applied to the plant are " cat's-claw," " black-bead." and 

 " bread-and-cheeses." 



The bark is astringent, and diuretic and tonic properties are ascribed to it ; 

 it has been used for fevers and kidney diseases as well as for treating sores. 

 Barham reports that the plant was much used in Jamaica in domestic medicine, 

 and that it was " a sovereign remedy for the stone and gravel," as well as for 

 affections of the liver and spleen. The Spaniards, he relates, said that the 

 black seeds resembled the kidneys and the white aril the fat surrounding those 

 organs, hence, by the doctrine of signatures, the belief that the plant was a 

 remedy for kidney affections. The fruit is said to be rich in tannin and to 

 yield a yellow dye. 



6. Pithecollobium. furcatum Benth. Lond. Journ, Bot. 5: 106. 1846. 



Known only from the type locality, on the banks of the Rio Teapa, Tabasco. 

 Plants glabrate; pinnae one pair, the leaflets one pair, obliquely obovate- 

 oblong, 7.5 to 10 cm. long, obtuse-acuminate. 



7. Pithecollobium cognatum (Srhleeht.) B(Mith. Lond. .Tourn. Bot. 5: 107. 1846. 

 Inga cognata Schlecht. Linnaea 12: 560. 1838. 



* Thesaurus 90. 1651. 



