412 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



refrigerant, and an infusion is employed as a beverage in febrile diseases. 

 The supply of the fruit for the United States comes chiefly from the West 

 Indies ; that for Europe from India, the V/est Indies, and Ecuador. For 

 shipment the outer shell is stripped off and the pulp preserved with sugar 

 or syrup. In Madagascar a decoction of the bark is employed for asthma and 

 amenorrhoea, and a decoction of the leaves for intestinal worms and de- 

 rangements of the stomach. 



The tamarind is described at length by Hernandez.* For an illustration of 

 the leaves and fruit see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 9: pi. 66. 



Ceratonia siliqtia L., the carob or St. John's-bread (" algarrobo " '), a native 

 of the Old World, is cultivated at Guaymas, Sonora, and probably elsewhere. 

 It has pinnate leaves with large oval leaflets, and large brown pods containing 

 a thick edible pulp. 



3. POEPPIGIA Presl, Symb. Bot. 1 : 15. 1830. 

 1. Poeppigia procera Presl, Symb. Bot. 1: 16. pi. 8. 1830. 



Guerrero and Oaxaca. Cuba, Central America, and South America. 



Nearly glabrous tree, 4 to 5 meters high, unarmed ; leaves pinnate, the leaflets 

 numerous, linear-oblong, 1 to 2 cm. long, glabrate ; flowers yellow, showy, panicu- 

 late ; fruit flat and thin, narrowly winged on the upper suture, 4 to 9 cm. long, 

 1 to 1.5 em. wide; wood hard, the sapwood white, the heartwood reddish, beauti- 

 fully veined. " Quiebra-hacha," '" bicho " (Oaxaca) ; " tengue," " abey hembra " 

 (Cuba). 



4. CERCIS L. Sp. PI. 374. 1753. 

 1. Cercis canadensis L. Sp. PI. 374. 1753. 



Coahuila to San Luis Potosi. Eastern United States. 



Large shrub or small tree, 3 to 12 meters high, the trunk sometimes 30 cm. 

 thick ; bark smooth, light brown ; leaves deciduous, renlform or ovate-orbicular, 

 5 to 9 cm. wide, glabrous or pubescent beneath ; flowers pink or purplish, clus- 

 tered, appearing before the leaves; fruit flat, thin, 6 to 10 cm. long, 1 to 1.5 cm. 

 wide, bronze, somewhat glaucous; wood hard, close-grained, yellowish brown, its 

 specific gravity about 0.70. " Pata de vaca " (San Luis Potosi). 



Palmer reports that in San Luis Potosi the flowers are fried and eaten, being 

 considered a great delicacy. The bark has mild but very active astringent prop- 

 erties, and has been recommended for the treatment of chronic diarrhoea and 

 dysentery. 



C. renifonnis Engelm. (C. texensis Sarg.) has been reported from Mexico. 

 That species does not appear to be very clearly distinct from C. canadensis. 

 The Mexican material at hand seems to represent a single species, and agrees 

 better with C. canadensis than with the material that has been referred to C. 

 renifornris. 



5. CYNOMETRA L. Sp. PI. 382. 1753. 

 1. Cynometra oaxacana T. S. Brandeg. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 6: 180. 1915. 



Guerrero and Oaxaca ; type from Cerro de Picacho, Oaxaca. 



Unarmed tree, 8 to 10 meters high; leaves nearly sessile, blfoliolate, the 

 leaflets very oblique, 3 to 6.5 cm. long, obtuse, thick, lustrous, glabrous; flowers 



* Thesaurus 83-84, with figure. 1651. For other accounts see Popenoe in 

 Bailey, Stand. Cycl. Hort. 330&-3307. /. 3768. 1917; Safford, Contr. U. S. Nat. 

 Herb. 9: 383. 1905; Cook, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 8: 248. 1903. 



'This is the tree to which the name " algarrobo " is applied in Spain. The 

 Spaniards who came to Mexico in early days applied the name to various 

 similar, more or less closely related plants. 



