422 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



1. Caesalpinia crista L. Sp. PI. 380. 1753. 

 Gnilandina bonducella L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 545. 1762. 

 Caesalpinia tonducella Fleming, Asiat. Res. 11: 159. 1810. 



Along beaches on both coasts of Mexico. Widely distributed on tropical 

 and subtropical coasts of both hemispheres. 



Straggling or sprawling, armed with very numerous straight or recurved 

 prickles ; leaflets ovate to orbicular, 1.5 to 4 cm. long, rounded or obtuse at 

 apex, pubescent when young, glabrate in age; flowers small, greenish yellow; 

 fruit 6 to 8 cm, long and nearly as broad, densely prickly; seeds usually 2, 

 gray, nearly 2 cm. in diameter. " Cojones de gato " (Yucatan); " jabilla " 

 (Veracruz) ; " haba de San Antonio" (Veracruz, Dugds) ; " taray " (Veracruz. 

 Ramirez); " brasil " (Oaxaca) ; " guacolote *' {Nucva Farmacopea Mexicana) ; 

 " guacolote prieto," " brasilete Colorado," " palo fernambuco," (Cuba); " mato 

 de play a," "mato azul " (Porto Rico). 



A characteristic strand plant, often forming impenetrable thickets of con- 

 siderable extent. The large seeds (known as " nicker-nuts " ) are so hard 

 that it requires a heavy blow of a hammer to break them. They retain their 

 vitality for a long time, and are transported by ocean currents for great dis- 

 tances, having been carried occasionally from tropical America to European 

 shores. They contain about 23 per cent of oil, which has been extracted in 

 some regions. They are very bitter and contain a principle known as bondu- 

 cine, which is believed to possess tonic and antiperiodic properties. The seeds 

 have been used in domestic medicine (and even employed in Europe in times 

 past) as a substitute for quinine, and also as a remedy for dropsy, snake bites, 

 and venereal diseases. They are often carried by the natives of tropical 

 America as talismans or amulets, and are used by children as marbles. 



It is presumably this species which has been reported from Mexico as C. 

 echinata Lam., a Brazilian species, and said to be known as "brasil" and 

 " hoitzquahuitl " or " huitzquahuitl." The writer has seen no specimens of the 

 plant, which may be some other species. It is said to be exported as a dye- 

 wood. For an illustration of the seeds see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 9: pi. 15. 



2. Caesalpinia jayabo Maza, Anal. Soc. Esp. Hist. Nat. 19: 234. 1880. 

 Reported from Veracruz by Urban,^ but the writer has seen no Mexican 



specimens. West Indies and East Indies. 



Prickly shrub, similar to the preceding but with large yellow seeds. Known 

 in Cuba as " guacolote amarillo " and in Porto Rico as " mato amarillo." 



This is C. hondmc of most authors, but scarcely Ouilandvna bonduc L., which 

 is synonymous with the preceding species. 



3. Caesalpinia coriaria ( Jacq.) Willd. Sp. PI. 2: 532. 1799. 

 Poinciana coriaria Jacq. Stirp. Amer. 123. pi. 75. f. 36. 1763. 



Sinaloa to Oaxaca. West Indies, Central America, and northern South 

 America. 



Unarmed shrub or tree, 3 to 9 meters high, the trunk sometimes 40 cm. 

 in diameter, the crown broad and spreading; barlv rough, gray; leaflets nu- 

 merous, 4 to 8 mm. long, glabrate, dotted with black glands; flowers small, 

 white or yellowish, in short racemes; fruit short, 1.5 to 2 cm. wide, dark 

 brown, lustrous, curved or coiled ; sapwood light orange yellow, the heart- 

 wood dai-k, sometimes nearly black, very hard, heavy, tough, close-grained, 

 taking a fine polish. " Cascalote " (Oaxaca. Michoacan, Guerrero, Chiapas, 

 Colima) ; " nacascoloti " (Altamirano) ; " nacascul " (Oaxaca, Guerrero); 

 " nacascol " (Nicaragua, Costa Rica); " nacasolo " (Nicaragua); " nacasco- 



' Symb. Antill. 2: 273. 1900. 



