STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 475 



Plants usually herbaceous but sometimes frutescent; flowers small, purple 

 or purplish. " Aiiil " (Porto Rico). 



Specimens of this species have been reported from Mexico as Tephrosia 

 leptostachya DC. Maiden reports that the plant is harmful and even poisonous 

 to stock. The plant is used in different countries for stupefying fish. Various 

 medicinal properties are ascribed to it in India. An ointment made from the 

 roots is applied for elephantiasis ; the juice is applied to eruptions upon the 

 skin, and a decoc.tion of the roots is used for indigestion, coughs, liver and 

 kidney affections, etc. 

 26. Cracca palmeri (S. Wats.) Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 270. 1909, 



Tephrosia palmeri S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 24: 46. 1889. 



Tephrosia purisimae T. S. Brandeg. Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 2: 149. 1889. 



Tephrosia cana T. S. Brandeg. Proc. Calif. Acad. II. 3: 126. 1891, 



Baja California and Sonora ; type from Guaymas, Sonora. 



Plants slender, erect or decumbent, herbaceous or frutescent ; leaflets 1.5 

 to 5.5 cm. long ; flowers pink or purplish. 



DOUBTFUL OR EXCLUDED SPECIES. 



Cracca oroboides (H. B. K.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 1: 175. 1891. Tephrosia 

 orohoidcs H. B. K. Nov. Gen. Sp. 6:462. pi. 579. 1823. Apparently a species 

 of Lotus. 



Cracca venosa (Mart. & Gal.) Kuntze, Rev. Gen. PI. 1: 175. 1891. Tephrosia 

 venosa Mart. & Gal. Bull. Acad. Brux. 10^: 47. 1843. Type from Oaxaca. The 

 description suggests C. pringlei Rose, but the fruit is described as glabrous. 



Tephrosia chrysophylla Mart. & Gal. Bull. Acad. Brux. 10": 40. 1843. Not 

 T. chrysophylla Pursh, 1814. Type from Veracruz. 



18. ROBINIA L. Sp. 722. 1753. 



Trees or shrubs, usually armed with spines; leaves deciduous, pinnate; 

 flowers in axillary racemes ; fruit flat, bivalvate, narrowly winged along the 

 upper suture. 



Robinia pseudacacia L., the black locust, a native of the eastern United 

 States, with white flowers, is cultivated as a shade tree in some localities. It 

 is known usually as " acacia," and the name " loco " is said to be applied in 

 Chihuahua. 



Inflorescence glandular-hispid 1. E. neomexicana. 



Inflorescence puberulent or pilose, without glands 2. R. pringlei. 



1. Robinia neomexicana A. Gray, Mem. Amer. Acad. n. ser. 5: 314. 1854. 

 Mountains of northern Sonora. Western Texas to Arizona and southern 



Colorado ; type from the Mimbres River, New Mexico. 



Very spiny tree or shrub, sometimes 7.5 meters high, with a trunk 35 cm.» 

 in diameter ; bark thin, light brown, nearly smooth ; leaflets 13 to 21, oval, 

 about 4 cm. long; flowers large, showy, pale pink; fruit flat, densely hispid 

 with gland-tipped hairs; wood very hard, strong, close-grained, yellow with 

 brownish markings, the specific gravity about 0.80. " Una de gato " (New 

 Mexico). 



2. Robinia pringlei Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 12: 274. 1909. 



Known only from the type locality, near Tula, Hidalgo, altitude 2,040 meters. 



Medium-sized tree; leaflets 13 or 15, oval, 3.5 to 5 cm. long, thin, nearly 

 glabrous; flowers large, in lax axillary racemes; fruit flat, 6 cm. long, 1 cm. 

 wide, smooth, with 2 narrow wings along one edge. 



