498 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



1 



de chintlatahua '■ (Oaxaca. Rcko) ; " colorincito," " ojo de chanata " (Durango,- 

 Patoni) ; " ojitos de picho " (Tabasco, RoiHrosa) ; " senecuilche," " xenecuilche," 

 " pipilzintli " (Nuei'a Farniacopca ^fe.vicana) ; " piirensapichu " ( Miclioaciln, 

 Tarascan, Leon); " peronilla " (Colombia);; " bejuco de palonia," "peronfas" 

 (Porto Rico) ; " fruta de pitillo " (Guatemala, Homluras, Blake). 



The handsome seeds are sometimes used as beads. The sec»ds are believed 

 popularly to be poisonous and to cause a kind of insanity. 



42. ERYTHRINA L. Sp. PI. 706. 1753. 



Kei-erence: Standley, The Mexican and Central American species of Ery- 

 thrina, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 20: 175-182. 1919. 



Trees or shrubs, rarely herbs, usually with spiny branches ; leaves pinnately 

 3-folioIate; flowers in axillary or terminal i-acemes, showy, red or reddish; 

 standard petal larire or elongate, the other petals small, the wings sometimes 

 wanting; fruit stipitate, linear, bivalvate. 



The species are very common in many parts of Mexico, and their properties 

 are well known there, but in literature there has been great confusion con- 

 cerning the Specific names. The larger forn)s are often planted as hedges 

 because of their showy flowers and well-armed branches. Most of the species, 

 unfortunately, flower when devoid of leaves. The plants were used for 

 hetlges by the early inhabitants of Mexico, and they are sometimes planted 

 now for coffee shade. Branches take root readily when placed in the ground. 

 The wood is very soft and light and is used for corks, for carving small figures 

 and images, and for various other purposes. The bark is said to yield a yellow 

 dye. The succulent flowers are often cooked and eaten as a vegetable or 

 prepared as a salad. 



The handsome seeds, usually of various shades of red, are strung as neck- 

 laces, juid also used by children in games. They were employed by the early 

 Mexicans in a game, somewhat like dice, known as " patol." It is of interest 

 to find that this name is now employed by the Hopi and other Pueblo Indians 

 for a stick-dice game. 



The seeds of one of the Mexican species have been studied by Altamirano, 

 who found in them erythroidine, a powerful paralyzant of the motor system, 

 erythroresin, an emetic, coralin, and erythric acid. The extract has been sug- 

 gested as a substitute for curare. The poisonous properties of the seeds are 

 v.ell known in Mexico, and they are used to destroy noxious animals. They 

 have been employed also as a hypnotic agent. Species of Erythrina growing 

 in other regions are known to have poisonous seeds, as in the case of the Javan 

 E. Uihoapcrma Blume, from whose seeds a tetanizing alkaloid, hypaphorine, 

 has been extracted. 



The bark and stems have similar poisonous properties, and they are em- 

 ployed in tropical America to stupefy fish. From the bark an alkaloid, ery- 

 thrine, has been extracted, which has a powerful effect on the nervous system. 

 In Brazil the bark is eniployed in small doses as a hypnotic, purgative, and 

 diuretic. The roots are used in Mexico for their supposed sudorific properties. 

 The leaves are reputefl ennnenagogue. and a decoction of the flowers is used 

 in treating chest affections. The .iuice of the stems is applied to scorpion 

 .stings. 



A large number of vernacular names are reported from Mexico, but in most 

 cases the specific application is doubtful. The usual names for the seeds are 

 " colorin " and "patol" (from the Nahuatl. patoUi) ; for the flowers " pitos." 

 The following names are listed in literature: " Zonipantli," " zompancle," 

 "zompantle," " zumpantle,"' " tzompantli," " tzompantle " (from the Nahuatl 

 izon-pantU, "hair-banner"; also izon-pan-cunhuitl. " bair-banner-tree ") ; 



