STANDLEY — TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 623 



The Indians of Ecuador string tlie seeds on sticks and burn them like candles. 

 The decoction of the. root has been used in the West Indies as a remedy for 

 colic, and that of the leaves for venereal diseases, while the leaves are applied 

 to the head in cases of fever to alleviate pain. The value of the scalded leaves, 

 applied externally, as a powerful galactogogue has long been known. The 

 castor-beiin has been in use since ancient times, being known to the Egyptians 

 at least 4,000 years ago, and it is mentioned by the early Greek writers. Most 

 of the seeds of commerce are grown in India. During the European war their 

 I^roduction upon a large scale was attempted in the southern United States, 

 but with most unsatisfactory results. 



12. DALECHAMPIA L. Sp. PI. 1054. 1753. 

 Shrubs, or sometimes almost wholly herbaceous, erect or scandent; leaves 

 alternate, stipulate, petiolate, entire, parted, or lobate ; flowers monoecious, 

 apetalous, borne inside a large foliaceous involucre ; fruit a small capsule. 



Plants erect ; leaves pinnately nerved. 



Style column dilated at apex; leaves coriaceous 1. D. spathulata. 



Style column not dilated at apex ; leaves membranaceous 2. D. roezliana. 



Plants scandent ; leaves palmately nerved. 



Leaves mostly composed of 3 distinct leaflets 3. D. triphylla. 



Leaves merely lobed, or entire. 



Leaves mostly lobed ; bracts usually 1.5 to 2.5 cm. long 4. D. scandens. 



Leaves entire; bracts 0.6 to 1.2 cm. long 5. D. schottii. 



1. Dalechampia spathulata (Scheidw.) BalU. Etud. G6n. Euphorb. 487. j)I. 3. 



f. 16-30. 1858. 

 Cremophyllum spathulatum Scheidw. Bull. Acad. Sci. Brux. 9': 23. 1842. 

 Reported from Tabasco. Described from cultivated plants. 

 Leaves spatulate, entire, cuspidate-acuminate, glabrous. 



2. Dalechampia roezliana Muell. Arg. in DC. Prodr. 15': 1233. 1866. 

 Type from Zontecomapan, Veracruz. Guatemala. 



Low shrub, usually unbranched ; leaves oblanceolate, 15 to 30 cm. long, 4 

 to 8 cm. wide, acuminate, glabrous, entire or dentate. 



3. Dalechampia triphylla Lam. Eucycl. 2: 258. 1786. 

 Veracruz and Tabasco. Central America and South America. 



Plants scandent, suffrutescent ; leaves mostly 3-foliolate, but some of them 

 usually simple, entire or dentate. 



4. Dalechampia scandens L. Sp. PI. 1054. 1753. 



Chihuahua and Sonora to Guerrero, Veracruz, and Yucatan. Widely dis- 

 tributed in tropical America, with forms in Africa and the East Indies. 



Scandent shrub, or sometimes herbaceous, usually with some stinging hairs ; 

 leaves mostly 3-lobate, pubescent, cordate at base ; bracts large and whitish. 

 " Xmool-coh " (Yucatan, Maya, Seler; "puma-foot," the calyx lobes closing 

 like claws after the capsule opens); " ortiga " (Nicaragua); " ortiguilla " 

 (Costa Rica). 



In Costa Rica the leaves are rubbed upon the cheeks as a remedy for tooth- 

 ache. 



Some of the Madagascar species of Dalechampia furnish a black dye, and 

 are used by the natives to blacken their teeth. 



5. Dalechampia schottii Greeum. Field Mus. Bot. 2: 255. 1907. 

 Yucatan ; type from Merida. 



Leaves 2 to 7.5 cm. long, ovate or broadly ovate, rounded to acuminate 

 at apex. 



