654 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



The Old World box, Buxus sempervirens L., which is the best-known 

 species, is often grown as a hedge plant. The plant is bitter and contains 

 an alkaloid, buxine. A volatile oil distilled from the wood has been used in 

 epilepsy, and a decoction of the wood has been employed in the treatment of 

 rheumatism and secondary syphilis. A tincture of the wood was formerly 

 employed as an antiperiodic. The leaves have been used in Europe as a sub- 

 stitute for hops in brewing beer. 



Leaves and branches copiously pubescent 1. B. pubescens. 



Leaves and branches glabrous. 



Leaves mostly oblanceolate, 4 to 6 cm. long, acute 2. B. lancifolia. 



Leaves oval or elliptic, 1.5 to 2 cm. long, obtuse or rounded at apex. 



3. B. mexicana. 



1. Buxus pubescens Greenm. Proc. Amer. Acad. 33: 481. 1898. 

 Known only from Maria Madre Island, Tepic. 



Shrub or small tree, 4.5 to 8 meters high ; leaves rhombic-ovate or oblong- 

 ovate, 2 to 5 cm. long, 1.5 to 3 cm. wide, obtuse or acutish, glabrate on the upper 

 surface ; calyx 2 mm. long; ovary glabrous. 



2. Buxus lancifolia T. S. Brandeg. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 4: 273. 1912. 

 Known only from the type locality. Rio de las Gallinas, near Rasc6n, San 



Lu's Potosl. 



Glabrous shrub ; leaves subsessile. about 1.5 cm. wide, 3-nerved ; calyx 2 

 mm. long; stamens exserted. 



3. Buxus mexicana T. S. Brandeg. Univ. Calif. Publ. Bot. 3: 382. 1909. 

 Known only from the tj'pe locality, summit of Cerro de Coatepe, near San 



Luis Tultitlanapa, Puebla, altitude 2,100 to 2,400 meters. 



Glabrous shrub, 1 meter high; leaves short-petiolate, 5 to 12 mm. wide; 

 sepals 3.5 mm. long, pubescent ; capsule about 8 mm. long. 



2. SIMMONDSIA Nutt. Lond. Journ. Bot. 3: 400. 1844. 

 1. Simmondsia calif ornica Nutt. Lond. Journ. Bot. 3: 401. pi. 16. 1844. 



Simmondsia pabuJosa Kellogg, Proc. Calif. Acad. 2: 21. 1859. 



Sonora and Ba ja California. Southern California ; type from San Diego. 



Shrub or small tree, 1 to 4.5 meters high, with dichotomous puberulent 

 branches ; leaves oblong to oval, 3 to 6 cm. long, nearly sessile, obtuse or rounded 

 at apex, pale green, strigillose ; flowers dioecious, the staminate in sessile or 

 pedunculate clusters, the pistillate solitary, on recurved pedicels ; sepals 5 ; 

 pistillate calyx accrescent in fruit; capsule 3-valvnte, about 3 cm. long; seeds 

 by abortion usually one. "Jojoba" (Sonora, Baja California), 



Known in California as " pignut," " goatnut," " sheepnut," " wild hazel," 

 and " quinine plant." Goats, sheep, and deer are fond of the fruit and leaves. 

 The seeds have the flavor of chestnuts or hazelnuts, with a slight bitterness. 

 The Indians ate them either raw or parched, and sometimes used them as a 

 substitute for coffee. The seeds contain about 48 per cent of oil, which is used 

 locally as a hair tonic. In southern California and northern Mexico the native 

 people sometimes make a beverage from the seeds by roasting them and grind- 

 ing them with the yolk of hard-boiled egg, then boiling the mass in water with 

 sugar and milk, thus making a well-flavored and nourishing substitute for 

 chocolate or coffee. 



The first reference to the plant is that of Clavigero (Historia de la Cali- 

 fornia, 1789), whose account is as follows: "The jojoba is one of the most 

 highly valued fruits of California. The plant which produces it is a shrub 

 which grows on the dry slopes of the mountains, and its leaves are oblong, 



I 



