STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 717 



8. Karwinskia humboldtiana (Roem. & Schult.) Zucc. Abh. Akad. Wiss. ISIiiu- 

 chen 2: 351. 1832. 



RJiamnus humloJdtiana Roem. & Sehult. Syst. Veg. 5: 295. 1819. 



? Rhanmus Uniflorus DC. Prodr. 2: 26. 1825. 



Karwinskia glandulosa Zucc. Flora 7': Beibl. 71. 1832. 



Karwinslda affinis Schleclit. Linnaea 15: 460. 1841. 



? Karivinskia biniflora Scblecht. Linnaea 15: 460. 1841. 



? Karwinskia subcordata Schleclit. Linnaea 15: 462. 1841. 



Rhamnus muculata Sesse & Moc. PI. Nov. Hisp. 38. 1887. 



Karicin^kia pai'vifoUa Rose, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 1 : 315. 1895. 



Baja California to Tamaulipas, Veracruz, Yucatan, and Oaxaca ; type col- 

 lected near Puente de la IMadre de Dios, between Totonilco El Grande and 

 Actopan, Veracruz. Western Texas. 



Shrub or small tree, 1 to 8 meters high, the trunk sometimes 20 cm. in di- 

 ameter; leaves oblong to oval or elliptic, 1 to 6.5 cm, long, rounded to acute at 

 apex, paler beneath, with few or numerous pairs of nerves ; umbels short- 

 pedunculate, or some of them sessile; fruit 6 to 9 mm. long, blackish. " Coyo- 

 tillo " (Tamaulipas, Texas); " tullidora " (Nuevo Leon, Queretaro) ; " tuUi- 

 dor " (Coahuila, Tamaulipas); " capulincillo " (Nuevo Leon, Quergtaro, Oax- 

 aca); " capulincillo cimarron " (Valley of Mexico, Quer6taro) ; " capulin " 

 (Coahuila, Tamaulipas); " palo negrito " (Sinaloa) ; " margarita " (Tepic, 

 Jalisco, Colima, Sinaloa, Durango) ; " cacachila china," " cacachila silvestre," 

 " frutillo," "negrito" (Sinaloa); "cacachila" (Chihuahua); " cachila " (Baja 

 California) ; "margarita del cerro " (Jalisco) ; " tlalcapolin " (Nahuatl). 



The wood is said to be hard and strong. The fruit is sweet and edible, but 

 the stones are harmful if swallowed. In people, especially children, paralysis, 

 particularly of the lower limbs, is caused by eating stones, and similar effects 

 are said to be produced in pigs and chickens. Palmer states that in Tamauli- 

 pas children thus paralyzed are taken to a slaughter pen, and stomachs of 

 freshly killed cattle are wrapped about the parts affected, an outer covering 

 being employed to retain the warmth. There is a prevalent belief that this 

 mode of treatment is quite successful. The seeds are oily, and they contain 

 some principle which paralyzes the motor nerves. They are employed in 

 Mexico as an anticonvulsive, particularly in the case of tetanus. An infusion 

 or decoction of the leaves and roots is used locally for fevers, and Palmer 

 states that the hot tea is held in the mouth as a remedy for toothache and 

 neuralgia.^ 



This plant is illustrated by Hernandez ' and described in a chapter entitled 

 " De Cacatzin, seu parva Cacatl," but little information is given concerning it. 

 Clavigero (Historia de la California, 1789) also gives an account of the plant 

 and of its harmful properties. 



The only Yucatan specimen seen by the writer is noteworthy in having 

 sparsely pubescent flowers. The species is somewhat variable, but none of the 

 forms appear worthy of specific rank. A'. parvifoUa, a form of the Pacific 

 coast, has very small leaves, but the leaves vary too greatly in size through- 

 out the range of the plant to permit the use of this as a specific character. 



6. ADOLPHIA Meisn. PI. Vas. Gen. 70. 1837. 



1. Adolphia infesta (H. B. K.) Meisn. PI. Vas. Gen. 70. 1837. 

 Ceanothus infestus H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 7: 61. pi. 61/i. 1825. 

 Collctia muUiflora DC. Prodr. 2: 29. 1825. 



^ See also S. E. Sosa, Tullidora 6 capulincillo, Estudio 2: 35. 

 =■ Thesaurus 308. 1651. 



