828 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



Frankenia grandifolia campestris A. Gray.' is a form with smaller narrower 

 leaves and shorter pubescence. It has been collected in Coahuila and occurs 

 also in Nevada and southern California. 



2. Frankenia palmeri S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 1 1 : 124. 1876. 



Chiefly in salt marshes, Baja California and upon the adjacent islands ; 

 type from the east coast. Southern California. 



Stems woody almost throughout, gray ; leaves linear or filiform, mostly 2 to 

 G mm. long but sometimes as much as 10 mm., scaberulous, usually with a white 

 incrustation ; calyx 3 to 4 cm. long ; stamens 4. 



105. TAMARICACEAE. Tamarisk Family. 



1. TAMARIX L. Sp. PI. 270. 1753. 



The species are all natives of the Old World, chiefly of the Mediterranean 

 region. Several of them have medicinal properties and some yield dyestuffs. 

 Some of the species, when punctured by a scale insect, produce an exudate 

 known as manna. 



1. Tamarix gallica L. Sp. PI. 270. 1753. 



Cultivated for ornament especially in the arid portions of northern Mexico ; 

 sometimes escaping. Native of southern Europe and northern Africa ; culti- 

 vated in the southern part of tlie United States. 



Glabrous shrub or small tree, sometimes 9 meters high, with slender branches; 

 leaves alternate, minute, scalelike, sessile, acute ; flowers pink or white, in dense 

 bracted spikes ; sepals 4 or 5 ; petals 4 or 5, scarcely more than 1 mm. long ; 

 anthers yellow or purple ; fruit a small capsule containing numerous seeds. 



The English names are tamarisk and salt-cedar. In Spain the shrub is 

 known as " tamarisco," "tamariz," " taray," "atarfe," and " talaya." The 

 shrub will thrive under the most varied conditions, in eitlier dry or wet ground. 

 In the southwestern United States it is a favorite ornamental plant because 

 it grows well in the most arid places. It is able also to endure salt and alkali 

 in the soil. Frequently it is planted for hedges, and if kept trimmed it forms 

 a dense handsome hedge of pale green. The branches suggest those of cedar 

 (Juniperus), but they are much more slender. The plant is easily grown 

 from cuttings. 



In its native countries the tamarisk is prized as a source of charcoal. The 

 branches are used for basketry and wattlework. All parts of the shrub are 

 bitter and the bark contains tannin. Tonic, astringent, sudorific, and diuretic 

 properties are ascribed to it. In Europe the leaves and branches are sometimes 

 employed in the preparation of a kind of beer. 



106. FOUftiriERIACEAE. Ocotillo Family. 



Reference : Nash, A revision of the family Fouquieriaceae, Bull. Torrey Club 

 30: 449-459. 1903. 



Shrubs or trees ; spines developing within the petioles on young branches, 

 becoming apparent after the fall of the leaves; leaves alternate, entire, petio- 

 late ; flowers perfect, spicate, racemose, or paniculate, terminal ; sepals 5, 

 imbricate ; corolla gamopetalous, the lobes imbricate ; stamens 10 to 15, un- 

 equal, exserted ; fruit a 3-celled capsule, 3-valved ; ovules 4 to 6 in each cell ; 

 seeds compressed, at first broadly winged, the wing breaking up into long fila- 

 ments. 



' Syn. FI. 1^ 208. 1895. 



