STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 831 



Shrub or tree, 2 to 6 meters high or larger, much branched, with a thick 

 trunk, very spiny ; leaves elliptic or obovate, 2 to 3 cm. long, rounded at apex ; 

 spikes 15 cm. long or shorter ; corolla bright red, about 2.5 cm. long and 7 mm. 

 thick. "Palo santo " (Puebla) ; " rosalillo " (Jalisco, Oliva). 



5. Fouquieria splendens Engelm. in Wisliz. Mem. Tour North. Mex. 98. 1848. 

 Northern Baja California to Sonora, Chihuahua, and Coahuila ; probably also 



in Zacatecas. Western Texas to southern California ; type from Jornada del 

 Muerto, New Mexico. 



Shrub, 2 to 6 meters high, with numerous simple slender branches rising 

 from the base; leaves oblanceolate to rounded-obvate, 2 to 3 cm. long; panicles 

 5 to 20 cm. long; corolla bright red (very rarely white), 2 to 2.5 cm. long. 

 " Ocotillo " (Chihuahua, Coahuila, Zacatecas, Baja California, Texas, New 

 Mexico) ; " albarda " (Zacatecas, Coahuila) ; " barda " (Coahuila). 



In the United States the plant has been called " coachwhip," " vine-cactus." 

 and " Jacob's-staff ," but the word "ocotillo" is more generally used and is a 

 better name. It is sometimes corrupted into " ocotilla " and " ochotilla." 



This is one of the most common and characteristic plants of the desert re- 

 gions of northern Mexico and the southwestern United States, growing upon 

 plains and rocky hillsides. For most of the year the plants are leafless spiny 

 sticks, apparently dead, but in summer when rains fall they put out their 

 bright green leaves and, at the tip of the branch, dense masses of vivid red 

 flowers. The leaves soon fall. The wood is heavy and resinous. The branches 

 are frequently made into walking-sticks, and they are employed to make fences 

 or the sides of huts. If planted in the ground they often grow and form a 

 living hedge. 



The bark contains gum, resin, and wax. Palmer reports that the flowers are 

 employed in Coahuila as a remedy for coughs. The Coahuilla Indians of south- 

 ern California eat the flowers and seed pods, and prepare a sweet beverage by 

 soaking the flowers in water. 



6. Fouquieria macdougalii Nash, Bull. Torrey Club 30: 454. 1903. 

 Fouquieria jaboncillo Loesener, Repert. Sp. Nov. Fedde 9: 356. 1911. 

 Sonora and Sinaloa ; type locality, Torres, Sonora. 



Tree, sometimes 7 meters high, the trunk 10 to 20 cm. thick, short, yellowish 

 green, the branches brown, their spines 1 to 2 cm. long ; leaves lanceolate to 

 broadly obovate. 2 to 4 cm. long, acute to rounded at apex ; panicles usually 

 fully as broad as long, lax ; corolla bright red, 2.5 cm. long. " Palo verde," 

 "jaboncillo," " chunari," " torotillo " (Sinaloa); " torote verde" (Sonora, 

 Sinaloa). 



The bark is employed as a substitute for soap, especially in washing woolen 

 goods. 



7. Fouquieria peninsularis Nash, Bull, Torrey Club 30 : 455. 1903. 

 Southern Baja California and adjacent islands, Sonora, and Sinaloa, usu.iHy 



near the coast ; type from La Paz, Baja California. 



Shrub, 2 to 3 meters high, with very short trunk ; panicles 5 to 15 cm. long, 

 many-flowered ; corolla bright red, 2 cm. long. " Palo de Ada,n," " cirio " 

 (Baja California). 



This gi'ows with F. splendens in Baja California, but is distinguished from 

 that species by the definite trunk. It is abundant there in many places, usually 

 growing in sandy places. For an illustration of a plant see Contr. U. S. Nat. 

 Herb. 16: pi. 120. 



The plant is mentioned first by Clavigero (Historia de la California, 1789), 

 who writes of it as follows: "There is also another small tree bristling with 

 long spines, and almost always naked, for which reason the Spaniards gave it 



