836 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 



of the Amazon, who achieved one of the most remarkable explorations of history 

 in his descent of that river from its headwaters. 



For an illustration of Bixa orellana, see Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 9: pi. 39. 



The following interesting account of the arnotto plant is given by Oviedo 

 (Lib. VIII, Cap. VI), who was probably the first to describe it: ^' Bixa is a 

 wild shrub or plant, like the others I have mentioned, but like them it is 

 sometimes cultivated by the Indians. This plant or hixa grows in Hispaniola 

 and the other islands and in Tierra-Firme, and its about half as high again as a 

 man. It has leaves like those of cotton itnd bears capsules resembling those of 

 that plant, except that outside they are covered with coarse hairs and marked 

 with veins that indicate the interior partitions, and on the inside are red seeds, 

 sticky like wax or more so ; and from these the Indians make balls with which 

 they paint their faces, mixing the dye with certain gums, and from this they 

 make a fine vermilion color with which they paint the face and body in such an 

 elegant fashion that they resemble tlie devil himself. The women do likewise 

 when they hold their feasts and dances, and the men when they wish to appear 

 well and when thej'^ go to war, in order to appear fierce. It is very hard to 

 remove the bixa until many days pass, but it is astringent and they say very 

 comfortable, and even beneficial in this way, that when they are thus painted 

 if they are wounded, since the paint and the blood are of the same color, the 

 men are not frightened as much as they would be if they were not painted 

 red, but this they attribute to the virtues of the bixa. The paint, besides its 

 evil appearance, has a disagreeable odor because of the gums and other things 

 mixed with it." The plant is figured and described also by HernSndez.^ 



109. COCHLOSPERMACEAE. Cochlospermum Family. 



The only other genus of this family in Mexico is Amoreuxia, which is repre- 

 sented by three species of low herbs. 



1. MAXIMILIANEA Mart. Flora 2: 451. 1819. 



1. Maximilianea vitifolia (Willd.) Krug & Urb. Bot. Jahrb. Engler 15: 293. 

 1892. 



Bombax vitifolium Willd. Enum. PI. 720. 1809. 



Cochlospermum Mbiscoides Kunth, Syn. PI. Aequin. 3: 214. 1824. 



Cochlospermum serratifolium DC. Prodr. 1: 527. 1824. 



Cochlospermum vitifolium Spreng. Syst. Veg. 2: 596. 1825. 



Sonora to Veracruz, Yucatan, and Chiapas. Central America and South 

 America ; cultivated in the West Indies and elsewhere. 



Tree, 5 to 12 meters high, with red-brown branches ; leaves alternate, long- 

 petiolate, 10 to 30 cm. wide, cordate at base, deeply and palmately 5-lobate, the 

 lobes acuminate, crenate-serrate, glabrate ; flowers in terminal clusters, pedi- 

 cellate, 10 cm. broad or larger, bright yellow ; sepals 5, imbricate, tomentulose, 

 deciduous ; petals 5, emarginate ; stamens numerous ; fruit a 5-valvate capsule, 

 globose-obovoid, 7 to 8 cm. long, depressed at apex, finely velvety-pubescent, 

 striate-nerved ; seeds numerous, reniform, covered with long cotton-like white 

 hairs. " Chuun," "chum," " chimu " (Yucatan, Maya); " cocito " (Chiapas); 

 " rosa amarilla " (Sinaloa) ; " apompo," " pongolote," " pochote," " cojon de 

 toro " (Oaxaca) ; " madera de pasta" (Veracruz, Ramires) ; " tecomaxochitl " 

 (Nahuatl) ; " palo amarillo," "palo de rosa amarilla" (Durango) ; " quie- 

 riga," " quie-quega," " huarumbo," " flor izquierda " (Chiapas and Oaxaca, 

 Seler) ; " panaco " (Guerrero); " bombon," " catamericuche " (Nicaragua); 

 " por6-por6 " (Nicaragua, Panama, Costa Rica, Colombia); " tecomasilchil " 

 (Chiapas, Guatemala); " tecomasuche " (Guatemala); " botulo " (Ecuador); 



* Thesaurus 74. 1651. 



