STANDLEY TEEES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 1151 



2. Vallesia mexicana Muell. Arg. Linnaea 30 : 393. 1860. 

 Veracruz ; type from Orizaba. Guatemala. 



Shrub ; branchlets glabrous or sparsely pubescent ; leaves oblong-lanceolate 

 or elliptic-lanceolate, 8 to 11 cm. long, obtuse or acute at base; cymes dense, 

 many-flowered, the flowers short-petiolate. 



Neriandra aurantiaca Mart. & Gal.* is probably the same plant. 



3. Vallesia glabra (Cav.) Link, Enum. Hort. Berol. 1: 207. 1821, 

 Rauicolfia glabra Cav. Icon. PI. 3: 50. 1794. 



Vallesia dichotoma Ruiz & Pa v. Fl. Peruv, Chil. 2: 26. 1799. 



Vallesia cymbifolia Orteg. Hort. Matr. Dec. 58. 1800. 



Rauwolfia oppositiflora Sesse & Moc. PI. Nov. Hisp. 32. 1887. 



Baja California and Sonora to Queretaro, Hidalgo, and Oaxaca. Florida, 

 West Indies, and South America. « 



Shrub or tree, 1 to 6 meters high, glabrous or nearly so; leaves narrowly 

 lanceolate to oblong-lanceolate, 3 to 6 cm. long, rather fleshy, obtuse or acute at 

 base ; cymes few-flowered ; corolla white ; fruit oblong, about 1 cm. long, white. 

 *' Cacarahue," "otatave" (Sinaloa) ; "frutilla" (Queretaro); "huelatave" 

 (Baja California) ; " palo boniato " (Cuba). 



The fruit is sometimes eaten by children, and its juice is employed as a 

 remedy for inflammation of the eyes. 



3. THEVETIA Adans. Fam. PI. 2: 171. 1763. 



Shrubs or small trees ; leaves alternate, 1-nerved or pinnate-nerved ; flowers 

 large, yellow, in terminal cymes; calyx 5-parted, glandular within at base, 

 the segments spreading; corolla funnelform, the tube cylindric, abruptly ex- 

 panded into the campanulate throat ; anthers small, lanceolate ; fruit dru- 

 paceous, broader than long, obcompressed, the endocarp nutlike, 2-celled ; seeds 

 large, with acute edges. 

 Leaves linear or nearly so. 



Leaves glabrous beneath, the lateral nerves obsolete 1. T. peruviana. 



Leaves usually pubescent or tomentose beneath, the lateral nerves conspicu- 

 ous 2. T. thevetioides. 



Leaves oblanceolate-oblong to obovate. 

 Leaves glabrous beneath. 



Narrow portion of the corolla tube scarcely exceeding the calyx. 



3. T. gaumeri. 

 Narrow portion of the corolla tube several times as long as the calyx. 



4. T. plunaeriaefolia. 

 Leaves pubescent beneath. 



Leaves acuminate 5. T. nitida. 



Leaves obtuse or rounded at apex, or rarely acutish 6. T, ovata. 



1. Thevetia peruviana (Pers.) Merrill, Philip. Journ. Sci. 9: 130. 1914. 



Cerbera thevetia L. Sp. PI. 209. 1753. 



Cerbera peruviana Pers. Syn. PI. 1: 207. 1805. 



Thevetia neriifolia Juss. ; Steud. Nom. Bot. ed. 2. 2: 080. 1841. 



Thevetia thevetia Millsp. Field Mus. Bot. 2: 83. 1900. 



San Luis Potosi and Veracruz to Yucatan, Chiapas, and Guerrero. Florida, 

 West Indies, and Central and South America. 



Shrub or tree. 10 meters high or less; bark gray; leaves 7 to 15 cm. long, 

 0.5 to 1 cm. wide, acute, long-attenuate at base, lustrous; corolla about 7 cm. 



"Bull. Acad. Brux. 11: 356. 1844. 



