1322 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM 



13. ASTIANTHUS Don, Edinburgh Phil. Joiirn. 9: 262. 1823. 



The genus consists of a single species. 

 1. Astianthus viminalis (H. B. K.) Baill. Hist. PI. 10: 44. 1888. 



Bignonia viminalis H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 3: 132. 1819. 



Astianthus longifolius Don, Edinburgh Phil. Journ. 9: 262. 1823. 



Tecorna viminalis Hemsl. Biol. Centr. Amer. Bot. 2: 497. 1882. 



Colima to Oaxaca, Puebla, and Veracruz; type collected between Mexcala and 

 Estola, Guerrero. Guatemala. 



Tree, sometimes 15 meters high, glabrous; bark gray or whitish, fissured; 

 leaves mostly ternate, linear, 20 to 30 cm. long, attenuate to each end, entire; 

 flowers yellow, in loose panicled cymes; calyx campanulate, 1 cm. long, 5-dentate; 

 corolla funnelform, 5.5 to 6 cm. long, the lobes erose-dentate and somewhat 

 crispate; fruit linear, 8 to 12 cm. long, 8 mm. broad, compressed, smooth or 

 nearly so; seeds small, with broad thin white wings. "Ahuejote" (Oaxaca, etc.) ; 

 "palo de agua," "flor de agua," "axochitl" (Oaxaca). 



The tree usually grows along streams. 



14. CHILOPSIS Don, Edinburgh Phil. Journ. 9: 261. 1823. 



A single species is known. 

 1. Chilopsis linearis (Cav.) Sweet, Hort. Brit. 283. 1827. 



Bignonia linearis Cav. Icon. PI. 3: Z5.^pl. 269. 1794. 



Chilopsis saligna Don, Edinburgh Phil. Journ. 9: 261. 1823. 



Baja California and Sonora to Tamaulipas, Zacateeas, and Durango. Western 

 Texas to southern California. 



Slender shrub or tree, sometimes 9 meters high, with a trunk 30 cm. in di- 

 ameter, the trunk short, the bark thin, irregularly ridged, scaly; leaves opposite 

 and alternate, linear, 10 to 30 cm. long, attenuate to each end, entire, pubescent 

 or glabrous; flowers purplish or white, in terminal racemes or narrow panicles; 

 calyx bilabiate, 5-dentate; corolla 2.5 to 3.5 cm. long, somewhat bilabiate, 5- 

 lobate; stamens 4; fruit linear, 10 to 30 cm. long, about 6 mm. thick, subterete, 

 smooth; seeds long-hairy; wood soft, weak, close-grained, dark brown, its 

 specific gravity about 0.59. "Mimbre" (Zacateeas, Chihuahua, Nuevo Le6n, 

 Durango). 



The tree grows most commonly along arroyos. It is often planted because of 

 its showy sweet-scented flowers. In the United States it is known as "desert 

 wiUow" or "flov>'ering willow," the leaves bearing a strong resemblance to those 

 of some species of willow (Salix). The wood is sometimes used for fence posts 

 and the tough slender branches for making baskets. A decoction of the flowers 

 is employed locally for coughs and as a stimulant in cardiac diseases, and the 

 dried flowers are often sold in the markets for these purposes. 



15. AMPHITECNA Miers, Trans. Linn. Soc. Bot. 26: 163. 1868. 



1. Amphitecna macrophylla (Seem.) Miers; Baill. Rev. Hort. 1882: 465. 

 1882. 



Crescentia macrophylla Seem. Kew Journ. Bot. 6: 274. 1854. 



Veracruz and Tabasco; type from Teapa, Tabasco. Guatemala. 



Shrub or small tree, glabrous; leaves alternate, borne at the ends of the 

 branches, oblanceolate or oblong-oblanceolate, 40 to 75 cm. long, acute or acumi- 

 nate, long-attenuate to the base, sessile or nearly so, entire; flowers long-pedi- 

 cellate, fasciculate on old wood; calyx closed in bud, splitting in anthesis; corolla 

 funnelform-campanulate, greenish, about 5 cm. long; fruit baccate, oval or el- 

 lipsoid, 5 cm. or more in diameter. "Huiro de montana" (Tabasco, Rovirosa). 



