STANDLEY TEEES AND SHEUBS OF MEXICO 1395 



1. Sambucus mexicana Presl; DC. Prodr. 4: 322. 1830. 

 Sambucus bipinnata Schlecht. & Cham. Linnaea 5: 171. 1830. 



Widely distributed in Mexico, especially in cultivation. Western Texas to 

 southern California; Central America. 



Tree, sometimes 10 meters high, with a trunk 30 cm. in diameter, the bark 

 thick, gray, scaly; leaflets usually 5, ovate to ovate-lanceolate or oval, 3 to 12 

 cm. long, short-acuminate, pale; cymes 6 to 20 cm. broad; corolla 5 to 8 mm. 

 broad; fruit about 6 mm. in diameter, nearly black; wood soft, coarse-grained, 

 brownish, its specific gravity about 0.46. Usually known in Mexico as "saiico"; 

 "azumiatl" (Veracruz); "cumdemba," "cumdumba" (Tarascan); "xumetl" 

 {Urbina); "nttzirza" (Otomi); "bixhumi" (Oaxaca, Zapotec, Reko); "yutnu- 

 cate" (Oaxaca, Mixtec, Reko); "shiiksh" (Mixe, Belmar); "coyopa" (Zoque, 

 Gonzales) . 



The fruit is used in Mexico for various purposes. Some of the Indians of 

 southern California dried it for winter use. The flowers have a heavy odor. 

 They are used medicinally in Mexico, and other parts of the plant are used much 

 as described above. The leaves are sometimes bound upon the forehead to 

 relieve headache. 



Sambucus mexicana bipinnata (Schlecht. & Cham.) Schwerin' is a form with 

 bipinnate leaves. It was described from Jalapa, Veracruz. 



2. Sambucus caerulea Raf. Alsogr. Amer. 48. 1838. 

 Sambucus glauca Nutt.; Torr. & Gray, Fl. N. Amer. 2: 13. 1841. 

 Sambucus neomexicana Wooton, Bull. Torrey Club 25: 309. 1898. 

 Northern Baja California, Sonora, and Chihuahua. Western United States. 

 Shrub or tree, sometimes 15 meters high, with a trunk 45 cm. in diameter; 



bark dark brown, fissured and scaly; leaflets 5 or 7, lanceolate or oblong, 8 to 

 12 cm. long, attenuate; cymes 10 to 15 cm. broad; corolla 4 to 6 mm. broad; 

 fruit 5 to 7 mm. in diameter, bluish black; wood soft, weak, coarse-grained, dark 

 yeDowish brown, its specific gravity about 0.50. "Sauco" (California). 



2. VIBURNUM L. Sp. PI. 267. 1753. 

 Shrubs or small trees; leaves entire or toothed; flowers small, white, in dense 

 cymes; calyx 5-dentate; corolla rotate or broadly campanulate, regular, 5-lobate; 

 fruit drupaceous, 1 to 3-celled. 



Numerous species of the genus (mostly known as "black haw") grow in the 

 United States. The fruit is edible, but in most cases insipid. The leaves of 

 some species have been used in the southern United States as a substitute for 

 Chinese tea. 



Lateral nerves of the leaves straight, prominent, extending to the margin; leaves 

 conspicuously dentate, often cordate at base, sometimes densely stellate- 

 tomentose beneath. 



Calyx lobes lanceolate, equaling the corolla 1. V. stenocalyx. 



Calyx lobes obtuse, much shorter than the corolla. 



Cymes long-pedunculate, the peduncles longer than the cymes. 



Leaves densel}' grayish-tomentose beneath 2. V. loeseneri. 



Leaves green beneath, sparsely pubescent 3. V. membranaceum. 



Cymes short-pedunculate, the peduncles equaling or shorter than the 

 cymes. 

 Leaves covered beneath with a dense close whitish tomentum. 



4. V. microcarpum. 

 Leaves glabrate beneath or with a loose coarse tomentum. 



Calyx lobes not ciliate 5. V. ciliatum. 



1 Mitt. Deutsch. Dendr. Ges. 1909: 34, 328. 1909. 



