84 SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION 



We then motored to San Antonio, where we visited the beautiful 

 rock garden of Dr. and Mrs. D. T. Atkinson, to which the Smith- 

 sonian Institution has contributed several shipments of living plants. 

 From San Antonio we went down the Rio Grande Valley, passing 

 through extensive orange groves. Brownsville is a very old town, 

 and is of considerable botanical interest, many of the street shade 

 trees being native to the region. One of these is the Sabal palm, 

 Inodes tcxcnsis, resembling very much the Washington palm, which 

 has been introduced into that part of Texas. I %vas especially interested 

 also in other trees belonging to the Mimosa family, a group which 

 I am now studying. One of these is a species of Lcucacna, usually 

 passing as L. piilvcndcnta, which has finely cut leaves and heads of 

 small flowers. The other is a species of Eh c nop sis, a new genus which 

 at the time of our visit had not yet been published. This tree has very 

 hard wood, which takes a beautiful polish and is known as Mexican 

 ebony. 



The Sabal palm was doubtless once common in the Lower Rio 

 Grande Valley, and is still represented by many scattered trees and 

 several fine groves. It occupies very fertile parts of the valley and is 

 therefore gradually being eliminated. An efl^ort should be made to 

 have at least one of the groves reserved as a state park or monument. 

 Not only are the palms themselves unique, but the undergrowth about 

 them contains many interesting and rare plants. The appearance of 

 the groves is shown in the accompanying photographs. 



With Brownsville as headquarters the surrounding territory for a 

 distance of about 100 miles in all directions was surveyed in an attempt 

 to discover rubber-yielding plants. This included three trips into 

 adjacent Mexico southeast, south, and southwest of Matamoros. The 

 southern trip extended as far as San Fernando, on the Rio de Conchas. 



Although many plants were examined to determine their rubber 

 content, our results were chiefly negative. Near Brownsville we found 

 a variety of the common poinsettia (Poinscttia pulclicryiina) which 

 grows very abundantly. It produces an abundance of latex, which 

 gives about nine per cent crude rubber, and although previously not 

 regarded as very promising, yet deserves further study. 



As a result of this trip a valuable series of herbarium specimens 

 was brought back, including many rare species and others that are 

 of special interest as coming from the locality whence they were 

 originally described. 



