82 SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. BORRAGINACEZ. 
Ehretia elliptica is most abundant in the fertile soil of river valleys, although it often covers dry 
barren ridges with a shrubby growth,! and is distributed in western Texas from the valley of the upper 
San Marcos River to the Rio Grande, and through Nuevo Leon and Cohahuila to the mountains of San 
Luis Potosi. It is often extremely common on the bottom-lands of western Texas, and probably attains 
its largest size within the territory of the United States on those of the Guadaloupe and Nueces rivers, 
sixty or seventy miles from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. 
The wood of Ehretia elliptica is heavy, hard, not strong, close-grained, and difficult to split; it 
contains many thin medullary rays and small open ducts arranged in numerous concentric rings within 
the layers of annual growth which are marked by several rows of larger ducts, and is light brown, 
with thick slightly lighter colored sapwood. The specific gravity of the absolutely dry wood is 0.6440, 
a cubic foot weighing 40.13 pounds. 
Ehretia elliptica was discovered in Nuevo Leon by the Belgian botanist Berlandier, and was first 
found in Texas near New Braunfels by Frederick Lindheimer.? 
The rapid growth of this tree, which is not much affected by drought, its compact round head of 
dark green foliage, and abundant clusters of white flowers, which frequently quite cover the branches, 
make it a desirable ornamental tree, and the Anaqua is often found shading the streets of the cities of 
western Texas and northern Mexico. 
1 “ Poor as a Knackaway hill” has become a proverbial expression among Texas farmers (Garden and Forest, vi. 242). 2 See i. 74. 
EXPLANATION OF THE PLATE. 
Pirate CCLXXXVII. EuRetia ELLIPTICA. 
. A flowering branch, natural size. 
a 
. Diagram of a flower. 
. A flower, enlarged. 
. A stamen, front and side views, enlarged. 
A pistil, enlarged. 
. Vertical section of an ovary, enlarged. 
. Cross section of an ovary, much magnified. 
. An ovule, much magnified. 
CONAN HL Wd 
. A fruiting branch, natural size. 
poh 
—) 
. Cross section of a fruit, enlarged. 
ay 
any 
. Vertical section of a fruit, enlarged. 
fanb 
bo 
. A seed, enlarged. 
ie) 
. An embryo, much magnified. 
