30 



PLANT^ WRIGHTIAISI^. 



Y. 



Calcareous hills of the San Felipe River ; Jul} 



It was likewise gatliered by Bcr 



landier, in the southern part of Texas 



To this solitarv representative of the prop 



Family in America hitherto known, the subjoined species of Peganum 



) 



from 



Gregg's collection, is to be.added 



# 



t KCEBERLI 



sPi^osA, Zucc. Fl. Hoi 



Herh. Monac. fasc. 1. p. 359 



Denhschrift. Mimchn. 1832); Benth. Pl. Hartw. p. 35. Along the Hio Grande 



Texas. 

 Gregn 



Also 



the Mexican side of the river, at Bolson de Map 



&c., D 



A much-branched, leafless shrub, consisting of nothing but thorns, flow 



g in July and Au 



Flowers greenish-white 



B 



oval." Wright 



In 



Dr. Gregg's cbllection we have young fruit, and from Dr. Torrey I uow have ripe 

 fruit, gathered on our Southern frontiers by the U. S. Boundary Commission ; which 

 shows that the genus does not belong to Pittosporacese, where it was referred by 

 Zuccarini, but tends to confirm the view suggested by Bentham, of 



with 



A.merican Diosmese. I append the characters.f 



affinity 

 The stamens are not of 



ft 



sensibly unequal length, nor are the anthers attached by the base, as stated by 

 Bentham ; nor do I find the style incurved or uncinate at the 



apex 



least 



after flowering. The ovules are straight and anatropous ; but the seeds, which 

 few, and lar^e for the size of the fruit, are strongly circinate or cochleate. 



ZANTHOXYLACE^. 



81. Za^thoxylum Carolinianum, Lam. ; Torr. 8; Grai/, Fl 1. p. 214: var. fru- 

 ticosum: foliolis brevioribus ovatis oblonojisve vix aut ne vix acuminatis magis crc- 



Peganum Mextcanum (sp. nov.) : caule humili pubcscente ; foliis multipartitis, laciniis anguste line- 

 aribus ; calyce 4-sepalo coroUam 4-petalam duplo supcrante ; sepalis 3-5-partitis foliiformibus, laciniis 

 subcequalibus ; staminibus 12-13.^ — Saltillo and Monterey, Northern Mexico, abuudant, Dr. Gregg, 

 Stems 8 or 9 inches high, very leafy. Peduncles axillary, shorter than the flower. Corolla pale yellow. 

 Disk scarcely cupulteform. Style slendcr; the three-lobed stigma shorter than that of P. Harmala. 

 Filaments scarccly dilated at the base. Except in this last respect, and in the (perhaps not uniformly) 

 quaternary calyx and corolla, our plant wholly accords with the characters of Peganum. It is remarka- 

 ble for the great length of the calyx, the dlvlsions of which resemble those of the leaves. The plant is 



■ 



evidently well known to the Mexicans, who, according to Dr. Gregg, call it Garianzillat Romero dcl 

 Campo^ or Limoncillo^ and use a decoction of it for gonorrhoea. It is said to bc poisonous to cattle. 



-exr 



t KCEBERLINIA, Zucc. 



Calyx tetrasepalus, parvus, liber ; sepalis subcoloratls, obtusis, sGStivatione imbricatis, deciduis. Petala 1, 

 hyP^^gy^^i calyce 3-4-pIo longiora, obovato-oblonga, subunguiculata, sestivatione convoUito-imbricata, de- 

 cidua. Discus nullus. Stamina 8, hypogyna, libera, petalis subaqullonga : filamenta medio incrassata, 

 utrinque subulato-attenuata : anthera? ovales, dorso supra basim insertse, introrsoe, biloculares, loculis lon- 

 gitudinaliter dehiscenlibus, Ovarium ovoideum biloculare, basi In stlpltem brevem, aplce in stylum slmpli- 

 cem subulatum, attenuatum : stigma termlnale, obtusum, minutissime emarginatum. Ovula plurlma, in 

 placentis crasslusculis medlo dissepimento utrinque adnatis multiserlata, horizontalia vel dependentia, ana- 

 tropa. Bacca subglobosa, parvula, stylo pcrsistente apiculata, bilocularis, sarcocarpio tenui ; loculis abortu 

 1-2-spermIs. Semina verticalia, clrcinato-cochleata : testa crustacea, levissime ruguloso-striata : albu- 

 men tenuissimum seu vix ullum. Embryo annularis, endopleurum tumidum replens; cotyledpnibus semitc- 



retibus; radicula adscendente. 



Frutex aphyllus, ramosissimus, glaber; ramis viridibus rigidis; ramulis 



teretibus omnibus in spinas validas desinentibus ; squamulls ad folia respondentlbus alternls, minimis, cadu- 

 cis; floribus parvulis in racemis brevibus umbelliformibus sub apice ramulorum lateralibus, albidis. 



f 



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