NATURAL HISTORY WORK IN CART AGO 87 



Mimosa, morning-glories, (Enothera, olive, purple orchids, 

 ortiga, palm, papaya, pastora, Phlox, poppies, roses, Scabi- 

 osa, Sedum, Senna, Spanish paint brushes, spiraeas, Ste- 

 phanotis, sweet alyssum, Tradescantia, tropaeolums, yellow 

 umbellifer. Verbena, violets, Vinca, zinnias, and ten others 

 entirely new to us. 



Where hedgerows were allowed to grow there was a won- 

 derful tangle of bushes and vines. The hedge itself was 

 usually composed of Xylosma sahmanni, a plant looking 

 somewhat like the California privet but armed at the tip 

 of each twig with a pair of sharp strong thorns. In May 

 and June it bears solitary white flowers. Blackberries and 

 wild roses climbed through and about the Xylosma, while 

 melastomes, large-flowered Jussiaeas, the showy "Zorillo 

 real" {Hamelia patens) with its red and orange tubular 

 flowers, "Pavoncillo" {Cestrum aurantiacum), yellow Bidens, 

 lantanas and ageratums grew in its shelter. Occasionally, 

 where a hedgerow was backed by poro or other trees, there 

 was now and then a solitary guijarro {Stemmadenia big- 

 7ionice flora); this is an apocynaceous tree with large glossy 

 leaves and magnificent tubular flowers, creamy-white on 

 the corolla lobes and shading to deep sulphur yellow in the 

 throat. These are followed by highly colored twin fruits. 

 The follicles have a greenish rind over an orange flesh and 

 when they open show masses of shiny black seeds each 

 embedded in a vividly red pulp. Like so many members 

 of this order, the juice is quite poisonous and it is said that 

 to use the ashes of its wood in preparing maize for tortillas 

 causes serious sickness. In spite of its beauty, therefore, 

 it is rarely used as a decorative plant, but we always enjoyed 

 seeing it. 



The "Santa Lucia" or ageratum {Ageratum conyzoides) 

 is by no means confined to hedgerows, for it is a troublesome 

 weed almost ubiquitous on the plateau. Its color ranges 



