5i8 



Huajillo 



a thick, pith-like tissue; it is lo to 15 cm. long, about 2.5 cm. wide, oblique at the 

 base and sessile, rough, dull brown, finally splitting through the margin; the seeds 

 are transversely arranged in the pod, oblong-obovate, more or less flattened, 12 

 to 15 mm. long, half as wide, dull red-brown with a slight depression on each side. 



The wood is hard, compact, close-grained, dark red or purpUsh brown, with 

 a yellowish sapwood; its specific gravity is about 1.04. It is highly esteemed for 

 cabinet-work and is one of the most valuable woods of its region, its durabiUty in 

 contact with the soil also making it very desirable for fence posts. The green pods 

 are used like beans, and the ripe seeds are roasted and used as a substitute for 

 coffee by the Mexicans and Indians. 



The genus is monotypic; its name, Siderocarpos, is Greek and refers to the 

 hard, woody pod. 



III. HUAJILLO 



GENUS HAVARDIA SMALL 



Species Havardia brevifolia (Bentham) Small 



Pithecolobium brevijolium Bentham 



SMALL evergreen tree, often merely a shrub, occurring along the Rio 

 Grande in Texas, but more abundant southward in Mexico. Its 

 maximum height is 9 meters, with a trunk diameter of 1.5 dm. 



The nearly erect branches are slender and form an irregular tree. 



The bark is thin, smooth, and gray; the twigs are somewhat angular, hght gray 



at first, becoming dark brown, and bear per- 

 sistent stout, stiff stipular spines about 1.5 

 cm. long. The leaves are evenly bipinnate, 7 

 to 9 cm. long, including the hairy leaf-stalk, 

 which bears a prominent gland ; there are 2 to 

 5 pairs of pinnae 2.5 to 3 cm. long, nearly or 

 quite sessile, the terminal pair being some- 

 what shorter than the basal; the leaflets, of 

 which there are 10 to 20 pairs, are sessile, 

 oblong, sometimes narrowly so, 3 to 7 mm. 

 long, blunt or somewhat sharp-pointed, 

 rounded at the unequal base, entire, pale 

 hairy at first, becoming smooth, Hght green 

 above, paler and finely netted beneath. The 

 flowers are perfect, whitish or yellowish, in 

 more or less hairy panicles 5 to 10 cm. long, 

 of subglobose head-Hke clusters 1.5 to 2 cm. 

 in diameter; calyx cup-shaped, the lobes tri- 

 FiG. 479- Huajillo. angular, about i mm. long; corolla tubular, 



about 4 mm. long, the 5 ovate lobes shorter than the tube; stamens numerous, 2 



