58o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 250. 



sively used by Mexicans as a condiment. That fact might 

 excite no surprise. But birds are fond of them. Even mock- 

 ing-birds eat them witli avidity, and without injury to their 

 vocal organs. Wild turkeys, too, use them in the fall, until 

 they are literally seasoned by them, affording us most excel- 

 lent natural " Chile con carne." 



Acacia Farnesiana is rarely seen here, though it is one of the 

 commonest shrubs or trees of southern Texas. It extends into 

 the other Gulf states and far southward. So far as the observa- 

 tion of the writer has extended, this species attains a larger 

 size than any other Texas species of the genus. I saw a tree 

 of this species felled last summer in Victoria that was about 

 eighteen inches in diameter and thirty feet or more tall. It is 

 a handsome sight in blossom, covered with thousands of little 

 globes of small, very fragrant, yellow flowers. About the first 

 of last January, at Goliad, I saw such a tree in full blossom. 

 Apostaxis occurs largely in this species, as it does in inost of 

 its congeners, and also in Mesquit. These gums possess, 

 probably, properties similar to those of gum Arabic, for which 

 they may prove to be a valuable succedaneum. 



Parkinsonia aculeata, "Ratama," or Jerusalem Thorn, is also 

 here in gardens and as an escape. Its light graceful sprays 

 and foliage and handsome yellow flowers, which are produced 

 from May to November, make it a popular lawn tree through- 

 out the south and as far north as it will thrive. Diospyros 

 Texana, Black Persimmon, or " Chapate," grows on the bluff at 

 Lovers' Leap. The species is very abundant from this me- 

 ridian far westward. It may be seen, sometimes, not more 

 than three or four feet tall, profusely covered with its small 

 black fruit, and through all degrees of height, until it becomes a 

 tree of middling size. The largest individuals that I have 

 seen were on the bluffs of the Arroya near Beeville. Those 

 were at least a foot in diameter and thirty-five feet tall. The 

 fruit of this species is sweet and less astringent than that of its 

 more northern congener, but it, pulp and all, is so intensely 

 black, that in eating it the lips and fingers become of such a 

 black-inky hue that it is not so generally eaten as the fruit of 

 our other species, which also is found in this vicinity. The 

 wood of D. Texana is very hard and close-grained and of 

 economic value when such qualities are required of wood. 

 Professor Sargent tells us that for engravers' blocks it is the best 

 American substitute for box-wood. The bark of this tree ex- 

 foliates, and, when unleaved, the tree closely simulates in size, 

 height and habit the cultivated Crape Myrtle (Lagerstrcemia) 

 when that plant is defoliated. The leaves of this species are 

 small, oblong, thick, and with recurved margins. In the southern 

 part of its range they persist until crowded off by the new growth. 



Berberis trifoliolata. Currant, " Agrita," is one of the most 

 interesting and important shrubs of western Texas. Tfiis 

 Barberry is rarely found so far eastward, but I saw a few indi- 

 viduals on the bluffs of the Bosque. In southern Texas it 

 blossoms as early as February and ripens its red fruit in May. 

 The fruit, about as large as currants, has an agreeably acid 

 flavor and is largely used for pies, jellies and preserves. The 

 shrub may be easily recognized, even when destitute of flowers 

 or fruit, by its glaucous evergreen leaves, which are variously 

 cut and armed with spines. Its cultivation on an extended 

 scale is desirable, as western Texas has no other early spring 

 fruit which, green or ripe, will fill the place of this one. 



Sophora secundiflora is rarely met with at Lovers' Leap, be- 

 coming very common farther westward. Usually a shrub, it 

 occasionally becomes a respectable tree. Differing largely 

 from our other native species, it produces large violet-colored 

 flowers which are succeeded by large, often constricted, woody 

 pods, each containing from one to half a dozen red, roundish, 

 large seeds, which are said to be very poisonous. I have made 

 no experiments to ascertain the truth of this charge. The 

 seeds are easily polished, and are then quite handsome. De- 

 vout Mexicans use them in making the bead-rolls by which 

 they tally their prayers. Growing with S. secundiflora some- 

 times, but oftener along streams in central Texas, is S. tomen- 

 tosa. It is a small tree, with green bark, yellow flowers 

 and small moniliform pods in lavish profusion. The seeds 

 are blackish, small, and embedded in pulp. The eating of a 

 portion of the pulpy fruit did not kill the writer. 



Bumelia lycioides is abundant throughout this region. Its 

 black oblong drupes are edible. The largest trees of this spe- 

 cies that I have met were near Caldwell, Kansas. They were 

 forty feet tall or more and a foot in diameter. The West In- 

 dian Cassia occidentalis is common in the streets of Waco. 

 The odd Eryngium Leavenworthiiisalmosteverywherearnong 

 limestone-rocks. This species is often mistaken by botanical 

 tyros, sometimes for a Teasel, oftener for some Cnicus. Our 

 species extends through the Indian Territory to Kaw River, in 

 Kansas. When about to celebrate the nuptials of its flowers, 



the whole plant shares in the festivities of the occasion, and, 

 laying aside its plain green gown, attires itself in royal purple. 



Cucumis anguria, which yields the gherkin of commerce, is 

 often seen wild in this state. The fruit might be raised here 

 without limit. The wild grapes would furnish the vinegar, 

 Chiltapins the peppers, and Texas might supply the world with 

 pickled gherkins. 7^ ,7 r.r 



Waco, Texas. E. N. Plank. 



New or Little-known Plants. 



Prunus tomentosa. 



THIS little Cherry has been introduced into cultivation 

 at several widely separated stations in North 

 America, and in the coldest region where it has yet been tried 

 it appears to be quite hardy and vigorous. It has flowered 

 and fruited for some years at the Arnold Arboretum ; and 

 on the grounds of the Iowa Agricultural College at Ames it 

 is reported as withstanding perfectly the rigorous winters, 

 its fruit-buds being hardy and its flowers enduring quite 

 severe frosts without injury. 



The species is a shrub and never attains anything like 

 tree-form. Apparently mature plants at the Arnold Arbo- 

 retum are only six or eight feet high, while it is described 

 in accounts of it in its native habitat as from five to ten 

 feet in height. It forms a broad, spreading, twiggy bush 

 of numerous stems rising from the ground and clothed 

 with branches to the base. These lower branches, where 

 they touch moist ground, often send out roots and form, in- 

 dependent plants. The bark is a gray or bronzy brown, at 

 first comparatively smooth, but finally scaling off laterally 

 in very thin flakes, like the bark of Yellow Birch. 



The downy gray young branches are usually thickly 

 covered with buds, from v^'hich a profusion of flowers and 

 leaves appear simultaneously in early spring. In this lati- 

 tude the blossoms begin to open soon after the middle of 

 April, and they maybe counted in best condition about the 

 first week of May. They are smaller than the flowers of 

 the common Cherry, white or light rose colored, usually 

 assuming a distinctly rosy tinge before falling away. They 

 are sessile,or almost so, and are crowded in clusters in the 

 axils of the leaves. The leaves are mostly from one and a 

 half to two inches long, rounded ovate in outline, acu- 

 minate, serrate, the serrations being tipped with a sharp 

 point or mucro. They are sparingly hairy on the upper 

 surface and densely and softly hairy beneath. The leaf- 

 stalks are very short, and at the base of each is a pair of 

 slender, laciniate, long, persistent stipules. 



When ripe, the cherries average about half an inch in 

 diameter, being round, or somewhat longer than broad. 

 They are slightly covered with very short and inconspicu- 

 ous hairs, and contain a medium-sized stone. They begin 

 to ripen or change to a light red color in the latter part of 

 June. Later the color becomes darker, and the cherries 

 can hardly be considered to have attained their finest flavor 

 and condition of ripeness until the second week of July. 

 They have a pleasant slightly acid flavor ; the flesh is firm 

 and juicy, and without the noticeable staining properties 

 characteristic of some wild cherries and plums. With care- 

 ful selection and cultivation this little Cherry might prove 

 of some economic value. 



Prunus tomentosa is a native of northern China, and 

 the same, or a closely allied, species is found in the 

 high Himalayas of north-western India and in Thibet. 

 It has been described by some botanists under the name 

 of P. trichocarpa, or hairy-fruited Cherry, and plants 

 labeled P. mollis have been received at the Arboretum. 



The illustration on page 581 of a fruiting branch is of 

 natural size, from a specimen grown in the Arboretum the 

 past summer. The seed of this plant was collected in the 

 mountains in the vicinity of Pekin, China, by Dr. E. 

 Bretschneider, and was sown in March, 1884. It flowered 

 and fruited in 1888, or earlier, and the bush now has ap- 

 parently reached its fullest development, although it may 

 attain a little larger size. r r t h 



Arnold Arboretum. J' ^- JO.CK. 



