76 Plants Collected iyi Paraguay. 



plum, globular, with a thick, leathery rind, and a sweet, mucilag-i- 

 nous pulp that adheres closely to the seed. The meat is quite 

 pleasant to the taste, but slightly astringent, and one may suck the 

 pulp-covered seed as though it were a soft gum. The seeds are 

 large, oval, with a soft shell, one, sometimes two, in the drupe. 

 Parodi (Not. PI. Us. de Corrientes y Paraguay, p. 54) states that 

 the leaves are medicinal, and used in decoctions for mucous fluxes, 

 owing their properties to an essential oil contained in the vesicular 

 glands, which look like transparent dots, and to an astringent tonic 

 principle which all the tissues contain. Flowers in September ; ripe 

 fruit in December. 



Sapindus Saponaria, L., Sp. PL, 367. 



Asuncion (722). May. 



In Paraguay this is a small tree 5-7 m, in height. Found only 

 in fruit. The berries numerous, fleshy, greenish-yellow, about as 

 large as marbles. 



ANACARDIACEJE. 

 Schinus lenticifolius, L., in March. Anac, 164. 



Near Jaguaron (668). ^= Balansa 2523 a. 



A small shrub about 1 m. in height, in large patches upon the 

 open campo. The red, capsular fruit, about as large as peas, look 

 almost exactly like those of the pepper tree {Schinus molle). The 

 fruit has a thin, brittle shell, which easily crushes between the 

 fingers, and contains a single, flattish seed covered with angles and 

 grooves. In fruit April 8. 



DUTaua dependens (Ort.), Kunth, Diet. Sci. Nat., Li\rr, 47. 

 La Plata, Arg. Republic (28). October. 



DllTaua spinosa (Engler), Britton. 



Schinus spinosus, Engler, in Mart. Fl. Bras., xii, pt. 2, 388, t. 81, f. 2. 



Pilcomayo River (952). March. 



A shrub 5 or 6 m. in height, and a great nuisance about our 

 camp, as its short, stiff, stub-like branches are armed with sharp 

 thorns, and when cut down it was impossible to burn it or to put 

 it to any use. It seems to be all branches, as the leaves are few 

 and quite small. The flowers are small, white, polygamo-dioecious, 

 scattered along the branches, and looking much like those of our 



