THE CANOTIA FAMILY 



CANOTIACE^ Britton 



GENUS CANOTIA TORREY 



Species Canotia holacantha Torrey 



ANOTIA is a curious and interesting monotype, whose botanical 

 relationships are not very evident. It occurs only, so far as known, 

 in Arizona and southern California, and is a leafless tree or shrub; its 

 twigs are tipped by stiff spines. It has 

 been regarded by authors at different times as belong- 

 ing to three different natural families, and is here con- 

 sidered as sufl&ciently distinct from everything else to 

 constitute a family all by itself, the Canotiaceae. The 

 generic name, given by Dr. Torrey, is what it was 

 called by the Mexicans when discovered by Dr. Bigelow 

 in 1854. 



The brown bark is deeply channelled, the twigs and 

 spines round and smooth; there are characteristic black 

 markings at the base of each twig and at the bases of 

 the small flower-clusters, which are borne on the sides 

 of twigs and subtended by a very small ovate pointed 

 scale. The flowers, which open from June to October, 

 are perfect and regular, white, about 8 mm. broad; the 

 calyx is very small and 5-lobed; the 5 petals are oblong- 

 obovate and blunt, alternating with as many short sta- 

 mens; the ovary is 5-celled with about 6 ovules in each cavity, the style long, the 

 small stigma slightly s-lobed. The fruit is a dry oblong capsule, about 2.5 cm. 

 long, with a slender tip, and splits when ripe into 5 woody valves, releasing the flat 

 and winged seeds. 



The wood is hard, dense, light brown, with a specific gravity of about 0.67. 



Fig. 586. — Canotia. 



635 



