514 PROCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM. [1885. 



Eio Grande where it is called Jalapa by Mexicans. The rhizoraa is 

 emetic and purgative ; it is kept, powdered, in the drug stores of North- 

 ern Mexico. The seeds are also strongly purgative. N 



Croton corymbulosus, Engelm. (Encenilla; Chaparral Tea.) 



Very common weed of valleys and prairies. An infusion of the 

 flowering tops, either green or dried, makes an excellent tea having 

 sudorific, carminative and tonic properties, but devoid of stimulating 

 and astringent principles. It is much used by Mexicans, Indians and 

 colored United States soldiers. The latter prefer it to coffee in the 

 field. 



The C. suaveolens, a small shrub in the foot-hills of mountains, ex- 

 haling a delicious fragrance, would probably likewise make an excellent 

 tea. 



Acalypha Lindheimeri, Mull. 



Perennial herb, with many weak, ascending, downy stems, on hillsides 

 in Western Texas. ''According to Dr. Gregg, this plant is used by 

 Mexicans as a wash for sore gums and loose teeth, and as an applica- 

 tion to uleers." ° 



ZYGOPHYLL ACE-SI. 

 Larrea Mexicana, Moric. (Creosote-Bush.) 



Very common shrub on gravelly mesas and bluffs west of the Pecos. 

 It owes its name to the unpleasant tarry odor which it exhales. The 

 branchlets are often covered with an abundant red-brown exhudate 

 from which, according to Dr. Loew, can be obtained a red coloring 

 matter showing all the reactions of cochineal. The leaves contain a 

 peculiar resinous substance, soluble in alcohol, to which is due the pe- 

 culiar smell of the plant and its active properties. It is principally used 

 in rheumatic affections by the Mexicans, who bathe in an infusion of the 

 branchlets and leaves. This infusion is acrid and nauseous and does 

 not seem to be ever taken internally. It is used by Mexican shoemakers 

 to dye leather red. 



The green branches and foliage burn with a bright blaze giving off 



intense heat, and are much used in lime-kilns.' 



• 



Porliera angustifolia, Gray. (Guayacan.) 



Evergreen, straggling shrub on bluffs, or a very small tree in valleys 

 and sheltered canons, from the Lower Eio Grande to San Antonio and 

 the Pecos ; more sparingly beyond. 



This shrub has probably, in a varying degree, all the properties of 

 the genus Guaydcum to which it is closely allied botanically. Wood 

 heavy, close-grained, very compact olive-green in the center and with a 

 large yellowish zone of sap-wood. Although somewhat brittle, it must 

 be of much value to cabinet-makers. A decoction of it is used by Mexi- 

 cans as a vascular stimulant and sudorific, in rheumatism, amenorrhea 

 and venereal diseases. 



