ROSE- MEXICAN AM' CENTRAL AMERICAN PLANTS. 



regions of Mexico such a distribution of the species seems most unnal 

 ural. This western material has been segregated by Mr. Nash under 

 the name of F. peninsularis and /■'. macdougalii. While planning for 

 the trip to [xmiquilpan I learned from Dr. C. A. Purpus that there 

 was a Fouquieria along the stage road from Tetepango t<> [xmiquilpan. 

 As this road runs near Actopan I fell convinced that this was the plant 

 for which I had so long been looking. During the stage ride of 1" 

 miles only a single specimen was observed, but this fortunately \\;i- a 

 very fine one. A photograph of it i- here shown (PI. XXII). Some 

 days afterwards while making an excursion some 20 mile- east of 

 [xmiquilpan we found thisspecies in great abundance growing on the 

 hills with the oldman cactus. Pilocereus senilis^ and with Dasylirion 

 quudrangulatum. And again while making our trip through the des- 

 ert of Queretaro we found the plant growing profusely on the dry 

 hills and on the walls of the canyons. Among the pool* natives it is 

 known as chiquina. They use the stems for the sides of their rude 4 

 huts and to form first a fence and then a hedge about their yard-. 

 The stems are placed close together forming a compact paling, well 

 defended by the sharp recurved spines which are revealed after the 

 leaves fall off. The stems easily root and then form a permanent 

 hedge. It is not uncommon to see the naked stems giving off bright 

 red (dusters of flowers from their upper axils. The photograph gives 

 a good idea of the habit of the plant. The material collected, of 

 which there is an abundance, shows that the species instead of being 

 the most remote is perhaps the nearest relative of Fouquieria formosa. 

 The material, although not yet critically studied, also indicates that 

 it is very (dose to Fouquieria campanulata. 



At [xmiquilpan we collected material of the so-called Dasylirion 

 hookeri, which has led to the ascertainment of the real identity of this 

 very curious plant. It was long ago (1859) figured in the Botanical 

 Magazine and wrongly referred to Dasylirion hartwegi. Then it 

 seems to have been lost sight of until L904, when a specimen was sent 

 to Washington by Mr. C. R. Orcutt from San Luis Potosi. Thisspeci- 

 men being without flowers, fruit, or foliage, its relationship could only 

 he guessed at. In habit it resembled a great puffball with a thick 

 corky bark like that of an oak and of a loose cellular st ructure wit hin. 

 Later in the year the Department of Agriculture commissioned Dr. E. 

 Palmer to collect the plant near San Luis Potosi. Some 1<» or 1 1' tine 

 specimens were received from him. hut these have remained perfectly 

 dormant up to the present. Having learned from Doctor Purpus that 

 he had seen a similar plant near Ixmiquilpan, when I visited that place, 

 a day was spent with him in hunting for it in its habitat on the tops of 

 mountains. Specimens are n<>t at all common and so much do they 

 resemble moss-covered bowlders <>r old stumps that one may easily 



