1884.] The Mezqutt. 453 
cell by a long, coiled funiculus, with ascending radicle and plane, 
foliaceous cotyledons. 
Size and Shape—In size the mezquit ranges from an incon- 
spicuous bush to a middle-sized tree. On high plains, alkali flats, 
or stony bluffs, it is a gnarled, stunted shrub, while on rich bot- 
tom-land it becomes a tree forty feet high, with an undivided 
trunk 2 feet in diameter, and from 7 to 10 feet long. Most of the 
arborescent mezquit, however, is only 6-12 inches thick; and 
shrubby mezquit, of all proportions, preponderates over the ar- 
boreal. The largest trees I have seen are in Southeastern Cali- 
fornia and Southeastern Texas. 
The trunk usually divides a short distance above ground, and 
gives off crooked branches at various angles and heights, so that 
most trees have a loose, straggling, unsymmetrical shape. Under 
very favorable circumstances the mezquit becomes even-spreading 
and round-headed, bearing at a distance some resemblance to the 
apple-tree, 
Foliage —The mezquit, naked and repulsive in winter, begins, 
arly in March, to clothe itself with verdure, giving life and fresh- 
ness to the dreary slopes and bottom-lands. Its early foliage is 
of the most delicate emerald-green, which gradually deepens 
without ever reaching a somber hue. The scattered leaflets, thin 
and rigid, sift the sunlight, and only throw on the ground a 
Speckled and illusory shadow, in which one vainly Seeks protec- 
tion from the heat. This thinness of foliage, apparently intended 
to prevent excessive loss of moisture, would prepare one to ex- 
ais comparatively few stomata on the surface of the leaves, they 
the open mouths through which aqueous exhalation takes 
Place ; but the fact is, that they are numerous, indeed far exceed- 
ng in number those found on plants growing in more favored 
upg - Thus the mean of several observations was, for the upper 
The €, 63,660, and for the under surface 143,235 on the square 
Pasi t may be noted that the leaflets stand in all positions, 
a ey ab vertical or oblique plane than horizontally, and there- 
posed to i difference between the two sides, almost equally ex- 
: ght, is also remarkable. 
Middle aoe Fruit—The mezquit begins to blossom about the 
the mj i and crops of flowers succeed one another until 
and ripen of July. The pods, or “beans,” form early in June, 
throughout July and August. In dry places they are 
