EUPMORB I AC EAE 



ornamental. The "mala mujer", or bad woman, as the plant is called, 



is best observed at a respectable distance as the stinging hairs are 

 very painful to the touch. The plant is never browsed and its ero- 

 sion control value is questionable. It should, however, be inves- 

 tigated for its latex and possible medicinal alkaloids. 



Jat ropha macrorhiza is similar in growth habit to the last. 

 Its range is southern New Mexico and Arizona and south into Mexico. 

 It is herbaceous and coarse and bushy in appearance, with large green 

 leaves without spines. It has a very large, fleshy root of pleasant 

 flavor not unlike new potatoes. Children occasionally dig it up and 

 eat the roots with serious results, as it is violently purgative. 

 The purgative properties have long been recognized by the Mexicans, 

 who froquontly use it for this purpose. The root is occasionally 

 sliced and dried. A thin pieco the size of a quarter, is ample, and 

 then some, according to reports. The only possible interest in this 

 plant is an ornamental and for its medicinal properties. 



Pr oton spp. With us the Crotons ore for the most part worth- 

 less weeds. Thoy are commonly erect or spreading, matted plants with 

 grayish leaves and stems. The gray appearance is due to the peculiar 

 stellate hairs covering the surface. Great fields of these plants 

 occur along the highway where there has been heavy grazing and the 

 plants "stink to high heaven". On such sites the plants doubtless 

 serve to bind the soil during heavy rains but the root system is not 

 suited for the best erosion control and the plants themselves rob 

 the soil of moisture which might be available for other plants. All 

 the Crotons are unpalatable to stock. The seeds, however, are eaten 

 in great quantities by doves, in spite of the highly purgative oil 

 they contain, A very exceptional Croton, C. sonorea, is found in 

 Santa Cruz and Pima Counties in Arizona. It is a shrub three to four 

 feet high with grayish green leaves and large seeds. It is not weedy 

 like many of the Crotons and may make a desirable ornamental in the 

 warm dry sections of the southwest. Nothing is known of its properties. 



BUMACEAE 



Gimmondsia cali.forr.ica, Jujube or Deer Hut Bush, is one of 

 our most common shrubs in the mountains and foothills in central and 

 southern Arizona, southern California and adjacent Mexico. The ac- 

 count of it in Standley's Trees and Shrubs of Mexico reads much 

 like a fairy tale. The plant is extremely drought resistant, form- 

 ing almost pure stands in many places. As an example, some of the 

 north-facing slopes of the hills between Roosevelt and Globe , Arizona 

 are almost completely covered by it. The plant is excellent browse, 

 the leaves and nuts both being eaten by all kinds of stock and game. 

 According to the account in Trees and Shrubs of Mexico the nuts 

 contain 4-8 percent oil. This oil is medicinal and is good even for 

 cancer, according to reports. It is also used as a salad oil. The 



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