Analysis  of  Fouquieria  Splendens.  81 
PKOXIMATE  ANALYSIS  OF  THE  BAKK  OF  FOU- 
QUIERIA SPLENDENS. 
By  Helen  C.  De  8.  Abbott  J 
In  the  published  proceedings  of  the  Mexican  Boundary  Survey  of 
1859,  conducted  by  General  William  H.  Emory,  are  found  numerous 
references  to  Fouquieria  splendens.  No  region  of  equal  extent  presents 
more  marked  illustrations  of  the  relations  of  the  vegetation  of  a  coun- 
try to  its  topography  and  geology  than  that  lying  along  the  Mexican 
boundary  line.  The  traveler  traversing  the  desert  table-lands  will  not 
fail  to  unite  in  his  recollections  of  these  tracts  the  dull  foliage  of  the 
creosote  bush,  the  palm-like  Yucca,  and  the  long  thorny  wands  of  the, 
Fouquieria  splendens.  The  vegetation  of  the  El  Paso  basin  and  the 
Upper  Rio  Grande  valley  is  described  as  strikingly  different  from  that 
of  the  immediately  adjoining  country ;  new  and  strange  plants  are 
seen  on  every  side.  Upon  the  table-lands  many  plants  grow  not  to  be 
found  in  the  more  fertile  valleys ;  among  these  is  Fouquieria,  a  tree 
locally  known  by  its  Mexican  name  ocotiTla.  A  full  description  of  the 
appearance  of  the  plant  is  given  in  the  Mexican  Boundary  Survey  ; 
also  one  in  an  article  by  Edward  Lee  Green.^  The  author  describes 
Fouquieria.  splendens  in  these  terms  :  "  It  is  a  splendid  oddity  and  not 
more  odd  than  beautiful,  flourishing  in  great  abundance  in  many  places. 
It  grows  to  the  height  of  from  eight  to  twelve  feet,  and  in  outline  is 
quite  precisely  fan-shaped.  The  proper  trunk,  usually  ten  to  twelve 
inches  in  diameter,  is  not  more  than  a  foot  and  a  half  high.  A  few 
inches  above  the  surface  of  the  sands  this  trunk  abruptly  separates  into 
a  dozen  or  more  distinct  and  almost  branchless  stems.  These  simple 
stems  rising  to  the  height  of  eight  or  ten  feet  gradually  diverge  from 
one  another,  giving  to  the  w4iole  shrub  the  outline  of  a  spread  fan. 
Each  separate  stem  is  clothed  throughout  with  short  gray  thorns  and 
small  dark  green  leaves,  and  tenninates  in  a  spike,  a  foot  long,  of 
bright  scarlet  trumpet-shaped  flowers.  The  stems  are  not  so  thickly 
armed  with  thorns,  but  that  they  can  be  handled  if  grasped  circum- 
spectly, and  being  very  hard  and  durable,  as  well  as  of  a  convenient 
size,  they  are  much  employed  for  fencing  purj^oses  about  the  stage 
'  Paper  read  before  the  Chemical  Section  of  the  American  Association  for 
the  Advancement  of  Science,  at  Philadelphia,  1884,  by  H.  C.  De  S.  Abbott. 
^  Botanizing  on  the  Colorado  Desert,  "  American  Naturalist,"  1880. 
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