114 pittier: new genus of mulberry family 



Inophloeum armatum (Miquel) Pittier. 



Olmedia f armata Miquel in Seemann, Bot. Voy. Herald, 196. 1854. 



Arbor mediocris, ramulis, petiolis, costa foliorum subtus, stipulisque 

 aculeatis, foliis distichis, coriaceis, petiolo crasso subtereto laminis lato- 

 ovatis, obliquis, basi rotimdatis vel subcuneatis apice obtusiusculo- 

 apiculatis, glabris, utrinque 7-8-costatis, costis subtus prominentibus, 

 stipulis convolutis, subspathaceis, cicatricem obliquam circularem re- 

 liquens; receptaculis foemineis axillaribus, 3-7-floribus, perianthio 

 ovoideo-tubuloso, coriaceo, stylo incluso, stigmatibus linearibus, erectis, 

 contiguis, fere adnatis. Bacca coriacea, et caetera ignota. 



Arbor 10-20 metralis, trunco erecto, cortice crasso, sublaevi. Aculei 

 conici, basi crassi, apice acuto, hyalino, ampulliformi, circa 3 mm. 

 longo. Petioli 1.5-2.5 cm. longi; laminae 14-40 cm. longae, 11-25 

 cm. latae. Stipulae 2-2.5 cm. longae. Perianthium foemineum ca. 

 6 mm. longum. 



Panama: Around Dos Bocas, Fato Valley, province of Colon, in 

 forests, female flowers, August 16, 1911, Pittier 4202. Alhajuela, on 

 the shady banks of the Chagres River, leaves only, May 25, 1911, 

 Pittier 3731. Lake shore in the Gatun Valley, in forest, May, 1914, 

 Pittier, without number. Around Pinogana, southern Darien, April, 

 1914, Pittier, without number. 



Miquel mentions white, setulose hairs mixed with the aculei of the 

 stipules and bracts. In our specimens such hairs, when extant, are 

 so scarce and inconspicuous as not to be worth mention. The larger 

 dimensions of the leaves are those given by the same author; in our 

 specimens they are not over 25 cm., long and 18 cm. broad. 



The liber of this tree is very thick and the fibers of its many layers 

 are strong and crossed. After a convenient preparation, which con- 

 sists mainly of soaking in running water for several days and a thorough 

 beating with a wooden club to separate the outer cortical part, it is 

 used by the Choco, Cuna, and Guaymi Indians as the usual covering 

 of the women, as well as for small hammocks, blankets, etc. In for- 

 mer times, as reported by Seemann, 3 the larger pieces were made into 

 sails for the native canoes. This use of the bark of Inophloeum, how- 

 ever, is not exclusive, others being similarly applied. For instance, 

 it is said that in Costa Rica and Panama species of Brosimum and 

 Castillo, are treated in the same way for identical purposes, while in 

 other parts the bark of Ficus species is preferred. 



The known natives names of Inophloeum armatum are namagua in 

 the Cupica district of the Colombian province of Choco, maragua in 

 Darien, and cocud in the negro villages on the Atlantic coast, close to 

 the territory of the San Bias Indians. 



3 Bot. Voy. Herald, 196. 



