standley: north American species of genipa 641 



The wood of this tree is soft and fibrous but strong, "elastic, 

 and resistant, with a specific gravity reported to range from 0.670 

 to 0.873. In color it is whitish tinged with reddish gray, or 

 sometimes gray, and is said to take a good poUsh and to resist 

 the attacks of insects. It has been used in making gunstocks, 

 axe handles, wagons, and other articles. The bark is astringent 

 and is sometimes used for tanning. A decoction of the roots 

 is said to be used for venereal diseases in the West Indies. In 

 Brazil the leaves are reported to be valuable as forage for cattle, 

 and the fruits are said to fatten pigs. 



The fruit of Genipa americana is doubtless the most important 

 and widely used part of the plant. It is used in Porto Rico and 

 elsewhere to prepare a refreshing beverage, and it is also often 

 fermented to produce an intoxicating drink. When green or ripe 

 it contains copious juice which imparts to everything with which 

 it comes in contact a blue, violet, or nearly black stain. Among 

 the native tribes of tropical America the juice has been highly 

 esteemed for dyeing cloth and other articles. More important, 

 however, is its wide employment among the aborigines for paint- 

 ing and tattooing the skin. For this purpose it is still much used 

 by the uncivilized tribes of certain parts of South America. It 

 is said that the Indians paint their skins with it not only for adorn- 

 ment, but to protect themselves partially against the attacks of 

 the insects so annoying to human life in humid tropical regions. 



Because of the economic importance of the commonest species 

 of the genus, it is of interest to find in the U. S. National Her- 

 barium specimens of two rubiaceous plants of Panama, evidently 

 undescribed, which apparently are congeneric. Diagnoses of 

 these are given below. Although both are known only from 

 fruiting material, and it may be that the flowers, when collected, 

 will show that they are not properly referable to Genipa, they 

 are certainly closely allied, and agree better with Genipa than 

 with any other genus of American Gardenieae. 



Besides Genipa americana, the other published North American 

 species of the genus is G. codonocalyx, described^ recently by the 

 writer from the Pacific coastal belt of Cost Rica. This is known 



6 Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 17: 446. 1914. 



