1 62 ROWLEE: SYNOPSIS OF THE GENUS OCHROMA 



keel on the back, the inner 3 oblong, keeled, with expanded margin; 

 pod 12 cm. long; seed with a short, stout funicle. 



Type in the U. S. National Herl^ariiim, no. 862345, collected at 

 Trece Aguas, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, Alay 9, 191 4, by O. F. Cook 

 and C. B. Doyle (no. 82). The following Guatemalan specimens 

 in the National Herbarium also represent this species: Mrs. William 

 Owen II, 1 1 A; Goll 230. The flowers are borne in December and 

 January and the fruit in February and March. 



This species is very different from any other of the genus. It is 

 known only from the country surrounding the head of the Bay of 

 Honduras. It has not been reported from outside of Guatemala, but 

 undoubtedly grows in adjacent Honduras and British Honduras, and 

 in all probability in southern Yucatan. It occurs throughout the lower 

 Motagua Valley from above Quirigua to the sea. Well developed 

 trees are found on the reservation containing the Maya ruins, near 

 Quirigua. It also occurs rather abundantly in the valley of Lake 

 Izabal and the Golfete. 



Goll reports the name "kapok;" Mrs. Owen gives the Indian names 

 "jujul" and "puj." The local names given us were "lana" and 

 "cajeto." 



There arc two distinct species of Ochroma in northeastern Guate- 

 mala. In addition to the one characterized above, there is another 

 which is probably specifically identical with the species of northern 

 Costa Rica. Ochroma concolor grows on lower ground than the Costa 

 Rican species or, indeed, than any other species of Ochroma known to 

 us. In the Great vSwamp, along the San Francisco del Mar River, 

 east of Barrios and west of the mouth of the Motagua, many large 

 trees occur on ground that is inundated a considerable portion of the 

 year. The species occurs also on higher ground, as on the hospital grounds 

 at Quirigua, as well as near Virginia and along the Tomeja River. 



2. Ochroma lagopus Swartz, Prodr. Veg. Ind. Occ. 98. 1788. 



West Indian balsa. 



Up to the present time, all the species of the genus except Ochroma 

 tomentosa Willd. have been included under this name, which, there is 

 every reason to believe, should be restricted to include only forms 

 that grow in the West Indies. 



vSmaller in size than the preceding species, usually not exceeding 30 

 cm. in diameter and 18 meters in height; leaf blades small (15 to 20 

 cm.), brown-tomentose to nearly glabrous; flowers small, 10 cm. long; 

 calyx tube 6 cm. long, the lobes 2.5 cm. long, 2 cm. wide at the base 

 and 4.5 cm. at the summit, prominently carinate on the back. — Flowers 

 borne in February and March; fruit in April and May. 



