RHAMNACE^ 



659 



stamens 5, inserted on the margin of the disk, rather shorter than the calyx-lobes; 

 filaments incurved; anthers oval; ovary free from the disk, almost superior, coni- 

 cal, 2-3-celled, contracted into a short erect thick style; stigma 2-3-lobed. Fruit 

 drupaceous; flesh thin; stone crustaceo-membranaceous. Seed ovoid or subglobose; 

 seed-coat very thin, conspicuously rugose and tuberculate; embryo axile in copious 

 subcorneous ruminate albumen; cotyledons oblong. 



Reynosia is distributed from southern Florida and the Bahama Islands to the An- 

 tilles. Four species are recognized; of these, one, a small tree, extends into south- 

 ern Florida. 



The generic name is in honor of Alvaro Reynoso (1830-1888), the distinguished 

 Cuban chemist and writer on agriculture and scientific subjects. 



1. Reynosia septei^rionalis, Urb. Red Ironwood. Darling Plum. 



(^Reynosia latifolia, Silva N. Am. ii. 21.) 



Leaves oval or oblong, or sometimes nearly orbicular, rounded, truncate or fre- 

 quently emarginate and usually minutely apiculate at the apex, gradually narrowed 

 at the base into short broad petioles, very thick and coriaceous, dark green on the 

 upper, rather paler or often rufous on the lower surface, l'-l|' long and ^' broad, 



with thickened revolute margins, stout broad midribs, about five pairs of primary 

 veins spreading nearly at right angles, and numerous reticulate veinlets, unfolding 

 in April and remaining on the branches for one and sometimes for two years. 

 Flowers appearing in May, Jj' long. Fruit ripening in Florida in November or 

 frequently not until the following spring, short-obovate ^' long, purple or nearly 

 black, edible, with an agreeable flavor. 



A tree, 20-25 high, with a trunk 6'-8' in diameter, stout terete rigid branchlets 

 slightly puberulous at first, soon becoming glabrous and gray faintly tinged with red, 

 growing darker in their second season, then often covered by small tubercles and 

 marked by the prominent elevated leaf-scars. "Winter-buds minute, chestnut-brown. 

 Bark of the trunk -^q'-^ thick, dark red-brown, and divided into large thick plate- 

 like scales. Wood heavy, exceedingly hard, strong, close-grained, rich dark brown, 

 with light brown sapwood of 15-20 layers of annual growth. 



Distribution. Coast and islands of southern Florida from the Marquesas group 



