120. Sabinon 



SPURGE FAMILY (EUPHORBIACEAE) 



Croton poecilanthus Urban 



This tree with watery hitex, confined to the east- 

 ern mountains of Puerto Rico, is distinguished by : 

 (1) lower surface of leaves, ])etioles, youjig twips, 

 flower stalks, flowers antl fruits silvery fjreen or 

 brown, being covered with tiny round silvery- 

 brown scales; (2) the leaves elliptic, thick and 

 leathei-y, 3-7 inches long and 2-3 inches wide, 

 short-pointed at both ends, the upper surface 

 green to dark green, and slightly shiny; and (3) 

 the many small silvery-brown male and female 

 flowers almost stalkless on a terminal axis 3-7 

 inches long. 



A small or medium-sized evergreen tree attain- 

 ing 20^0 feet in height and 10 inches in trunk di- 

 ameter, with irregular spreading crown. The 

 bark is smoothish and minutely fissured or warty, 

 gray or brown. Inner bark is pink, slightly bitter 

 with a burning taste. Tiiere is a small amount of 

 whitisli watery or nearly transparent latex. The 

 leaves are alternate on jjetioles %-2 inches long, 

 the blades not toothed on edges. 



The flower clusters (racemes) have all male 

 flowers, or also a few female flowers at base., or all 

 female flowers (monoecious). Male flowers % 

 inch long and broad have a gray-green scaly calyx 

 with 3 or 4 deep lobes %6 inch long, 5 wMtish 

 scaly petals %6 inch long, and about 20 whitish 



spreading stamens. Female flowers about the 

 same size have a cup-shaped, gray-green, scaly 

 calyx %g inch long including the 5 short lobes, and 

 pistil witli gray-green, scaly, 3-celled ovary and 3 

 large whitish styles, deeply forked and appearing 

 as 6, afterwards turning black and remaining at- 

 tached to fruit. 



The seed capsules are nearly round but longer 

 rlian broad, slightly 3-angled, about 1/2 in^li long. 

 At maturity the capsule .separates into 3 brown 

 parts, each falling from the axis and splitting open 

 to release a brown seed % inch long. Flowering 

 and fruiting nearly throughout the year. 



The sap wood is whitish, and the heart wood is 

 light yellow. The wood is moderately hard and 

 moderately heavy (specific gravity 0.6). It is 

 used only for posts and fuel. 



An imderstory tree in the upper Luquillo forest 

 region and extending down the slopes into swampy 

 areas and along stream courees in the upper por- 

 tion of the lower Luquillo region of Puerto Rico. 



Public fokest. — laiquillo. 



R.\NGE. — Known only from mountains of eastern 

 Puerto Rico. 



The other native species of this genus include 10 

 of shi'ubs and 2 of herbs. 



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