incienso (Venezuela) ; giimbo-limbo (United 

 States, commerce) ; gum-elemi, West-Indian-birch 

 (United States) ; gmntree (Baliamas) ; red-bircli, 

 West-Indian-birch, turpentine-tree, incense-tree, 

 mastic-tree (Jamaica) ; gommier maudit (St. 

 Lucia) ; gomme mombin (Grenada) ; birch-gum 

 (Barbados); turpentine-tree (Grenadines); peel- 

 ing-bark gommier, naked-Indian, Indien nue, dry- 

 land gommier (Trinidad) ; naked-boy (Tobago) ; 

 birch, red gombo-limbo, hukup, chaca, palo chine, 

 palo jiote (British Honduras) ; chioue, gommier 



blanc (Haiti) ; gommier rouge (Guadeloupe, Mar- 

 tinque) ; gommier, gommier barriere (Guade- 

 loupe) ; paaloe sieja doesji, paaloe sieja maatsjoe, 

 sieja blanko, gumtree, balsam-tree (Dutch West 

 Indies). 



Botanical synonyms. — Bursera gummifera L., 

 B. ovaUfoJla (Schlecht.) Engler, Elaphrivm 

 sinmniha (L.) Kose. 



Tlie English name gumbo-limbo is a corniption 

 of the Spanish name goma elemi meaning gum 

 resin. 



BURSERA FAMILY (BURSERACEAE) 



106. Tabonuco 



Usually a very large erect tree, rising above the 

 forest canopy and distinguished at a distance on 

 the mountainsides by its size and dark green foli- 

 age. Tabonuco is further recognized bj' : (1) the 

 smooth whitish bark, peeling oif in thick flakes and 

 exuding streaks of fragrant whitish resin from 

 cuts; (2) the pinnate leaves with 5-7 elliptic leaf- 

 lets 21/0-5 inches long and IVi-S inches broad, pro- 

 ducing characteristic fragrance when crushed ; and 

 (3) oblong fleshy brown fruits 1 inch long and V2 

 inch broad. Because of its abundance, size, and 

 good form, this was one of the most valuable trees 

 of Puerto Kico's original mountain forests. 



Tabonuco reaches 100 feet or more in height, is 

 evergreen, and has an elongated crown. Britton 

 and Wilson in their flora called it "the most ma- 

 jestic tree" of Puerto Eico. The trunk becomes 

 3-5 feet or more in diameter and is slightly en- 

 larged at the base, sometimes with short broad 

 buttresses giving the appearance of an elephant's 

 foot. The bark is thin (about I/4 inch thick) and 

 reddish brown on rapid-gi'owing young trees. The 

 resin, which is an amber liquid when fresh and be- 

 comes white and hard after exposure to the air, 

 is inflammable. The inner bark is brown, gritty, 

 and has a turpentine taste. Twigs are brown and 

 slightly warty. 



Leaves are alternate and 6-10 inches long. The 

 short-stalked leaflets, paired except for the end 

 one, ai-e elliptic, short-pointed or rounded at apex 

 and base, not toothed on edges, slightly thickened, 

 hairless, dark green on upper surface, and green 

 beneath. 



Flower clusters (panicles) are lateral and much 

 branched, 3-8 inches long. The small greenish 

 flowers about %6 inch across are male and female 

 on different trees (dioecious). Calyx is cup- 

 shaped, 3-toothed ; petals 3, less than Vs inch long, 

 spreading; stamens 6, short, inserted at base of 

 thick disk ; and pistil of female flowers with ovary, 

 short style, and stigma. 



The fruit (drupe) resembles an olive and is 1- 

 seeded. Flowering and fruiting nearly through 



238 



Dacryodes excelsa Vahl 



the year, but most fruits produced from July to 

 October. 



The narrow sapwood is grayish, and the heart- 

 wood uniform brown with pinkish cast when first 

 cut, turning pinkish brown when seasoned and 

 later lustrous brown when exposed. The wood 

 is moderately heavy (specific gi-avity 0.53), mod- 

 erately hard, tough, and strong, of fine to medium 

 uniform texture, with roey and interlocked gi-ain 

 and ripple marks, lacking growth rings, and with 

 high luster. It is very susceptible to attack by 

 dry-wood termites and is only slightly resistant 

 to decay. Rate of air-seasoning is rapid, and 

 amount of degrade is minor. Machining charac- 

 teristics are as follows: planing, shaping, mor- 

 tising, sanding, and resistance to screw splitting 

 are good ; and turning and boring are fair. The 

 wood cuts and saws easily but rapidly dulls saws 

 and other tools. It stains well, finishes beauti- 

 fully with varnish or lacquer, and resembles 

 mahogany. 



Tabonuco has been utilized in Puerto Rico more 

 because of its availability in quantity and in large 

 sizes than because of its wood quality. It is ex- 

 tensively used as a substitute for mahogany in 

 furniture. Besides all types of furniture, it serves 

 for cabinetwork, interior trim, general construc- 

 tion, carpentrj', and vehicle and truck bodies. 

 Elsewhere it is made into crates, boxes, shingles, 

 and small boats. The wood should be suitable also 

 for soft-drink cases, fruit and vegetable con- 

 tainei-s, and decorative veneer. The Caribs of 

 Dominica still hollow the trunks into dugout 

 canoes, one of which was found washed on the 

 eastern shore of Mona Island in 1953. The resin 

 was formerly widely employed for torches, as in- 

 cense in religious ceremonies, to calk boats, and for 

 medicinal purposes. 



Because of the limitations of the wood, the dif- 

 ficulty of successfully transplanting seedlings 

 bare-rooted, and the mediocre growth rate of 

 forest trees, efforts by the government to increase 

 tabonuco artificially in the public forests have 

 been abandoned. On the other hand, young trees 



