MADDER FAMILY (RUBIACEAE) 



243. Jagua, genipa 



Ja^ia or genipa, the source of a sour refreshing 

 drink, is characterized by : (1) an erect trunk with 

 leaves concentrated at the ends of the branches; 

 (2) opposite, hirge, elliptic or obovate leaves, green 

 or dark green, slightly shiny, 4—12 inches long and 

 11/^—1: inches broad, short-pointed at apex, long- 

 pointed at base, and broadest beyond middle; (3) 

 large pale yellow flowei-s about 1 inch long and 

 11/2 inches across the 5 lobes, few or several in short 

 terminal clusters; and (4) large elliptic yellow- 

 brown fruits 314-414 inches long and 21/0-31/2 

 inches in diameter, with sour edible flesh, hanging 

 down singly on long stalks. 



This is a medium-sized deciduous tree to 60 feet 

 high and li/^ feet in diameter or larger, with 

 spreading crown of dense foliage. The bark is 

 smooth, gray, and thick. Inner bark is light brown 

 and almost ta.?teless. The stout twigs are green, 

 turning brown, with ringed nodes close together, 

 hairless or hairy. 



The short petioles are V4-V2 i'i''b long. Blades 

 are without teeth on edges, slightly thickened, 

 the lower surface paler green and hairless and 

 often hairy. At the base of young leaves are 

 long-pointed scales (stipules) %-% inch long, 

 which shed early. Upon drying the leaf blades 

 turn dark bluish green. 



The branched flower clusters (cymes) are short- 

 stalked, 2-4 inches long and broad, bearing large, 

 slightly fragrant flowers. The funnel-shaped base 

 (hypanthium) and cylindrical tubular calyx with- 

 out lobes are green, together i^ inch long and 1,4 

 inch in diameter; the corolla has a tube about i/^ 

 inch long with 5 broad lol>es, which are widely 

 spreading and turned back, pale yellow but brown 

 at base inside, finely hairy; 5 stamens inserted on 

 the corolla tube; and pistil with 2-celled inferior 

 ovary, slender style, and long thicker stigma. 



Fruits (berries) are soft when mature, with 

 strong sour odor, with leathery skin and yellow- 

 brown pulp Vo inch thick. Within are numerous 

 flat yellowish seeds %-yo inch long. Flowering 

 and fruiting from spring to fall. 



The sapwood is cream colored, and the heart- 

 wood vei-y light yellowish brown, occasionally 

 with slight pinkish- or purplish-blue overcast, 

 with growth rings marked by narrow darker 

 bands forming an attractive striped figure. The 

 wood is hard, heavy ( specific gravity 0.66) , strong, 

 resilient, fine-textured, and with straight to irreg- 

 ular grain. Rate of air-seasoning is slow, and 

 amount of degrade is minor. Machining charac- 



Genipa americana L. 



teristics are as follows: planing, shaping, turning, 

 boring, and mortising are excellent; and sanding 

 and resistance to screw splitting are good. The 

 wood works easily and with excellent results, bet- 

 ter than most other Puerto Rican woods. It is 

 very suscejitible to attack by dry-wood termites, 

 pinhole borers, and to decay. 



l^ses include tool handles, furniture, boxes, and 

 carts. Elsewhere the wood is employed for shoe 

 lasts, plow beams, tool handles, barrel hoops, 

 chests, vehicles, and shipbuilding. It is very suit- 

 able for cabinetwork, turnery, flooring, interior 

 trim, and decorative veneer. 



The trees are grown for shade and ornament as 

 well as for the fruit and wood. An intoxicating 

 beverage has been prepared from the fermented 

 juice. The fruits sometimes are made into mar- 

 malade or preserves. Immature fruits contain a 

 blue-black juice which produces a lasting or indeli- 

 ble stain. It has been used as a dye and by the 

 Indians in tattooing and in painting themselves as 

 a protection against insect bites. A honey plant. 

 Livestock eat the fruits. 



Woodlands and pastures in the coastal, moist 

 limestone, and lower mountain regions of Puerto 

 Rico. Planted around houses for the edible fruits. 

 Also in Vieques, St. Thomas, and St. John. 



Pt'BLic FORKSTs. — Cambalache, Carite, Luquillo, 

 Maricao. Rio Abajo, Susua. 



Range. — Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and 

 Virgin Islands, Lesser Antilles from Guadeloupe 

 to Grenada, and Trinidad and Tobago. Also from 

 southern Mexico and Central America south to 

 Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Argentina, and Brazil. 



Other common names. — jagua (Spanish, com- 

 merce) ; maluco (Mexico) ; irayol, irayol de loma 

 (Guatemala); irayol, tambor, tinadientes (El 

 Salvador) ; tapaculo, gigualti (Nicaragua) ; guai- 

 til (Costa Rica) ; guaitil bianco, jagua amarilla, 

 jagua blanca, jagua Colorado, jagua de montana, 

 jagua negra (Panama) ; caruto, caruto rebalsero 

 (Venezuela) ; huito, vaco-huito, vito (Peru) ; bi 

 (Bolivia); nandipa (Argentina); genipap, mar- 

 malade-box (British West Indies); rose-marie 

 (St. Lucia) ; resotu montagne (Dominica) ; juni- 

 per, genip (Trinidad) ; ibo-ink (Tobago) ; lana, 

 geniptree, genipa (British Guiana) ; gene-pas, 

 genipayer (Haiti); genipa (Guadeloupe, French 

 Guiana) ; taproepa, tapoeripa, arasaloe, sawa 

 (Surinam) ; genipapo (Brazil). 



Botanical synonyms. — Genipa caruto H. B. K., 

 G. americana var. caruto (H. B. K.) Schum. 



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