ish-tinged stalks %-% inch long. The bell-shaped 

 calyx about % inch long is dark red, tinged with 

 green, irregularly 8-lol>ed, and finely hairy; there 

 are 5 slightly thickened and succulent petals, the 

 large obovate, folded, orange-red standard 214- 

 2% inches long and stalked at base, 2 orange-red 

 wings yellow at base and 1 inch long, and 2 united 

 pale yellow keel petals li/o inches long; 10 stamens 

 2-21/i inches long with brown antliers and pale yel- 

 low-gre«n fleshy filaments, 9 united into a tube and 

 1 separate; and curved pale yellow-green pistil 

 about 2 inches long, with a stalived narrow hairy 

 ovary and curved style. The distance across an 

 open" flower may be as much as 4 inches but only 

 % inch in the narrow dimension. The poison- 

 ous seeds are about % inch long. Flowering in 

 winter and early spring (Januai-y to March) and 

 with mature fruit in spring. 



The heartwood is light yellow to yellowish 

 brown and moderately soft. The lightweiglit 

 wood is weak, not durable, and scarcely suitable 

 for lumber. 



Trees have been planted in pastures and along 

 roadsides and fences and are ornamental as well 

 as shade trees. Uses in other countries include 

 shade for cacao and coflPee and living fencepo-sts. 

 Propagated by cuttings. 



Found near Bayamon, Eio Piedras, and Caguas, 

 Puerto Rico. Also recorded from St. Thomas 

 moi-e than a centui-}' ago but not now planted there. 



Kaxge. — Native probably from Guatemala to 

 Pei-u, Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela, the original 

 range extended by cultivation. Also introduced in 

 West Indies in the Greater Antilles, Guadeloupe, 

 Martinique, St. Vincent, and Trinidad and To- 

 bago. Planted also in southern Florida, British 

 Honduras, and in the Old World tropics. Wliere 

 native, this species foniis pure forests character- 

 istic of swamps and stream valleys. 



Othkr COMMON NA5IES. — bucayo (Puerto Rico) ; 

 piiion f ranees, biicare, pinon del cauto (Cuba) ; 

 guiliqueme (Honduras) ; ahuijote, ahuejcvte (El 

 Salvador) ; poro (Costa Rica) ; gallito, pito, palo 

 bobo, palo santo (Panama) ; cambulo, bucaro, can- 

 tagallo, pisamo, pisamo calentado (Colombia) ; 

 bucare, ceibo, anauco (Venezuela) ; palo prieto, 

 madre de cacao (Ecuador) ; amasisa (Peru) ; bois 

 immortelle (United States) ; swamp immortelle, 

 bucare, bocare (Jamaica) ; bocare immortelle, 

 water immortelle (Trinidad and Tobago) ; sand- 

 coker, oronoque, cock-tree (British Guiana) ; bois 

 immortel, immortel blanc (Guadeloupe, Martini- 

 que) ; suiiia, assacu-rana (Brazil). 



LEGUME FAMILY (LEGUMINOSAE) 



PEA SUBFAMILY (LOTOIDEAE; FABACEAE) 



84. Bucayo gigante, mountain immortelle Erythrina poeppigiana (Walp.) O. F. Cook* 



This introduced shade tree of coffee plantations 

 and I'oadsides may be recognized by : (1) beautiful 

 masses of showy orange-red flowers in late winter, 

 when the trees are leafless, the large pea-shaped 

 flowers 114-2 inches long, erect on nearly horizon- 

 tal axes; (2) the trunk and branches often with 

 stout spines; (3) alternate leaves with 3 broadly 

 ovate thin leaflets, short-pointed at apex and very 

 broad pointed or nearly straight at base, gi-een on 

 both sides; and (-4) straight, cylindrical, dark 

 brown pod 5-10 inches or less in length and about 

 % inch wide, long-stalked at base and long-pointed 

 at both ends. 



A large deciduous tree attaining 30-70 feet in 

 lieight and 2-4 feet in trunk diameter, with spread- 

 ing crown. The bark is gi-eenish brown or gray 

 brown, smoothish or slightly furrowed, warty or 

 spiny. Inner bark is thick, becoming % inch or 

 more in thickness, whitish, and si ightly bitter. The 

 stout twigs are light green and minutely hairy 

 when young, becoming greenish gray, with raised 

 leaf scars, and often with scattered spines i/ig inch 

 or more in length. 



Leaves are 8-12 inches long, including the light 

 green finely hairy petioles 21/0-8 inches long. Leaf- 

 lets have stalks i/t-% inch long with 2 green cup- 

 like glands about i/g inch long at base of lateral 

 leaflets and 2 more glands below terminal leaflet. 



The thin leaflet blades are 21/2-7 inches long and 

 2-6 inches wide, or larger on rapidly growing 

 shoots, not toothed at edges, with 3 main veins 

 from base, green and dull or nearly so on upper 

 surface, and slightly lighter dull green beneath. 



Horizontal flower clusters (racemes) 4-8 inches 

 long bear a few open flowers, which fall soon after 

 opening, and many narrow flower buds progres- 

 sively smaller towai-d apex. Thus, the ground 

 under a tree becomes orange i"ed too. The flowers 

 are 11/2-2 inches long and about half as wide. The 

 cup-shaped calyx is %6~% inch long, reddish at 

 the top and gi-eenish below, not toothed ; 5 orange- 

 red petals, the large orange standard 11/4-1^/4 

 inches long, elliptic, keeled, short-pointed, and 

 spreading, 2 short elliptic wings V2 inch long, 

 orange red but yellow toward base, and 2 united 

 keel petals 11/4-1^/4 inches long, orange red but yel- 

 low toward base, enclosing the stamens; 10 sta- 

 mens 114-11/4 inches long, 9 united into a light yel- 

 low tube and 1 separate, the anthers brown; and 

 narrow greenish pistil about II/2 inches long in- 

 cluding stalked ovary and style. There is some 

 variation in flower color, a few trees having pale 

 yellow-orange blossoms and others rarely seen 

 with scarlet petals. 



The pod contains several brown kidney-shaped 

 beanlike seeds % inch long, which are poisonous. 



194 



