MANGOSTEEN FAMILY (GUTTIFERAE) 



163. Cupey, wild-mammee, copey clusia 



A tree with yellow resinous latex easily recog- 

 nized by : (1) vei-y broad spreading dense crowii; 

 (2) opposite, veiy thick, stiff and leathei-y, obovate 

 leaves, rounded or slightly notched at apex and 

 gradually narrowed toward the short -pointed 

 base; (3) showy, large, spreading, white flowers 

 about 3 inches across the 6-8 obovate petals 

 notched at apex, male and female on different trees 

 (dioecious) ; and (4) nearly round fleshy seed cap- 

 sules 2-21/2 inches in diameter, yellow green turn- 

 ing brown" splitting into 7-9 parts and containing 

 many yellow se«ds in orange-red pulp. 



Medium-sized evergreen tree to 60 feet high and 

 2 feet in trunk diameter, usually with prop roots 

 at base. Like jagiieyes or matapalos (Fici/s spp. ) , 

 the trees often begin as air plants or epiphytes, 

 the seed germinating in the fork of a tree and send- 

 ing long aerial roots to the ground. In time these 

 rapidly growing roots come together and encircle 

 the host tree, finally forming a tnink around it 

 and strangling and killing it. The gray bark is 

 smoothish, slightly fissured and warty. Inner 

 bark is pink brown and gritty, with yellow latex. 

 The gi-een twigs are stout and ringed at nodes. 



Petioles are y^-l i'lch long, green, stout, flat- 

 tened, and enlarged at base. Blades are 3-6 inches 

 long and 2-41/2 inches wide, broadest beyond 

 middle, the edges slightly turned under, fleshy and 

 with lateral veins scarcely visible, green to dark 

 green and slightly shiny above and dull yellow 

 green beneath. 



Flowers are terminal, 1-3 at end of twig on 

 stalks 1/2 inch or more in length and curved down- 

 ward. The buds are white, tinged with pink, about 

 % inch in diameter. There are 4-6 rounded con- 

 cave sepals 1/^-% inch long, white and tinged with 

 pink, and 6-8 white obovate fleshy petals about I14 

 inches long. Female flowers have a brown ring or 

 cup of sterile stamens and a pistil with 7-9-celled 

 ovary and green resinous mass of 7-9 stigmas i/^ 

 inch across. Male flowers have sepals, petals, and 

 many stamens united in a ring, the inner ones in 

 a resinous mass. 



The ball-like fruits are not edible and are con- 

 sidered to be poisonous, though eaten by bats. 

 They are broader than long, changing in color 

 from yellow green to brown at maturity, retaining 

 the sepals at base and flat blackish stigmas in a 

 circle % inch across at apex. The seeds are %6 

 inch long. In flower or fruit throughout the year. 



The heartwood is reddish brown, and the sap- 

 wood lighter colored. The wood is hard, heavy 

 (specific gravity 0.67), strong, of medium to fine 

 texture, straight-grained, and without growth 

 rings. It is moderately difficult to saw and ma- 



Clusia rosea Jacq. 



chine and is very susceptible to attack by dry- wood 

 termites. The rate of air-seasoning and amount 

 of degrade are moderate. Machining character- 

 istics are as follows : planing and boring are fair ; 

 and shaping, turning, mortising, sanding, and re- 

 sistance to screw splitting are good. 



The wood is used mainly for fuel, fenceposts, 

 rural construction, and crossties. It is suitable also 

 for light and heavy construction, cheap furniture, 

 farm implement parts, and tool handles. 



The yellow resinous latex of bark, fruit, and 

 other parts of the tree hardens upon exposure and 

 has been used variously, including calking the 

 seams of boats in the Virgin Islands, as plaster, 

 and in medicine. 



It is chronicled by Oviedo that the early Spanish 

 conquistadores in the West Indies made playing 

 cards of the thick leaves, drawing the figures and 

 spots with a pin and shuffling these substitutes in 

 their gambling games in the absence of regular 

 cards. Another early use was for writing paper. 



By strangling and killing more valuable trees, 

 this species may be classed as a forest pest. How- 

 ever, the leathery leaves and large flowers make it 

 an attractive ornamental. As the heavy foliage 

 is salt tolerant, this tree is suitable for ornamental 

 plantings on exposed ocean front properties. 



Common in forests on river banks and hillsides 

 throughout Puerto Eico except in the upper moim- 

 tain regions. Also in Mona, Desecheo, Vieques, 

 Culebra, St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola, and 

 recorded long ago from St. Croix. 



Public forests. — Cambalache, Carite, Guaja- 

 taca, Guanica, Luquillo, Maricao, Susua, Vega. 



Municipalities where especially common. — 

 11,14,20,30,31,34,45,60,62,69. 



Range. — Nearly throughout West Indies from 

 Bahamas and Cuba to Trinidad and Tobago and 

 Bonaire and Curagao. Very rare in Florida Keys 

 but planted in southern Florida. Also from south- 

 ern Mexico (Chiapas) to Colombia, Venezuela, and 

 French Guiana. 



Other common names. — pitch-apple, wild-fig, 

 strangler-flg, false-mamey (Virgin Islands) ; cu- 

 pey, copey (Spanish) ; cape, gaque, cucharo (Co- 

 lombia) ; copey, tampaco, chuchi copei (Venezu- 

 ela) ; copey clusia, monkey-apple (United States) ; 

 pitch-apple (Bahamas) ; balsam-tree, wild-fig (Ja- 

 maica) ; monkey-goblet (St. Vincent) ; Scotch-at- 

 torney, Scotchman, matapal (Trinidad) ; parrot- 

 apple (Tobago); kufa (British Guiana); figuier 

 maudit cimarron (Haiti) ; figuier maudit, figuier 

 marron, abricotier maudit (Guadeloupe) ; aralie, 

 aralie grande feuille (Martinique) ; dam machu^ 

 cuchiu, kopijk (Dutch West Indies) . 



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