MYRTLE FAMILY (MYRTACEAE) 



187. Guasabara 



Gusabara, a tree of mountain forests, is distin- 

 guished by : (1) light gray to whitish bark, slight- 

 ly rough and separating in irregular fiakes; (2) 

 opposite elliptic long-pointed leaves 21/4-41/2 

 inches long and 11/2-21/4 inches broad, with minute 

 gland dots; (3) whitish flowers nearly 1/2 inch 

 across with 4 petals and many spreading stamens, 

 in lateral clusters at base of leaves; and (4) 

 blackish-purple berry %-% inch long, elliptic or 

 rounded, with sepals at apex and reported to be 

 edible. 



An evergreen tree 30-60 feet tall and 8-18 inches 

 in trunk diameter. Inner bark is brown, woody, 

 and slightly astringent and bitter. Twigs are 

 light brown. 



The green petioles ai-e i/4-% inch long. Blades 

 are mostly short-pointed at base, slightly leathery 

 or thin, shiny green above and lighter green be- 

 neath, and hairless or nearly so at maturity. 



Flower clusters (racemes) are 1-2 inches long, 

 bearing several to many flowers on slender hairy 

 stalks. Flower buds are greenish and hairy, with 

 2 short xuiited scales or bracts at base. The flower 

 has a greenish hairy cuplike base (hypanthium) 

 less than % inch long, which encloses the inferior 

 ovary and bears 4 gi'eenish rounded hairy sepals, 

 2 more than i/g inch long and 2 much smaller, 4 

 white petals about %6 inch long, many spreading 

 stamens, and style %6 inch long. In flower and 

 fruit nearly through the year. 



The sapwood is light bi-own. The wood is de- 

 scribed as hard, strong, and heavy. It is little 

 used except for posts and fuel. This species has 

 been listed as suitable for shade and ornament. 



In lower momitain forests of Puerto Rico, as- 

 cending to nearly 3,000 feet elevation in the Cen- 

 tral Cordillera. 



Public forests. — Carite, Luquillo, Toro Negro. 



Range. — Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, Dom- 

 inica, Maitinique, St. Vincent, and Trinidad. Re- 

 ported doubtfully from Jamaica nearly a century 

 ago. 



Other common names. — guasara (Dominican 

 Republic) ; comecara (Cuba) ; serrette guava 

 (Trinidad) ; brignolle (Haiti). 



Eugenia aeruginea DC. 



Botanical stnontm. — Eugenia domingensis 

 Berg. 



This genus, known in English as eugenia, is per- 

 haps the largest in number of species of small trees 

 or shinibs represented in Puerto Rico and the 

 Virgin Islands. The Spanish name hoja menuda 

 and English name stopper are applied to many 

 species. The group is characterized by flowers 

 mostly few in lateral clusters among the leaves, by 

 4 or 5 sepals which remain attached at the apex 

 of the usually rounded berry fruit, and by 4 or 5 

 white petals (red in an introduced species). 



Besides the 3 native and 2 introduced species de- 

 scribed and illustrated here, Britton and Wilson 

 (Botany of Porto Rico and the Virgin Islands 

 6: 33-42. 1925) described 22 other native species 

 and prepared a key for their identification. These 

 species are listed below in alphabetical order by 

 scientific name with any distinctive common 

 names. Eugenia axillaris (Sw.) Willd., grajo, 

 white-stopper eugenia; E. hellonis Krug& Urban; 

 E. Mflora (L.) DC. (£". Z(z>iceaPoir.), pitangueira; 

 E. hoqueronensis Britton ; E. iorinquensis Britton, 

 guayabota ; E. confusa DC, cieneguillo, redberry 

 eugenia; E. cordata (Sw.) DC; E. corozalensis 

 Britton ; E. eggersii Kiaersk., guasabara ; E. flori- 

 bunda West; E. fragrans (Sw.) Willd. (Anamo- 

 mis fragrans (Sw.) Griseb.), guayabacon; E. lig- 

 ustrina ( Sw. ) Willd., palo de muleta ; E. monticola 

 (Sw.) DC, biriji ; E. myrtoides Poir. {E. huxifolia 

 (Sw.) Willd.), anguilla, boxleaf eugenia; E. 

 procera (Sw.) Poir. ; E. pseudopsidiitm Jacq., quie- 

 brahaca ; E. serra.suela Krug & Urban, serrazuela ; 

 E. sessiliflora Vahl ; E. sint&nisii Kiaersk., murta; 

 E. steumrdsonii Britton; E. underwoodii Britton; 

 E. xerophytica Britton. 



Cerezo de Cayena or pitanga {Eugenia uniflora 

 L.*), also called Surinam -cherry, is planted for its 

 fruit in St. Croix and St, Thomas and recorded 

 as escaping from cultivation. It has ovate shiny 

 dark green leaves 1-2 inches long, flowers mostly 

 single on long stalks, and bright red edible fruits 

 % inch in diameter. 



400 



