SAPODILLA FAMILY (SAPOTACEAE) 



209. Ausubo, balata 



In the past, this Large forest tree with milky 

 latex probably was the most important timber of 

 Puerto Rico. It is characterized by: (1) a dense 

 crown of horizontal branches with the foliage ap- 

 pearing in layers; (2) dark green elliptic leaves, 

 often large, the apex varying from blunt-pointed 

 to rounded or notched and base short-pointed, 

 thickened and leathery with edges slightly turned 

 under, with many faint parallel lateral veins; (3) 

 small whitish fragrant bell-shaped flowers in lat- 

 eral clusters at leaf bases; and (4) round or oval, 

 edible fruits 1-1 Vi inches long. 



An evergreen tree becoming 100 feet tall, with 

 straight trunk to 4 feet in diameter. Large trunks 

 have broad rounded buttresses spreading at base. 

 The thick brown bark is fissured and scaly. Inner 

 bark is pink and bitter. The stout gray twigs are 

 hairless or minutely hairy when young. 



The alternate leaves, frequently darkened by a 

 covering of sooty mold, have petioles %-lVi inches 

 long. Leaf blades are 31/4-10 inches long and 1 1/2- 

 4I/2 inches broad, often broadest beyond middle. 

 The midrib is slightly sunken on the dark green 

 upper surface and raised on the light green lower 

 surface. 



There are 3-10 flowers together on stalks about 

 14 inch long. Calyx consists of 6 pointed green 

 sepals 14 iiich long, minutely hairy or nearly hair- 

 less, arranged in 2 series; the whitish corolla 

 slightly longer, with .short tube and 6 lobes, each 

 with 2 long narrow appendages resembling addi- 

 tional lobes; 6 stamens on the corolla tube opposite 

 the lobes and alternating with the same number 

 of appendages (staminodes) ; and pistil with 6-10- 

 celled ovary and slender style. 



The smooth berry has a sweet sticky or gummy 

 pulp and is edible. It contains usually a single 

 shiny blackish seed. Flowering and fruiting per- 

 haps irregularly through the year. 



Ausubo is one of the strongest and most attrac- 

 tive commercial woods of Puerto Rico. The sap- 

 wood is whitish to pale brown, and the heartwood 

 is light red when cut, turning to dark reddish 

 brown when dry. The wood is very hard, heavy 

 (specific gravity 0.82), very strong, fine-textured, 

 with grain usually straight but sometimes coarsely 

 interlocked. The rate of air-seasoning is rapid, 

 and amount of degrade is minor. Machining 

 characteristics are as follows: shaping, boring, 

 mortising, and sanding are excellent; planing is 

 good; turning is poor; and resistance to screw 

 splitting is fair. The wood finishes beautifully, 

 resembling mahogany. It is generally resistant to 

 attack by dry-wood termites, very resistant to de- 

 cay, and very durable in contact with the ground. 



The chief use of this wood in Puerto Rico was 

 for construction timbers. Elsewhere it is utilized 



Manilkara bidentata (A. DC.) Chev. 



for furniture, cabinetwork, crossties, utility poles, 

 tool handles, heavy construction, flooring, and 

 bridges. It is suitable also for shuttles and other 

 textile items, billiard cues, and violin bows. 



Formerly named as distinct, this tree of Puerto 

 Rico, St. John, and Tortola is now considered the 

 same as the more widely distributed and commer- 

 cially important tropical American timber species, 

 balata or bulletwood. The milky latex of this 

 species is the source of balata gum, which is simi- 

 lar to gutta-percha. Trees in northern South 

 America and Panama are tapped for this pur- 

 pose. In some areas the trees are first destroyed 

 by felling and then bled. The latex is coagulated 

 by heat and smoke over a fire or is dried in the 

 sun. Souvenirs and novelties are made from the 

 gum. 



Moist coastal and limestone forests and lower 

 mountain forests in Puerto Rico. Also St. John 

 and Tortola. The trees grow slowly but are toler- 

 ant of shade. This species has been listed as 

 worthy of planting for shade and timber. 



Public forests. — Cambalache, Carite, Guaja- 

 taca, Luquillo, Rio Abajo. There is a very large 

 tree along the Big Tree Trail in the La Mina 

 Recreation Area in the Luquillo Forest. 



Municipalities where especially common. — 

 13,42,58,74. 



Range. — Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and Virgin 

 Islands, throughout Lesser Antilles to Barbados, 

 Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, and northern 

 South America from Guianas and Venezuela to 

 Peru and northern Brazil. 



Other common names. — balata (Spanish) ; 

 purguo, acana, pendare (Venezuela) ; pamashto, 

 quinilla, quinilla colorada (Peru) ; balata (Eng- 

 lish, commerce) ; bulletwood, bullet (English) ; 

 gooseberry (Tobago) ; bully-tree (Barbados) ; 

 sapotillier marron, sapotilher noir, bois noir 

 (Guadeloupe) ; balate (Guadeloupe, Martinique) ; 

 balata franc, balata rouge (French Guiana) ; 

 bolletrie, balata, parata (Surinam) ; balata 

 (Brazil). 



Botanical synonyms. — ManUkara nitida (Sesse 

 & Moc.) Dubard, Manilkara halata auth., Manil- 

 kara riedleana. (Pierre) Dubard, Mirrmso-ps bi- 

 dentata A. DC, Mimusops halata auth., Mimusops 

 sieberi A. DC, Mimusops riedleana Pierre, 

 Mimusops domingensis (Pierre) Huber. 



Zapote de costa {Manilkara pleeana (Pierre) 

 Cronq. ; synonym M. duplicata (Sesse & Moc.) 

 Dubard), called also mameyuelo, is a related tree 

 of moist coastal forests known only from Puerto 

 Rico, Vieques, St. Jolm, and Tortola. It has 

 leaves silvery hairy beneath, larger flowers with 

 corolla about V2 i^ch long, and larger fruits 1V2~ 

 21/^ inches long, broader than long, and 3-8-seeded. 



AM. 



