VERBENA FAMILY (VERBENACEAE) 



230. Higiierillo, white fiddlewood 



Small to medium-sized tree with much-fissured 

 lijrht brown bark, rough and shreddy and separat- 

 ing in strips, further distinguished by: (1) op- 

 posite leaves mostly compound with 3 elliptic leaf- 

 lets or often only 1 or sometimes 2, the end one 

 larger than the others; (2) numerous showy pale 

 purplish-blue tiowers % inch long and 1/2-% 

 inch across the 5 unequal corolla lobes, in lateral 

 branching clusters; and (3) black egg-shaped 

 fleshy fruits 1/0 inch long, with cuplike calyx at 

 liase. 



A deciduous tree 20-65 feet high and to 21/0 

 feet in trunk diameter, with rounded crown. The 

 inner bark is light brown and slightly bitter. The 

 twigs are greenish and minutely hairy when young, 

 becoming gray or brown. 



The slender green petioles are %-2% inches 

 long, and the leaflet stalks 14 inch or less in 

 length. Leaflet blades are 2-6 inches long and 

 li/i-3 inches wide, mostly short-pointed at both 

 ends, thin or slightly thickened, above light green, 

 beneath paler and hairy on veins. 



Often the ground under a tree in flower has a 

 bluish tinge from the numerous fallen corollas. 

 Flower clusters (cymes) 2-6 inches long at base of 

 leaves bear several to many slightly fragrant flow- 

 ers on short slender stalks. The flower about % 

 inch long has a cuplike calyx less than i/g inch 

 high and broad ; pale blue or purplish-blue irregu- 

 lar finely hairy corolla with narrow tube 14 inch 

 long and 5 unequal, spreading, wavy-margined 

 lobes, 1 much larger than the others; -1: stamens 14 

 inch long in 2 pairs inserted on corolla tube and 

 slightly protruding; and pistil % inch long with 

 4-celled ovai-y and slender style 2-forked at end. 



The fruit (drupe) contains a large 4-celled and 

 4-seeded stone. In maturing, fruits change color 

 from yellow green to brownish and black. Ob- 

 served in flower from February to July and in 

 fruit from June to November. 



The grayish sapwood turns light brown upon 

 drying. The heartwood when freshly cut is tan 

 to brown, generally variegated with darker shades, 



Vitex divaricata Sw. 



and afterwards becomes gray brown to deep 

 brown, often with indistinct, narrow, lighter or 

 darker bands. The wood is hard, heavy (specific 

 gravity 0.62), strong, tough, and fine-textured and 

 has irregular, interlocked grain and well-defined 

 growth rings. Air-seasoning is too slow to be 

 practicable commercially. Amount of degrade is 

 minor. Machining characteristics are as follows: 

 planing and resistance to screw splitting are poor; 

 shaping, boring, and mortising are good; turning 

 is excellent ; and sanding is fair. The wood works 

 easily and takes a fine polish. It is moderately re- 

 sistant to dry-wood termites and is durable in con- 

 tact with the gi'ound. 



The wood is used for framework of houses, 

 fenceposts, construction, cabinetwork, and else- 

 where for shingles. It should be suitable also for 

 sporting goods, tool handles, boats, and flooring. 



Planting tests show this species to grow slowly 

 and to require nearly full sunlight. The trees, 

 which become covered with flowers, are suitable 

 for oniamentals also. They can be propagated 

 from cuttings and grow rapidly in open areas. A 

 honey plant. 



Widely distributed in coastal, limestone, and 

 lower mountain regions of Puerto Rico. Also in 

 St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola. 



Public forests. — Cambalache, Carite, Guajata- 

 ca, Guilarte, Luquillo, Maricao, Rio Abajo, Susua, 

 Toro Negro. 



Municipalities where especially common. — 

 46, 50. 



Range. — Cuba, Hispaniola (Haiti), Puerto 

 Rico and Virgin Islands, and throughout Lesser 

 Antilles to Grenada and Trinidad and Tobago. 

 Also in Venezuela and Guianas. 



Other common names. — pendula, pendula 

 blanca (Puerto Rico) ; roble guayo, roble de olor, 

 ofon criollo (Cuba) ; totumillo (Venezuela) ; fid- 

 dlewood (St. Kitts, St. Vincent); white fiddle- 

 wood (Montserrat) ; bois lezard (Dominica) ; 

 black fiddlewood (Trinidad) ; timber fiddlewood 

 (Tobago) ; bois lezard, bois a agouti (Guadeloupe, 

 Martinique). 



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