(Costa Eica) ; totumo, totiimbo, calabazo (Pana- 

 ma, Colombia) ; totumo, taparo, camasa, giiiie, 

 cucharo (Venezuela); mate, pilche (Ecuador); 

 huingo, pati, cayiera, tutumo (Peru); common 

 calabash-tree, calabash-tree, calabash (United 

 States, English) ; calebasse, calebassier (French) ; 

 calbas, calbas rondo (Dutch West Indies) ; kale- 

 bas, kalabassenboom (Surinam); cuite (Brazil). 

 Higiierito {Crescentia Ivnearifolia Miers) is a 



I'elated small tree of di-y coastal areas mainly in 

 southwestern Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, and St. 

 John, and in St. Martin. It has narrow, linear, 

 shiny, stiff leaves 3/4-21/4 inches long and less than 

 % inch wide, long-pointed and often spiny-tipped, 

 crowded ; greenish tubular flowers about I14 inches 

 long; and round or elliptic fruit 11/4-2 inches long. 

 The third native species is a vinelike shrub of 

 western Puerto Rico. 



233. Jacaranda 



BIGNONIA FAMILY (BIGNONIACEAE) 



Jacaranda mimosifolia D. Don* 



This handsome introduced tree is occasionally 

 planted for its large clusters of numerous beauti- 

 ful blue-violet bell-shaped flowers iy^-l% inches 

 long and irregularly 5-lobed, borne in spring. The 

 attractive dark green fernlike leaves are opposite 

 and twice pinnate (bipinnate), about 9-18 inches 

 long and 5-8 inches broad, with many small lance- 

 shaped leaflets %-V2 inch long and bristle-tipped. 

 Pods are dark brown, nearly round and flattened, 

 about 2 inches long and % inch thick, bordered by 

 a narrow wing. 



A deciduous meditun-sized tree 25-40 feet high 

 and 8-12 inches in trunk diameter, with .spreading 

 crown of thin, delicate foliage. The bark is 

 smoothish but becoming slightly Assured and 

 rough, vei-y light brown. Inner bark is light 

 brown, thin, and bitter. The stout twigs with light 

 corky dots (lenticels) are green when young, turn- 

 ing light gray. 



Leaves consist of a yellow-green axis and about 

 20-40 paired lateral axes (pinnae) , each with about 

 19-45 stalkless leaflets, also paired except for the 

 larger end one. Leaflets are short-pointed at apex 

 and oblique at base, not toothed on edges, dull dark 

 green on upper surface and pale light green 

 beneath. 



The terminal, much branched flower clusters 

 (panicles) are alx)ut 8-12 inches long and 6-8 

 inches across, with slender, forking branches. The 

 spreading flowei-s have short stalks or none and 

 are only faintly fragrant. Calyx is small, cup- 

 like, greenish, i/g incli long, and 5-toothed; the 

 tubular blue-violet corolla is swollen on 1 side and 

 abruptly narrowed near base, about 11/4-1% inches 



long, with 5 unequal spreading wavy-margined 

 lobes %-l inch across, minutely hairy on outside 

 and on lobes; 4 whitish curved stamens about V^ 

 inch long in 2 paii-s of dift'erent lengths and 1 

 longer sterile stamen inserted within corolla tube; 

 and on a greenish disk the purplish pistil "Yg inch 

 long, composed of 2-celled ovaiy, slender style, 

 ancl 2-lobed stigma. One corolla lobe is much 

 longer than the others and opposite a white spot 

 mside the tube. 



One or 2 pods (capsules) develop from a flower 

 cluster. They split open along the edges and con- 

 tain many very thin dark brown seeds, each about 

 % by %g inch in size, including the 2 transpar- 

 ent wings. Flowering from early spring to June, 

 the fruits maturing in spring and early summer. 



The sapwood is light brown and soft. The wood 

 is not used locally. 



This species is planted for ornament in Puerto 

 Rico and St. Croix but is not common. Propa- 

 gated by cuttings and seeds. It is a honey plant. 

 \\nien the trees are not in flo\\er, the foliage is 

 also attractive. 



Range.- — Native of northwestern Argentina. 

 Planted in West Indies, southern Florida and 

 southern California, and from Mexico to Brazil. 



Other common names. — flamboyan azul 

 (Puerto Rico); fern-tree (Virgin Islands); 

 jacaranda (Spanish) ; framboyan azul (Cuba) ; 

 tarco (Bolivia) ; jacaranda, tarco (Argentina) ; 

 jacaranda (United States, English) ; flamboyant 

 bleu (Martinique). 



Botanical synonym. — Jacaranda acutifoUa 

 auth., not Hunib. & Bonpl. 



492 



