LEGUME FAMILY (LEGUMINOSAE) 

 PEA SUBFAMILY (LOTOIDEAE; FABACEAE) 



90. Palo de polio, swamp bloodwood 



Lai-fje tree of swamj) forests and stream borders 

 in mountains, easily recognized by the enormous 

 narrow planklike buttresses extending high up 

 trunk and horizontally along roots and by the dai-k 

 blood-red latex in bark. Other distinguishing 

 characters are: (1) alternate pinnate leaves with 

 5-9 elliptic to oblong long-pointed shiny green 

 alternate leaflets; (2) clusters of yellow pea- 

 shaped flowers V2~% incli long and broad; and 

 (3) flat, irregularly rounded, dark brown winged 

 pods 11/4-2 inches in diameter. 



An evergreen tree 50-90 feet tall and 2-3 feet 

 in trunk diameter above buttresses. Trunks often 

 are curved or crooked and fluted. Tlie very jn'omi- 

 nent buttresses on large trees sometimes rise to 15 

 feet in height and may be 2-5 feet wide at base, 

 often extending outward along roots a distance 

 of 10 feet. These buttresses, frequently 4 large 

 ones to a tree with smaller ones between, and 

 scarcely 1 inch wide, generally curve snakelike 

 along the forest floor. Bark of trunk and but- 

 tresses is smoothish light brown, becoming finely 

 and thinly fissured and scaly. Inner bark is light 

 brown, with dark blond-red streaks in inner part, 

 slightly bitter, containing bitter latex. Twigs are 

 green or reddish green, becoming brown. 



Leaves are 6-16 inches long, the axis reddish 

 when young but turning brownish green, slender 

 but enlarged at base and with 2 basal narrow 

 pointed green scales (stipules), which shed eai'ly. 

 Leaflets have stout green stalks %-%6 mch long 

 and thin or only slightly thickened blades 2-6 

 inches long and ly^^-iyo inches wide, rounded at 

 base, not toothed on edges, shiny green above, and 

 beneath a little lighter and shiny or dull. 



Flower clusters (panicles or racemes) are mostly 

 21/4-6 inches long, lateral at base of leaves, with 

 many loosely arranged short-stalked fragrant 

 flowers, the branches finely hairy. The bell- 

 shaped calyx 1/4 inch long has 5 unequal short - 

 pointed teeth; 5 yellow petals about 14 inch long 

 ■with narrow stalklike bases, the broad rounded 

 standard reddish tinged or dark red near base, or 

 reported sometimes to be violet tinged, also 2 

 wings, and 2 keel petals; 10 stamens about s/jg 

 inch long, united into a tube about half their 

 length; and pistil more than s/jg inch long, 

 composed of long stalk, flattened 1-celled ovary, 

 and short slender style. 



The pod, green when immature, turning to dark 

 brown, is short-stalked with calyx at base, 11/^-2 

 inches in diameter, oblique or asymmetrical, with 



Pterocarpus officinalis Jacq. 



few prominent veins, with wing around edge 

 broad on 1 side, not splitting open, 1-seeded. Re- 

 corded in flower from February to September and 

 in fruit from April to November. 



The sapwood is whitish to light yellow. The 

 wood is lightweight (specific gravity 0.3), very 

 soft, and weak. It stains easily in drying, is sub- 

 ject to decay, and susceptible to attack by dry- 

 wood termites. 



Tlie wood has been used in Puerto Rico for floats 

 for fishnets. At one time pieces of the thin but- 

 tresses served as pans in washing or panning for 

 gold. The resin or gum, which soon solidifies 

 from the latex, formerly was exported in large 

 quantities from Colombia to Spain for medicinal 

 use under the name sangre de drago as a hemo- 

 static and also as an astringent. The trees have 

 been planted for shade and ornament in southern 

 Florida and Cuba and might be suitable for the 

 same purposes in Puerto Rico. 



Growls in swamp forests, chiefly on ilie land- 

 ward side of mangrove but also in swamps and 

 along sti-eaml)anks in the lower Luquillo forest 

 region up to about 1,500 feet elevation. Common 

 in swampy areas on the southeast coast near 

 Humacao. 



Public forests. — Luquillo, San Juan. 



Municipality where especi.vlly common. — 33. 



Range. — Jamaica, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico, 

 Guadeloupe, Dominica, Martinque, St. Lucia, St. 

 Vincent, ancl Trinidad. Also in continental tropi- 

 cal Amei-ica from southeastern Mexico (Yucatan) 

 and British Honduras to Colombia, Ecuador, 

 Venezuela, Guianas, and Brazil. Introduced in 

 Cuba and southern Florida. 



Other common names. — sangre de drago (Puer- 

 to Rico, Spanish) ; drago (Dominican Republic, 

 commerce) ; sangregado (Guatemala, Nicaragua, 

 Costa Rica) ; sangre, cowee (Honduras) ; chajada 

 amarilla, .sangrillo (Costa Rica) ; bloodwood 

 (Panama) ; sabroso (Colombia) ; sangrito, cacti, 

 lagunei-o, mucutena (Venezuela) ; bambulo (Ecua- 

 dor) ; swamp bloodwood (Trinidad) ; kaway, 

 swamp kaway (British Honduras) ; bloodwood, 

 corkwood (British Guiana) ; bois pale (Haiti) ; 

 mangle medaille, paletuvier, sang dragon (Guade- 

 loupe) ; moutouchi de savane (French Guiana) ; 

 bebe, bebe hoedoe, watrabebe, waata gwe-gwe 

 (Surinam) ; mututy (Brazil). 



Botanical synonym. — Pterocarpus draco L. 

 (in part). 



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