cedar and takes a high polish. It is used also for 

 construction, carpentry, implements, and cooper- 

 age. 



Planted as a hardy small shade tree in southern 

 Florida. Elsewhere the leaves and roots have 

 served in home medicines. 



This species is one of the commonest trees of 

 moist forests and cofl'ee plantations of Puerto Rico. 

 It regenerates abundantly and withstands forest 

 shade. Trees which come up in coffee plantations 

 are sometimes left until they can be harvested for 

 their wood, although the shade is generally con- 

 sidered too dense for cofl'ee culture. Test planta- 

 tions established by the government show this 

 species to be slower in growth than broadleaf ma- 

 hogany, so the latter has been substituted where 

 adapted. The trees are suitable for shade as well 

 as wood. 



Distributed throughout the lower mountain, 

 moist limestone, and moist coastal regions of 

 Puerto Rico. Also St. Croix. 



PrBLic FORESTS. — Canibalache, Carite, Guaja- 

 taca, Guilarte, Luquillo, Maricao, Rio Abajo, Toro 

 Negro, Vega. 



MuNICIPAIjITTES where ESPECIALLY COMMON. — 5, 



6, 7, 21, 40, 42, 43, 47, 50, 53, 61, 70, 73. 



Range. — Cuba, Hispaniola, and Puerto Rico 

 and St. Croix. Also in Trinidad and from Costa 



Rica and Panama south to Argentina and Brazil. 

 Introduced in southern Florida. 



Other common names. — cabinna santa, ca- 

 birma, cedro macho (Dominican Republic) ; 

 yamao, yamagua (Cuba) ; carbonero, mami (Costa 

 Rica) ; cedro macho (Panama, Colombia) ; trom- 

 pillo (Colombia, A'enezuela, Bolivia) ; bilibili, 

 mestizo, trompeto, zambo cedro (Colombia) ; 

 cedro dulce, ceclron, cabimbo, shuparai (Vene- 

 zuela) ; fruta de loro (Ecuador) ; latapi, latapi- 

 caspi, atapio, requia (Peru) ; cedrillo (Argen- 

 tina) ; American muskwood (United States) ; red- 

 wood (Trinidad) ; karaba-balli, buck vomit (Brit- 

 ish Guiana) ; bois rouge (Haiti) ; bois pistolet 

 (Guadeloupe, Martinique) ; bois bale (French 

 Guiana) ; doifiesirie (Surinam) ; gito, cedrohy, 

 atauba (Brazil). 



Botanical synontm. — Guarea guara (Jacq.) 

 P. Wilson. 



Guaraguaillo {Guarea rnmifora Vent.), known 

 also as guaraguao macho, is the other native 

 species of this genus. It is a small tree, common 

 and widely distributed in mountain forests only 

 in Puerto Rico. The pinnate leaves 2-7 inches 

 long have 2-6 long-pointed oblong leaflets 3-8 

 inches long with prominent veins on both sides. 

 The few flowers borne in lateral clusters are pink. 



MAHOGANY FAMILY (MELIACEAE) 



110. Alelaila, chinaberry 



This popular introduced tree, planted for its 

 showy clusters of pale purplish 5-parted spreading 

 flowers and for the shade of its dense, dark green 

 foliage, is further characterized by : ( 1 ) leaves 

 twice pinnate (bipinnate), composed of many thin 

 lance-shaped to ovate leaflets 1-2 inches long, 

 which are long-pointed and saw-toothed on the 

 edges (or some lobed) and which has a character- 

 istic bitter taste and pungent odor when crushed ; 

 and (2) the clustei-s of nearly round, yellow poi- 

 sonous fruits about % inch in diameter, conspicu- 

 ous when the tree is leafless. 



A small to medium-sized deciduous tree becom- 

 ing 20-50 feet tall and 1-2 feet in trunk diameter, 

 with crowded, abruptly spreading branches form- 

 ing a hemispherical or flattened crown. The bark 

 is dark or reddish brown, becoming furrowed. 

 Inner bark is whitish, slightly bitter and as- 

 tringent. The twigs are green and hairless or 

 nearly so. 



The leaves are alternate and 8-16 inches or more 

 in length and may be in part three times pinnate 

 (tripinnate). The numerous short-stalked leaflets 

 are borne in pairs along the slender green branches 

 of the leaf axis but single at the ends. These 

 leaflets are %-% inch broad, with the base short- 

 pointed and mostly 1-sided. They are thin, hair- 



lUelia azedarach L.* 



less or nearly so, and dark green on the upper sur- 

 face and paler below. 



Branched flower clusters (panicles) 1-10 inches 

 long are laterally attached and long-stalked. The 

 numerous showy fragrant flowers on slender stalks 

 are about % inch long and %-% inch across. 

 There are 5 greenish sepals Vie inch long; 5 pale 

 purplish or lilac-colored petals % inch long, nar- 

 row, spreading and slightly turned back; usually 

 10 stamens on a narrow violet tube %6 hich long; 

 a pale green pistil s/ig inch long with disk at base, 

 3-6-celled ovary, and long style. 



The fruits or berries (clrupes) are smooth but 

 becoming a little shriveled, and slightly fleshy but 

 with hard stone containing 5 or fewer narrow dark 

 brown seeds %« inch long. These fruits are bitter 

 and have poisonous or narcotic properties. Flow- 

 ering throughout the year in Puerto Rico, and the 

 old slightly wrinkled yellow fruits generally 

 present. 



The sapwood is yellowish white, and heart wood 

 light brown to reddish brown and attractively 

 marked. The wood is moderately soft, weak and 

 brittle, and very susceptible to attack by dry-wood 

 tennites. In Puerto Rico the wood is used for 

 fuel. Uses of the wood elsewhere include tool 

 handles, cabinets, furniture, and cigarboxes. 



246 



