BORAGE FAMILY (BORAGINACEAE) 



221. Capa prieto, capa 



When in flower capii prieto is recog^iizable at a 

 distance by the handsome masses of numerous 

 white flowers over the tree. Other charactei-s for 

 identification are: (1) erect trunk with whorled 

 branches appearing in liorizontal layers; (2) el- 

 liptic or oblong, slightly shiny yellowish-green 

 thin leaves, the lower surface paler and more or 

 less finely hairy with minute star-shaped hairs, 

 with odor of garlic when crushed; (3) the frag- 

 rant white flowers tubular, 5-lobed, and about % 

 inch long and broad, crowded in large, showy, 

 branched terminal clustei-s, afterwards turning 

 brown ; and (4) the fruits are nutlets 14 inch long, 

 with calyx and brown corolla remaining attached. 



A medium-sized evergreen tree to 65 feet in 

 height and IV2 feet in trunk diameter. The gray 

 or brown bark is fissured, becoming rough and 

 thick. Inner bark is light brown, fibrous, and 

 tasteless but has a slight odor of garlic, to which 

 the scientific name refers. The twigs are green 

 and with star-shaped hairs when young, becoming 

 brown. 



The alternate leaves have hairy petioles %-% 

 inch long. Leaf blades are 2I/2-6 inches long and 

 1-1% inches broad, short-or long-pointed at apex 

 and short-pointed at base, slightly thickened, the 

 upper surface with scattered star-shaped hairs or 

 nearly hairless. 



Flower clusters (panicles) are large and 4—12 

 inches broad, several spreading and almost stalk- 

 less at ends of widely forking hairy branches. 

 The cylindrical gray-gi-een calyx almost Vi inch 

 long is 10-ribbed, densely covered with minute 

 star-shaped haii"s, 5-toothed ; the expanded tubular 

 corolla is % inch high and Vo inch across the 5 

 widely spreading, oblong, rounded lobes, white but 

 fading to brown; 5 prominent erect white stamens 

 ins-erted near mouth of corolla tulje; and whitish 

 pistil with ovai-y and slender style 2-forked near 

 apex and each fork with 2 broad stigmas. The 

 nutlet is oblong, 1-seeded, with attached corolla 

 serving as wings in dispersal by wind. Flowering 

 and fruiting irregularly through the year. 



The thick light brown sapwood is not clearly 

 marked. The heaitwood when freshly cut is light 

 greenish brown to olive brown with darker streaks 

 and in seasoning becomes pale golden brown to 

 brown with the darker streaks more prominent. 

 Growth rings are shown by narrow dark lines of 

 pores. The attractive wood is moderately soft, 

 moderately heavy (specific gravity 0.57), moder- 

 ately strong, tough, of medium or hue texture, and 

 generally straight-grained. The rate of air- 

 seasoning and amount of degrade are moderate. 

 Machining characteristics are as follows : planing, 

 shaping, mortising, and sanding are good; turning 

 and boring are excellent; and resistance to screw 

 splitting is poor. The wood is easily worked and 

 takes a fine polish. It is generally resistant to 



Cordia alliodora (Ruiz & Pav.) Oken 



attack by dry-wood termites and is very durable 

 in the ground. 



This valuable wood is used extensively through 

 the American tropics for furniture, cabinet work, 

 millwork, and general construction. Various uses 

 in difl'erent countries include bridge timbers, floor- 

 ing, ship decking, boat parts, truck parts, oars, and 

 crossties. 



The seeds and leaves have been used in home 

 medicines. Also a good honey plant. 



Capa prieto has been planted for its wood and 

 for coiTee shade and ornament. Propagated readily 

 from seed, it grows very rapidly and re- 

 quires nearly full sunlight. P^ntomologists 

 report that insects sometimes attack and discolor 

 the leaves, causing leaf fall. 



Forests in the moist limestone and lower moun- 

 tain regions of Puerto Rico. Particularly common 

 on soils derived from tuffaceous parent material. 

 Also in Vieques, St. Croix. St. Thomas, St. Jolm, 

 and Tortola. 



Pttblio roRESTS. — Cambalache, Carite, Gua- 

 jataca, Guilarte, Luquillo, Rio Abajo, Susua, Toro 

 Negro, Vega. 



Municipalities where esfeciallt common. — 5, 

 8. 



Range. — Cuba, Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and 

 Virgin Islands, throughout Lesser Antilles, and 

 Trinidad and Tobago. Reported as introduced in 

 .Jamaica. Also widely distributed in continental 

 tropical America from central Mexico to Ecuador, 

 Peru, Bolivia, and Brazil. Planted in southern 

 Florida. 



Other common names. — capa, capa prieto, 

 guacimilla. capa de sabana, capa de olor (Domini- 

 can Republic) ; varia, varia prieta, varia colorada, 

 varia amarilla (Cuba); hormiguero, bojon, tam- 

 bor hormiguero (Mexico) ; laurel (Central 

 America) ; laurel bianco (Central America, com- 

 merce) ; bojon (Guatemala) ; laurel negro (Hon- 

 duras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica) ; laurel macho 

 (Nicaragua); solera, canalete, canalete de humo, 

 laurel negro (Colombia) ; pardillo, tacurai 

 (Venezuela) ; laurel negro, laurel prieto, laurel 

 macho, laurel (Ecuador) ; arbol del ajo (Peru) ; 

 ajo (Bolivia) ; onion cordia (United States) ; 

 spruce (Antigua) ; laurier cypre (Dominica) ; 

 Spanish-elm (Jamaica) ; cypre, cyp (Trinidad) ; 

 cypress (Tobago) ; salmwood, salaam, bohun, 

 laurel bianco (British Honduras) ; brown silver- 

 balli (British Guiana) ; bois soumis, chene caparo 

 (Haiti) ; bois de rose, bois de Rhodes (Guade- 

 loupe) ; louro, louro amarello, uruazeiro (Brazil). 



Botanical synonym. — Cerdana alliodora Ruiz 

 & Pav. 



This genus, formerly divided by a few authors 

 into as many as 5, is represented by 7 native tree 

 species, 4 of these illustrated here, 1 introduced 

 ornamental tree, and 7 shrub species. 



468 



