44 



GUAZUMA TOMENTOSA, H. B. K. 

 Bastard Cedar. 



Native of West Indies and tropical America, 



A tree 15 to 50 feet high ; leaves, simple, in two rows on the twigs ; 

 flowers small, yellow ; nut purplish-black. 



Wood ; light and splits readily. 



" Found in the open foreBt in the vicinity of high roads and habita- 

 tions. This is a valuable tree, mainly from its yielding foliage and fruit 

 which are readily eaten by stock of all kinds. It is of a spreading habit, 

 rarely taller that 20 feet, with a diameter at the base of three feet ; it 

 yields a good timber, but it is rarely cut until it ceases to bear fruit." 

 (Hooper.) 



Bark : "an infusion has been employed medicinally, and given inter- 

 nally as a remedy for coco-bay, elephantiasis, and other obstinate cuta- 

 neous diseases. " (Macfadyen.) 



HAEMATOXYLON CAMPECHIANUM, Linn. 



Logwood. 



Native of tropical America. A tree, with pinnate leaves, small yellow 

 flowers, and small pointed pods. (Leguminosae.) 



Wood. The heart-wood is red-coloured, and this alone is exported, 

 the whitish sapwood being chipped off. The root is also exported. The 

 wood is employed to produce violet and blue colours, shades of grey, 

 and more especially blacks, giving to the latter a velvety lustre. "On 

 the coast, but especially on the east, south-east and south. In Claren- 

 don and St. Elizabeth it has spread inland up to 2,000 feet altitude. 

 Introduced from British Honduras in 1715, though it is believed an 

 entrepot trade in it had been carried on previously, shipments from 

 Honduras being landed and re- shipped from Jamaica. It generally 

 acquires in from 10 to 20 years a diameter of 9 inches to a foot, with 

 a stem branching upwards at a height of six feet from the ground. 

 There are large trees in the Clarendon Hills. 



A clump of large trees exists on Goshen Common measuring up to 24 

 feet in girth. The yearly export varies from 22,000 to 114,900 tons. 

 As a dye wood it is inferior to both Honduras and Campeachy wood, 

 judging from the market prices, which are in the proportion of five, 

 seven, and nine, the last being given for Campeachy wood. Of re- 

 cent exports a large proportion is comprised of the roots of previous 

 cuttings, removed because the logwood does not coppice.' 1 (Hooper.) 



' Logwood is a mild astringent. It has been found useful in chronic 

 diarrhcea and dysentery, in some forms of atonic dyspepsia, and especi- 

 ally in the diarrhoea of infants. As an injection the decoction of log- 

 wood has been found of service in leucorrhoea : and in the form of an 

 ointment prepared from the extract of logwood, it is said to be useful 

 in cancer and hospital gangrene." (Bentley & Trimen.) 



Logwood makes a strong and durable fence, but must be kept well 

 pruned. 



