The Plant World 



A MONTHLY JOURNAL OF POPULAR BOTANY. 



VoL IV. DECEMBER, 1901. No. 12. 



FURTHER NOTES ON TREES OF CUBA. 

 Hedge Trees. 

 By Dr. Valery Havard, Surgeon, U. S. A. 



BEFOEE these modern clays of barb wire which now so universally 

 fences one off from fields and pastures, boundaries were marked, 

 and cattle as well as other trespassers kept out, mostly by live 

 hedges; these were made from cei-tain trees and shrubs combining the 

 necessary qualities for the purpose, especially great hardiness and 

 quick reproduction, from cuttings thrust into the ground. 



The most commonly planted hedge tree in all parts of Cuba is the 

 pinon espinoso, Erythrina corallodendrou, with low branching tnink and 

 fine scarlet flowers in early spring, before the appearance of the trifoli- 

 ate leaves. Bees find much nectar in the flowers, and cattle eat the 

 foliage. Another species, probably K ci'istagalli, is said to be also 

 used for the same purpose. 



Another very common hedge tree, especially in the province of 

 Santiago, where it grows like a weed, is pinon botija {Jatropha curcas), 

 with cordate, palmately-lobed leaves, pale yellow flowers and greenish 

 plum-like fniit drying black, and containing three large, bluish seeds. 

 These seeds have a sweet, pleasant taste, and may tempt the unwary; 

 they are a much more agreeable medicine than castor oil, but it is not 

 safe to eat more than one or two, as the writer knows from experience. 



The prettiest of this class of trees is the leguminous pinon plumago 

 {(rliricidia sepium Kunth, [Lonchocarpiis sepium DC.]), remarkable for 

 the ijrofusion of its light purple flowers (resembling those of the locust) 

 on the leafless branches in winter, when it becomes the most conspic- 

 uous ornament of the country. Other common hedge trees are: 



Bursera gummifera, almacigo, which yields an abundance of resin. 



