ZYGOPHYLLE^. 187 



II. GUAIACUM. 



Calyx o-partite, obtuse. Petals 5. Stamens 10, 

 with iilaments naked or subappendiciilated. Style 

 and stigma 1. Capsule substipitate, 5-celled, 5-an- 

 gled, or from abortion 2-3 celled : seeds solitary, 

 fixed to the axis, pendulous ; albumen cartilaginous, 

 rimulose ; cotyledons thickish. — De Cand. 



Trees, with the wood hard ; leaves abruptly pinnated ; pe- 

 duncles axillary. Name, from guaiac, the appellation given to 

 the tree by the natives of Guiana. 



1. Guaiacum officinale. Lignum- J^itcB tree. 

 Leaves bijugate, leaflets obovate or oval obtuse. 



Pruno vel Evonynio affinis arbor, folio alato buxeo subrotun- 

 do, Sloane, II. 133. t. 122. f. 3, 4, 5, 6. — Guaiacum, Browne, 

 225. — G. oflScinale, Stvartz, Obs. 168. — Gcertn. Fruct. II. t. 

 113.— Zam. ///. t. 342. 



HAB. Plains on the South side of the Island, within 4 miles 

 of the sea-shore. * 



FL. February. 



A tree seldom more than 12 feet in height, of a rounded 

 form : branches crowded, flexuose. Leaves opposite, bijugate : 

 leaflets sessile, more or less obovate, rounded at the apex, 

 nerved, glabrous : common petiole terete, channelled above. 

 Peduncles axillary, 1-3 together, an inch in length, 1-flowered, 

 filiform, minutely puberulous. Calycine sepals 5 ; two exterior, 

 somewhat broader than the others; all of them obtuse and in^ 

 cano-tomentose. Petals 5, thrice the length of the sepals, 

 oblong, bluntish, internally tomentulous. Filaments 10, twice 

 the length of the sepals, grooved on the back: anthers bifid at 

 the base, arcuate, yellow. Ovary and style compressed ; stig- 

 ma simple. Capsule obcordate, succulent, glabrous, yellow, 

 2-5-celled : seeds solitary, roundish, compressed. 



The bark of this tree is thick and smooth, of a greyish colour. 

 The wood is very hard, heavy, so as to sink in water, to the 

 taste slightly bitter, inodorous (but when ignited giving out a 

 slight fragrant smell). It takes a fine polish, and turns well. 

 It is much used where solidity is an object, such as for ship- 

 blocks, bed-rollers, pestles, &c. The centre of the wood is of 

 an obscure green, and is the part which contains the larger 

 proportion of resin ; the outer layer or sap is more yellow, 

 lighter, and contains very little of the resin. 



The Gum-resin known by the name of the Gum Guaiacum, 

 is procured from this tree. It is friable, semitransparent, of a 

 brownish green, light, and diffuses in burning a somewhat 



