16 ALLAN HANCOCK ATLANTIC EXPEDITION REPORT 



Distribution : Tropical regions of the Americas, type from Coraman- 

 del, and naturalized in the tropics of the Old World. It occurs widely in 

 the wanner regions of the New World both wild and cultivated. It has 

 been introduced into California and Florida. The sweetish pulpy arils of 

 the seeds are eaten by the native peoples in the spring; dried, they are sold 

 in the markets. 



ERYTHROXYLACEAE 

 Erythroxylon cumanense HBK. 



Buccoo Bay, April 20, Elmore V3; dry sandy soil of the upper beach. 



Distribution: Northern South America and Tobago. 



A small tree or shrub with stiff branches and white flowers, char- 

 acterized by the unarmed approximately horizontal branchlets and the 

 short pedicels of the flowers. The above specimen is nearly leafless, bearing 

 only a few immature leaves on the outer twigs. I have followed Sandwith 

 (Kew Bui. 1938: 357) in assigning this collection to this species. How- 

 ever, it also shows relationship to Venezuelan material in the herbarium 

 of the Chicago Natural History Museum labeled as E. carthagenense 

 Jacq. 



ANACARDIACEAE 

 Anacardium occidentale L. 



Scarborough, April 19, Elmore U6; botanic garden. 



Distribution: Tropics of the New World, naturalized in the Old 

 World tropics. 



EUPHORBIACEAE 



Euphorbia glomerifera (Millsp.) Wh. 



Scarborough, April 19, Elmore U3; roadside in clay soil, flowers white. 

 Buccoo Bay, April 20, Elmore V19, roadside. 



Distribution: American tropics. 

 Hippomane Mancinella L. 



Buccoo Bay, April 20, Elmore V2; on dry shaded upper beach. 



Distribution: Mostly littoral from Jalisco to Brazil, West Indies, and 

 Florida. 



A low spreading tree with thick caustic latex and poisonous fruit. Both 

 the gum and the fruit are employed locally by the natives for medicine and 

 were formerly used for poisoning arrows. It is the manchineel tree. 

 Standley in the "Trees and Shrubs of Mexico" (C. N. H. 23 : 650. 1923) 

 gives an interesting account of this tree. 



