Tiemann • What are the Most Remarkable Trees? 179 



tree {Ceiba pentandra) of the South- and Malay. Cocaine is from the coca 



em Hemisphere. Cork, as is well shrub (Eryf/iroxy/on cocci) of Pern and 



known, is the outer bark of cork oak Bolivia, not to be confused with the 



(Q. suber) of southern Europe. Choco- coco-nut of the palm family (also 



late is from the cacao tree {Theobroma spelled cocoa-nut), or with the drink 



cacao) family Sterculiaceae, of the cocoa, nor with the cola-nut, both of 



West Indies and Central America, which are of the chocolate family. So 



"Coca-Cola" is made from the cola-nut confusing is this that I have tabulated 



[Cola acuminata) of North Africa, also the proper designations of the sources 



of the chocolate family Sterculiaceae. in the footnote.* 

 Chicle, the basis of chewing gums (and The list of dyes, tannins and edible 



incidentally one Chicago's tall build- fruits from trees is too long to even 



ings!) is from the Yucatan and West epitomize here; and so one might keep 



Indian sapodilla tree {Sapota achras) on and on in listing of familiar ever)'- 



Sapodilla family. The familiar coconut day products from unfamiliar trees, 

 palm (Cocos nucifera) furnishes the 



copra from which palm oil, soaps and remarkable kinds of trees 



many toilet preparations are made. 



A few important medical products Some trees of special interest are 



should be mentioned before leaving the worth describing individually. Perhaps 



subject. Indispensable quinine comes the best way to do this will be to im- 



from the bark {Peruvian bark) of the agine taking a trip around the world 



cinchona trees. The history of the dis- geographically, 

 covery of the medicinal value of Peru- . 



vian bark, after its curing the Countess ( ^ ) United States 



Chinchon in Peru in 1638, and of its Naturally we start from America, 



introduction into Europe, is fascinating I have already mentioned the sequoias 



but cannot be dwelt upon here. Cam- and the Monterey pine. The Joshua 



phor, except for the new artificially pre- tree (Yucca brevifolia) and the giant 



pared synthetic, is from the wood of cactus or Saguaro {Cereus gigantcus) 



the camphor tree of China {Cinna- deserve mention, but there is not time 



momum camphora) of the laurel fam- to describe them now. 

 ily. The spice cinnamon is the bark of /t\ a/t • 



a closely related species (C. zeylani- v^) M^^^^o 



cum) from Ceylon and India. Cassia In Mexico there is a cypress {Taxo- 



is the dried fruit of the cassia tree (C. dium mucronatum) of prodigious age 



Cassia) of China. (For an account of and diameter. It is growhig thriftily at 



spices see National Geographic Maga- Santa Maria del Tule, in the state of 



zine, March 1949, "Spices the Essence Oaxaca. This tree was visited by Alex, 



of Geography.") A remedy for leprosy, von Humboldt, the noted botanist, in 



used for thousands of years in China, 1803. He stated that the trunk then 



chaulmoogra oil, is obtained from the measured 118 feet in circumference, 



seeds of a handsome tree by the name but a careful measurement in 1840 gave 



{Taraktogenos kurzii) of Burma, Siam, the figure as 112 feet, four feet above 



* Product Common Name Scientific Name Family 



Cocaine Coca Erythroxylum coca Coca 



Coco-nut or Cocoa-nut Coco-palm Cocos nucifera Palm 



Cocoa or Cacao (drink) Cacao Theobroma cacao Chocolate 



"Coca-Cola" (drink) Cola-nut Cola acuminata Chocolate 



