In this entire area, the plant—an enormous, heavily 
crowned tree which fruits profusely once a year—is found 
in abundance in the virgin forest on high, well drained 
soil. [t is also often encountered in a state of apparent 
cultivation, since, in clearing for house sites, the tree has 
been spared. When completely ripe, the thick, fleshy 
mesocarp of the fruit, which resembles that of the avo- 
cado (Persea americana Mill.) to a striking degree, is 
very palatable. When green, however, it is full of latex 
and is extremely sticky. 
Pouteria Ucuqui is known in the entire Brazilian part 
of its range by the name weugu?, a word originating from 
the Lingua Geral or Nheengatti language which is spoken 
widely in the State of Amazonas, and especially in the 
Rio Negro. The Tukano Indians of the Rio Uaupés re- 
fer to the tree as puch-pee-d (the ch being soft as in the 
German ?ch). In Colombia, the native name for Pouwteria 
Ucuqui amongst the Kuripaka Indians of the Rio Guainia 
is 00-le-da; and amongst the Miranias of the Rio Caqueta 
(La Pedrera), hd-he-pa. The tree is called yuew by the 
Spanish-speaking population of the Venezuelan town of 
San Carlos on the uppermost Rio Negro. 
The term weuqu?, so far as we have been able to ascer- 
tain, refers exclusively to Pouterta Ucuqui and should 
not be confused with weuquirana (i.e., ‘false weuqut’’ ), 
a name widely applied in the same area to the sapotaceous 
Ecclinusa sanguinolenta Pierre (EH. Balata Ducke)—also 
‘alled abiwrana—a tree which is actively exploited as the 
source of a type of balata. The two trees are completely 
distinct from all points of view. 
Pouteria Ucuqut is a very tall and robust tree, usually 
with comparatively large buttresses at the base; the low- 
est branches are at a great height from the ground. These 
conditions make the study and collection of herbarium 
material rather difficult, especially since the flowers, 
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