248 Forestry Quarterly. 



which are useless or whose use has not been found out, we must men- 

 tion as the most common tree of all, the most striking by its foliage 

 and apparently the most useless — although it may be in spite of its 

 hollow stem and pithy white wood prove to be material for paper 

 pulp — namely, the Moraceous Yagroma (Trumpet tree), Cecropia 

 peltata, a medium-sized tree, common through the Carribean Islands. 

 With its large (sometimes over 1 foot) palmate leaves, silvery- white 

 underneath, it continually calls attention to its uselessness. The 

 well-known Silk Cotton Tree, Ceiba pentandra (L) Gaertn. is 

 another as useless and very common, ponderous tree, doubtfully sup- 

 posed to be an introduction from the East Indies, striking by its 

 peculiar immense flukes or buttresses enlarging the base of the 

 smooth-barked trunk, which defies any established conceptions of 

 form factors. Its lightness and ease of working makes the wood 

 desirable for the dug-outs of the natives, and it may have some val- 

 ue for paper pulp or boxboards. 



The most ubiquitous and most common large-sized tree, vying with 

 the Sabicu in development, is the well-known West Indian or Hog 

 Plum, called Jobo, Spondias lutea L., which in bark and foliage 

 immitates the Cedar, but it has a white soft wood which if one did 

 not look to Cuba only for fine cabinet woods, would long ago have 

 been utilized for common lumber and especially boxboards and crate 

 material. Its prolific fruit production covering the ground with 

 yellow plums which furnish the mast for the wild boars is the most 

 ready means of distinguishing it from the Cedar. 



Similar in its wood, similarly ubiquitous and almost as frequent 

 and only slightly less ponderous is the Almacigo — the Gutnholimbo 

 of the Bahamas, Bursera Simaruba (L) Sarg. of the Burseraceae 

 (formerly Anacardiaceae) striking by its finely flaked papery rusty- 

 red bark. Although not choice as to its location, it occurs most fre- 

 quently on the dry slopes and ridges and here makes the best di- 

 ameters, up to 1 feet, although remaining rather short in stature. 

 Its wood is white and light without heartwood formation, and like 

 the Jobo may be used for boxboards and other cheap lumber. 



This exhausts the list of the species of commercial size which are 

 relatively common, but by no means the valuable species. For there 

 are to be found the well-known Ligumvitae or Guayacan, Guaiacum 

 officinale L., a small (20 inch) tree of the dry slopes, said elsewhere 

 to grow to 5 feet; the highly prized Granadillo Brya ebenus D. C. 

 also a small tree of the dry slopes (a substitute for Ebony, 18 inch 



