SAPOTACEAE 



Gum Bumelia. Gum Elastic 



Bumelia lanuginosa (Michx.) Pers. 



HABIT. A shrub or small tree 40-50 feet high and 1-2 feet 

 in diameter; narrow crown with short, spinescent, spiny branches. 



LEAVES. Alternate; simple; 1-3 inches long; oblanceolate 

 to obovate; margins entire; thin; dark green above; soft, rusty- 

 brown hairs below; tardily deciduous in winter; stipules absent. 



FLOWERS. Regular; perfect; minute; in axillary clusters; 

 corolla white, campanulate, 5-lobed. 



FRUIT. Drupe; oblong; Yz inch long; black; solitary or in 

 2-3 fruited clusters; thick flesh. Seed: V4 inch long, shiny. 



TWIGS. Slender; rounded; spinescent or with stout spines; 

 red-brown to ash-gray. Winter buds: scaly, small, obtuse. 



BARK. Thin; dark gray-brown; divided into scaly ridges. 



WOOD. Unimportant; heavy; not strong; close-grained; 

 ring-porous; light brown; producing clear, viscid gum. 



SILVICAL CHARACTERS. Intolerant; dry hills or along 

 streams; generally shrubby. 



GENERAL. Four native species sometimes become trees and 

 are keyed out below: 



1. Leaves persistent, thick and leathery, dull blue-green; Florida 

 and Texas B. celastrina H. B. K., SafFron-Plum. 



1. Leaves deciduous. 



2. Leaves glabrous or nearly so, Virginia to Illinois and south . . . 



B. lycioides (L.) Pers., Buckthorn Bumelia. 



2. Leaves hairy on lower surface. 



3. Leaves with silky, golden hairs; South Carolina to Florida. 

 B. tenax (L.) Willd., Tough Bumelia. 



3. Leaves reddish, dull, woolly hairs 



B. lanuginosa Pers. 



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