56 



The Journal of Heredity 



as in many parts of Ecuador. It may 

 be said, in fact, that of all the coun- 

 tries where this tree is grown Ecuador 

 is the one where it attains its greatest 

 economic importance, and where the 

 finest varieties are found. Theodor 

 Wolf, the classic writer on Ecuador, 

 says : 



"The capuli is as distinguishing a 

 characteristic of the Sierra as is the 

 coconut palm of the coast. I do not 

 doubt that it is indigenous, but com- 

 monly it is found in cultivation about 

 the huts of the Indians, and in their 

 fields and orchards." 



Beginning in the northern part of 

 the country, the tree is common in the 

 province of Carchi, but not really 

 abundant. The same is true of the 

 vicinity of Ibarra, in Imbabura prov- 

 ince. Toward Otavalo it occurs in 

 greater numbers and along the shores 

 of Lake San Pablo it is very abundant 

 in the gardens and dooryards of the 

 Indians. In Pichincha province, 

 again, it is less conspicuous, though not 

 by any means wanting. From Lata- 

 cunga to Riobamba it is one of the 

 few trees which grow upon the sandy 

 plains, and it here attains greater 

 economic importance than in any other 

 part of the country. In the province 

 of Azuay, however, it is nearly as 

 abundant and important; and in cer- 

 tain sections of this province, together 

 with the neighboring one of Canar, 

 it assumes the appearance of an 

 indigenous species. In Loja it is not 

 rare, but not sufficiently common to 

 take a very important place in the list 

 of economic plants. Its zone, through- 

 out Ecuador, lies between 6,000 and 

 11,000 feet. 



In Peru we have not studied in 

 detail the distribution of the species, 

 but it grows in several parts of the 

 Andean region. It is particularly 

 abundant in the valley of the Urubam- 

 ba river, near Cuzco, at elevations Ije- 

 tween 8,000 and 10,000 feet, and it is 

 cultivated in the city of Cuzco, at an 

 altitude of about 11,500 feet. It is 

 significant that the Indians of Peru 

 and Ecuador, who speak the Quichua 

 language, should know this plant under 



a name taken from the Nahuatl 

 tongue of Mexico. The numerous 

 inquiries which we have made of 

 Indians in Ecuador and Peru have 

 failed to elicit any other name than 

 capuli. This latter has, in Ecuador, 

 been combined with Quichua words to 

 form compound terms, such as sacha- 

 capull (wild capuli), the name given 

 to an Ecuadorean tree thought to 

 resemble the capuli in appearance; 

 and Capidi-urcu (capuli mountain), 

 the name of a small peak. 



South of Peru the capulin is not 

 well known. There are a few trees in 

 central Chile, chiefly in gardens and 

 parks of the region about Santiago. 



If by the name capulin we designate 

 the cultivated forms of Prunus serotina, 

 and not the species as a whole (a 

 limitation which seems altogether ap- 

 propriate), then we may say that this 

 fruit has never been extensively planted 

 in the United States; indeed, the only 

 recorded instances of its having been 

 grown in our country are a few from 

 California. Strangely enough this 



fruit, — which was, after the Old World 

 species brought by the Spanish monks, 

 one of the very first exotics to be 

 planted in that state, — has never be- 

 come widely known there, although it 

 succeeds remarkably at Santa Barbara. 

 F. Franceschi, in his "Santa Barbara 

 Exotic Flora" (1895), gives a some- 

 what detailed account of its behavior, 

 which we transcribe below; it may be 

 mentioned in passing that the zapote. 

 of which he speaks is Casimiroa ediilis 

 La Llave, and the famous old tree at 

 Santa Barbara is believed to have been 

 planted about 1810: 



"In a lot adjoining that where the 

 old zapote grows, and very likely 

 planted at the same time, but in rather 

 worse condition, is a tree of the Capul- 

 lin {Primus capuli), a kind of cherry, 

 native not only of Mexico but extend- 

 ing in the temperate regions of South 

 America down to Ecuador and Peru, 

 but only west of the Andes. . . . 

 Horticulturally speaking, this tree has 

 a special importance for us, as well as 

 for other warm countries, being the 

 only cherry which will thrive in this 



