58 



The Journal of Heredity 



to point out, in the present paper, the 

 distinctly superior character of the 

 horticultural forms which have been 

 developed in Ecuador and to urge 

 their propagation and dissemination. 



We append a note< on the botany 

 of the capulin, prepared by Dr. S. F. 

 Blake, of the Bureau of Plant Indus- 

 try, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 which should serve to clear up the 

 confusion in which the subject has long 

 been involved. 



USES 



The capulin is used in the same 

 manner as the northern cherry, — for 

 eating out of hand, for preserving, for 

 the preparation of jams, jellies, and 

 so forth. In those countries where 

 good varieties occur, it is popular 

 among all classes of people; in other 

 regions, such as the highlands of 

 Guatemala, for example, it is es- 

 teemed principally by the poorer 

 classes, since there are no varieties of 

 sufificiently good quality to attract 

 people who can afford to purchase 

 better fruits. 



In Ecuador, the fruit plays an 

 important role in the economic life 

 of the Indians, who have come to 

 depend upon it as an important article 

 of diet. It ripens during the first 

 months of the year, "precisely when 



* Botanical note: the capulin or ceraso, ranging from Mexico to Peru, has received several 

 names at different times. Primus capiili Cav. Anal. Hist. Nat. Madrid 2: 110. 1800; types 

 from Ecuador and Peru. Primus salicijolia H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 6: 241. pi. 563. 1824; 

 type from Colombia. Cerasus capoUin DC; Ser. in DC. Prodr. 2: 539. 1825; based on drawings 

 of Mexican plants. Cerasus capuli (Cav.) Ser. in DC. Prodr. 2: 541. 1825. Primus capoUin 

 (DC.) Zucc. Abh. Akad. Muench. 2: 345. pi. 8. 1837. Prunus serotina salicifolia (H. B. K.) 

 Koehne, Deutsch. Dendr. 305. 1893. It has usually been distinguished from Prunus serotina 

 Ehrh. by its supposedly narrower leaves, but examination of a large amount of material shows 

 that this character is by no means constant, since broad-leaved forms occur in Mexico and narrow- 

 leaved forms at various places in the United States. The only distinction which appears to 

 be at all constant is furnished by the larger fruit and stones of the capul'n, but this difference is 

 precisely the one which would come from cultivation. In his treatment of the genus in the 

 Standard Cyclopedia of Horticulture (5: 2842. 1916), Bailey retains P. capoUin and P. salicifolia 

 as distinct from P. serotina, but gives no satisfactory characters for separation. Koehne, in his 

 latest treatment of the genus (Bot. Jahrb. Engler 52: 285-9. 1915), retains P. capuli as distinct, 

 but brings forward no definite characters beyond its larger stone. 



A study of Mr. Popenoe's specimens and of the extensive series in the National Herbarium 

 has convinced me that the supposed species are botanically inseparable, as was long ago recog- 

 nized by Sargent (Silva North Amer. 4: 46, footnote. 1892), and that the capulin is merely a 

 cultivated form of P. serotina, which is presumably native southward into Mexico and introduced 

 in early times into South America. 



The following collections by Mr. Popenoe have been examined: Guatemala: Tecpan, 1916, 

 Nos. 7S2a, 752b. Colombia: Nemocon, 1920, No. 1077; Bogota, 1920, No. 1122. Ecuador: 

 Ambato, 1921, No. 1232; Loja, 1921, No. 1319; Cuenca, 1921, No. 1332. Peru: Urubamba, 

 1921, No. 1358; Cuzco, 1921, No. 1362.— S. F. Blake. 



* "Enumeracion Botanica," by Luis Cordero, published at Cuenca, Ecuador, in 1911. 



the peasants, and especially the In- 

 dians, have consumed the corn of the 

 previous season's harvest, and cannot 

 secure sufficient food for their needy 

 families."^ In point of quantity con- 

 sumed, the capulin is doubtless the 

 most important fruit of the Ecuado- 

 rean highlands. 



The Indians, besides eating the fruit 

 out of hand, use it to prepare a species 

 of cocido or stew. It is said that 

 a distilled liquor, resembling kirsch or 

 maraschino, has been obtained from 

 this fruit in Ecuador; but this has not 

 been verified by us personally. 



The medicinal uses of the capulin 

 are not of great practical importance, 

 though rather numerous and often 

 mentioned in the literature of this 

 tree. The account we have trans- 

 lated above from Ximenez gives a 

 rather complete idea of its uses in 

 Mexico during the early days of 

 Spanish colonization. More recent 

 works consider an infusion of the 

 leaves to be valuable in combatting 

 malarial fevers, and "the bark, espe- 

 cially that of the branches and roots, 

 yields hydrocyanic acid used in medi- 

 cine as a tonic and sedative." 



Professor Sargent, from whom we 

 take the last observation, remarks 

 concerning the wood of Prunus serotina 



