STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 317 



of Madagascar are large trees with durable wood. Their bark contains much 



tannin and yields a black dye. 



1, Weinmannia pinnata L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 1005. 1759. 



Weinmannia glabra L. f. Suppl. PI. 228. 1781. 



Weinmannia intermedia Schlecht. & Cham. Linnaea 5: 555. 1830. 



Mountains of Hidalgo, Veracruz, and Oaxaca. West Indies, Central America, 

 and South America ; type from Jamaica. 



Shrub or small tree, copiously pubescent ; leaves opposite, stipulate, pinnate, 

 the rachis winged, the leaflets 9 to 25, oval or oblong, 1 to 2 cm. long, crenate ; 

 flowers small, in long racemes ; sepals 4 or 5 ; petals 4 or 5 ; stamens 8 or 10 ; 

 fruit a small capsule. " Lorito " (Costa Rica); " oreganillo " (Porto Rico); 

 " encinillo " ( Colombia ) . 



The bark is astringent, and a gum often exudes from it. It is said that the 

 bark has been used as an adulterant of quinine. 



57. HAMAMELIDACEAE. Witch-hazel Family. 



1. LIQUIDAMBAR L. Sp. PI. 999. 1753. 



Reference : P. Wilson, N. Amer. Fl. 22: 189. 1905. 



The balsam derived from Liquidamhar orientalis Mill., of western Asia, is the 

 oflicial Styrax of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia ; it is known also as storax. It is 

 used in medicine as a stimulating expectorant and very feeble germicide. 

 1. Liquidambar styraciflua L. Sp. PI. 999. 1753. 



Liquidamhar iHacroijliylla Oerst. Am6r. Centr. 16. 1863. 



Liquidambar styraciflua mexicana Oerst. Am6r. Centr. 16. 1863. 



Mountains, Veracruz and Puebla to Chiapas. Guatemala ; eastern United 

 States ; type fx-om Virginia. 



Large or small tree, sometimes 45 meters high, with a trunk 1.5 meters in 

 diameter, the crown broad or narrow ; bark thick, deeply furrowed, grayish, the 

 young branches usually with corky wings ; leaves about 15 cm. wide, with 5 

 deep acute lobes, bright green ; flowers unisexual, the starainate racemose, the 

 pistillate in globose heads, the heads becoming spiny and conelike in fruit; 

 perianth none ; fruit a capsule, opening at the apex, containing few winged seeds ; 

 wood hard, weak, light brown, its specific gravity about 0.59. " Xochiquahuitl," 

 " xochiocotzoquahuitl," " xochiocotzotl " (the gum) (Nahuatl) ; " maripenda " 

 (Michoacan, Tarascan) ; " naba " (Chiapas, Morelet) ; " ocotzotl," " ocozotl," 

 or " ocozol " (Veracruz); " ocozote " (Oaxaca, Beko) ; "estoraque" (Oaxaca, 

 Guatemala) ;" liquidambar " (Oaxaca, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua); 

 "yaga-bito," " yaga-bizigui " (Oaxaca, Zapotec). 



The wood of the sweet-gum takes a good polish but warps badly. It is used in 

 the United States for furniture, shingles, paving blocks, etc., and in Mexico for 

 boxes, chests, and other articles. For interior finish of houses it is very popular, 

 for it is of fine appearance when polished. The leaves (which are beautifully 

 colored in autumn, before falling) contain tannin. 



The i-esin or balsam obtained from the tree appears to be little known in the 

 United States, but in Mexico and Central America it has been much used from 

 the earliest times. It has been employed also in Europe in medicine, under the 

 names " liquidambar " and " copalm balsam." The balsam is a transparent 

 yellowish liquid with peculiar agreeable balsamic odor and bitter warm acrid 

 taste ; upon exposure to the air it hardens. The gum is sometimes chewed in the 

 southern United States to sweeten the breath. A sirup prepared from the bark 

 has been used as a remedy for diarrhoea and dysentery, especially in children. 



The method of gathering the balsam in Honduras, and the u.ses made of 

 it there, are detailed in the following account by W. V. Wells :^ "The owners 



^ Explorations and adventures in Honduras, pp. 321-322. 1857. 



