STANDLEY TEEES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 423 



lote" (Guatemala) ; " agallo " (Panama) ; "dibidibi" or "dividivi" (Cuba, Santo 

 Domingo, Colombia, Venezuela; also the commercial name); " guatapan," 

 " guatapanare " (Venezuela) ; " guatapana " (Cuba, Santo Domingo) ; " guasta- 

 pana " (Santo Domingo); " libidibi " (Colombia). 



The pods contain 25 to 30 per cent of tannin. They are used locally for tan- 

 ning and have been exported in large quantities from Mexico and other parts of 

 tropical America for that purpose. They have been employed in Mexico for 

 making ink and are said to have been so used by the early inhabitants. The 

 pods yield a black dye and the wood is said to give a red one. The tree was in- 

 troduced into India early in the nineteenth centurj^ and has been much planted 

 there. One tree is said to yield as much as 100 pounds of the pods. These have 

 been exported to England, under the name of " divi-divi " or " dibi-dibi," where 

 they brought $40 to $65 per ton. 



4. Caesalpinia vesicaria L. Sp. PI. 381. 1753. 

 Yucatan. Cuba, Jamaica, and Curagao. 



Shrub or small tree, 3.5 to 4.5 meters high, unarmed ; leaflets few, very broadly 

 cuneate, 1 to 3 cm. long, usually emarginate, thick, lustrous, glabrous ; flowers 

 yellow ; fruit 6 to 7 cm. long, about 1.5 cm. wide, thick and hard. Known in Cuba 

 as " guacamaya de costa," " palo Campeche," or " palo negro." 



5. Caesalpinia sclerocarpa Standi. Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 20: 214. 1919. 

 Sinaloa to Oaxaca ; type collected between San Geronimo and La Venta, 



Oaxaea. 



Unarmed tree, 10 to 14 meters high, with a trunk 50 to 60 cm. in diameter ; 

 leaflets oblong or oval, 1 to 1.8 cm. long, glabrous ; flowers yellow ; fruit very 

 hard, blackish, indehiscent, 5 to 8 cm. long, nearly 2 cm. wide. " ifibano "' 

 (Sinaloa). 



The wood is valuable for carpenter work. 



6. Caesalpinia cacalaco Humb. & Bonpl. PI. Aequin. 2: 173. pi. 137. 1809. 

 Sinaloa to Puebla and Oaxaca ; type collected between Chilpancingo and 



Zumpango, Guerrero. 



Shrub or sometimes a large tree, often grown as a shade tree, usually very 

 spiny ; bark gray, very rough ; leaflets few, oval or suborbicular, 1 to 2.5 cm. 

 long, glabrous or nearly so; flowers large, in long racemes; fruit 10 to 15 cm. 

 long, 1 to 1.5 cm. wide, red or retldish, somewhat succulent, somewhat con- 

 stricted between the seeds. " Huisache " ( Sinaloa ; sometimes written " huiz- 

 ache"); " cascalote " (Michoacnn, Oaxaca, Guerrero); " nacascul " (Guerrero, 

 Oaxaca); " chalalS " (Oaxaca). 



This tree is often confused in literature with C. coriaria. although the two 

 species are very unlike in most of their characters. The fruit of C. cacalaco 

 has the same properties as that of C. coriaria. 



7. Caesalpinia gracilis Benth. ; Hemsl. Diag. PI. Mex. 9. 1878. ""^ 

 Sonora. 



Slender unarmed shrub, 1 to 2 meters high, with reddish brown branches; 

 leaflets few, 1 to 1,5 cm. long, glabrous ; flowers few, yellow ; fruit oval or 

 rounded, about 3 cm. long, pale reddish brown, glabrous, usually with 2 large 

 seeds. " Vara prieta." 



The branches are sometimes used by the Indians for making baskets. 



8. Caesalpinia platyloba S. Wats. Proc. Amer. Acad. 21: 425. 1886. 

 Chihuahua to San Luis PotosI, Oaxaca, and Sinaloa ; type from Hacienda 



San Miguel, Chihuahua. 

 55268—22 17 



