STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 651 



Richard Ligon, in one of the early English publications upon the West Indies/ 

 which is quaintly written and full of interesting information, gives tlie fol- 

 lowing notes about the manchineel : 



" The people that have lived long there, say, ' tis not wliolsom to be under 

 the shade of this tree. Tlie fellers, as they cut them down, are very careful of 

 their eyes ; and those that have Cipers, put it over their faces ; for if any 

 of the sap fly into their eyes, they become blind for a month. * * * Yet, 

 of this timber we make all, or the most part, of the Pots we cure our Sugar in ; 

 for, being sawed, and the boards dryed in the Sun, the poyson vapours out. 

 * * * The fruit is like an apple John, and 'tis said to be one of those 

 poysons, wherewith the Indian Caniballs envenome their arrows." 



27. SAPIUM Jacq. Stirp. Amer. 249. 1763. 



Reference: Pax in Engl. Pflanzenreich IV. 147'': 199-258. 1912. 



Trees or shrubs, glabrous ; leaves alternate, petiolate, usually glandular-den- 

 ticulate, the stipules small ; flowers monoecious, apetalous, spicate, the spikes 

 terminal or lateral. 



Some of the species are said to be used for dyeing and tanning. Sapmni 

 jenmanii Hemsl. is the chief source of rubber in British Guiana. S. verum 

 Hemsl., of Colombia, is an important source of rubber, and the same is true of 

 ^Sf. pavonianiim Huber, also a native of Colombia, where it is known as " palo 

 de leche." 



Spikes lateral or axillary; leaves mostly 15 to 20 cm. long 1. S. lateriflorum. 



Spikes terminal ; leaves mostly less than 15 cm. long. 

 Glands at base of the leaf blade small, depressed. 



Leaves oval, 3 to 5.5 cm. wide 2. S. appendiculatum. 



Leaves narrowly oblong or linear-oblong, less than 1.5 cm. wide. 



3. S. biloculare. 

 Glands large, conic or cylindric. 



Capsule sessile or nearly so; lateral nerves of the leaves nearly horizontal 



and straight 4. S. macrocarpum. 



Capsule long-stipitate; lateral nerves ascending, arcuate. 



5. S. pedicellatum. 



1. Sapium lateriflorum Hemsl. in Hook. Icon. pi. 2680. 1901. 

 Sinaloa to Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Veracruz. Guatemala. 



Tree ; leaves mostly elliptic, 10 to 20 cm. long, 5 to 6 cm. wide, usually 

 rounded and short-pointed at apex, entire or nearly so, long-petiolate, with 

 two large conic glands at the apex of the petiole. " Hierba de la flecha," 

 "palo de la flecha" (Oaxaca) ; " hiza " (Sinaloa). 



The milky sap is reported to be irritating and poisonous. 



2. Sapium appendiculatum (Muell. Arg.) Pax & Hoffm. in Engl. Pflanzen- 



reich IV. 14r: 214. 1912. 



Stillingia appendiculata Muell. Arg. Linnaea 32: 87. 1863. 



Sinaloa to southern Chihuahua and Oaxaca. 



Slender tree, 8 meters high ; leaves long-petiolate, 5 to 10 cm. long, short- 

 pointed at apex, serrulate or entire, often glaucescent; capsule 9 mm. long. 

 "Hierba de la flecha" (Sinaloa) ; "palo de la flecha" (Sinaloa, Chihuahua). 



As in other species, the milky juice is poisonous, and was used by the 

 Indians for poisoning their arrows. 



' Richard Ligon, a true and exact histoiT of (he island of Barbadoes, p. 68. 

 1673. 



