STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 819 



published. According to Gilg,* the sepals are glabrous outside, while in the two 

 species listed above the sepals are hairy on the outer face. 



4. CUBATELLA L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 1079. 1759. 



1. Curatella americana L. Syst. Nat. ed. 10. 1079. 1759. 



Tepic to Chiapas. Cuba and Central and South America. 



Shrub or small tree, 3 to 6 meters high, the trunk usually crooked, the bark 

 scaly, brownish ; leaves short-petiolate, oval or elliptic-ovate, 12 to 30 cm. 

 long or larger, emarginate, abruptly short-decurrent at base, coriaceous, very 

 rough on both surfaces, the mai-gin somewhat sinuate,, the lateral nerves 

 numerous, parallel, extending to the margin ; flowers white, ill-scented, in short 

 dense lateral panicles; sepals 4 or 5, spreading; petals 4 or 5, 5 to 6 mm. long; 

 carpels 2, hirsute, 6 to 7 mm. long ; seeds black, surrounded by a thin aril ; 

 wood rather soft, light, coarse-grained, taking a poor polish, its specific gravity 

 reported as 0.805, the sapwood thin, light brown, the heartwood somewhat 

 darker. " Raspa-viejo " (Michoacan, Guerrero); " tlachicon " (Oaxaca; from 

 the Nahuatl tla-chiquoni, "thing that makes rough," Reko) ; " hoja man" 

 (Oaxaca, Seler) ; " chumico de palo," " hoja-chigiie," " raspa-guacal " (Costa 

 Rica); " chaparro " (Colombia, Venezuela, Guatemala, Honduras) ; "chumico," 

 "chumico palo," " curatela " (Panama); "vaca-buey," " careicillo " (Cuba); 

 " peralejo " (Colombia). 



Seler states that in Oaxaca the ground seeds are mixed with chocolate to 

 flavor it. The rough leaves, which contain silicon, are widely used as a sub- 

 stitute for sandpaper for polishing wood and metal, and for cleaning kitchen 

 utensils. The wood is of little value. The bark is said to be rich in tannin 

 and to be used in Brazil for tanning skins. A decoction of the leaves is 

 emploj'ed in Brazil for treating wounds. In some parts of western Mexico 

 the tree is abundant and forms dense thickets or low forests. 



99. OCHNACEAE. Ochna Family. 



1. OURATEA Aubl. PI. Guian. 1: 397. 1775. 

 Glabrous trees or shrubs; leaves alternate, persistent, coriaceous, lustrous, 

 serrulate or entire, stipulate; flowers yellow, in terminal or lateral racemes 

 or panicles, the pedicels jointed at base ; sepals 5, imbricate, thin ; petals 5, 

 obovate, clawed ; stamens 10, the anthers dehiscent by pores ; ovary 5-parted ; 

 fruit of 5, or by abortion fewer, sessile 1-seeded drupes. 



Leaves 10 to 16 cm. long, bright green, the veinlets mostly parallel, not reticu- 

 late 1. 0. mexicana. 



Leaves 4 to 9 cm. long, pale, the veinlets not parallel, irregularly reticulate. 



2. 0. pallida. 



1. Ouratea mexicana (Humb. & Bonpl.) Engl, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 12': 312. 1876. 



Gomphia mexicana Humb. & Bonpl. PI. Aequin. 2: 21. j)l. 7^. 1809. 



? Gomphia jurgensenii Planch. Lond. Joiu-n. Bot. 6: 11. 1847. 



? Ouratea jurgensenii Engl, in Mart. Fl. Bras. 12^ 351. 1876. 



MichoacSn to Oaxaca ; type collected between Acapulco and Chilpancingo, 

 Guerrero. Central America. 



Shrub or tree, 2 to 5 meters high ; leaves short-petiolate, narrowly elliptic- 

 oblong or oblong-oblanceolate, 2.5 to 4.5 cm. wide, acute or short-acuminate, 

 acute to rounded at base, spinulose-serrulate toward the apex, lustrous; pan- 

 icles 5 to 16 cm. long, many-flowered, the flowers pedicellate ; sepals 5 to 7 mm. 



' In Engl. & Prantl, Pflanzenfam. 3": 111. 1893. 



