STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO. 1119 



13. Bumelia peninsularis T. S. Brandeg. Zoe 5 : 107. 1901. 



Southern Baja California, tlie type from mountains of the Cape Region ; 

 Sinaloa ; San Luis Potosf. 



Slirub, 3 to 4 meters high, the brandies armed with spines ; leaves short- 

 petiolate, oblong to elliptic-oval, 2 to 4.5 cm. long, rounded at apex, obtuse or 

 rounded at base, ferruginous-sericeous when young but soon glabrate ; fascicles 

 few-flowered ; fruit ellipsoid, about 1.5 cm. long. 



4. ACHEAS L. Sp. PI. 1190. 1753. 

 The genus consists of a single species. 



1. Achras zapota L. Sp. PI. 1190. 1753. 



Achras sapota L. Sp. PI. ed. 2. 470. 1762. 



Achras zapota zapotilla Jacq. Stirp. Amer. 57. 1763. 



Sapota achras Mill. Gard. Diet. ed. 8. Sapota no. 1. 1768. 



Sapota zapotilla Coville, Contr. U. S. Nat. Herb. 9: 369. 1905. 



Sonora to Chiapas, Tabasco, Yucatan, and Veracruz ; indigenous in Chiapas, 

 Oaxaca, Tabasco, and Yucatrm, but elsewhere perhaps only cultivated or ad- 

 vent ive. West Indies, Central America, and northern South America, but 

 doubtfully indigenous. 



Large tree, sometimes 20 meters high or more, the crown dense, rounded 

 or elongate ; bark brownish, furrowed ; leaves petiolate, clustered at the 

 ends of the stout branchlets, elliptic-oblong or elliptic, 5 to 14 cm. long, obtuse, 

 acute or obtuse at base, glabrous when mature, the lateral nerves numerous 

 and parallel but scarcely visible ; flowers solitary in the axils, the pedicels 

 1 to 1.5 cm. long ; sepals usually 6, ovate, 9 mm. long ; corolla white, 1 cm. 

 long, glabrous ; staminodia petal-like ; fruit ovoid or globose, 6 cm. long or 

 larger, the skin thin, brown, scaly or smooth ; seeds 1 to 5, sometimes 10 

 or 12, brown or black, smooth and shining, 2 to 2.5 cm. long. " Zapote " 

 (Yucatan, etc., Cuba); " chicozapote " (Veracruz, Oaxaca, Jalisco, Guerrero, 

 etc. ; from the Nahuatl isicozupoti, " gum-zapote " ; also written chiczapotl 

 and xicozapotl) ; " sheink " (Mixe, Belmar) ; "zapote chico " (various locali- 

 ties) ; "chicle" (the gum); " palo Marfa " (Yucatan, Chiapas, Ramirez); 

 "ya" (Yucatan, Maya); "zapotillo" (Morelos, Veracruz, Ramirez)', 

 " peruetano " (Yucatan, Colima, TJrhina) ; "zapote de abejas " (Yucatan, 

 Colima, TJrhina); " guenda-xiiia " (Oaxaca. Zapotec. Rrko) ; "chico" (Pliilip- 

 pines) ; " nfspero " (Central America, Porto Rico, Cuba, Venezuela, Colombia) ; 

 "muyozapot" (El Salvador); " mamey " (Panama). 



The sapodilla or uaseberry is one of the best-known tropical American 

 trees. The fruit is highly esteemed by many persons. It is variable in form, 

 but usually 5 to 9 cm. in diameter ; the flesh is yellowish brown, translucent, 

 soft, sweet, and delicious when fully ripe, but when green it contains tannin 

 and a milky latex. 



The most important product of the tree is "chicle " gum, which is employed 

 in the manufacture of chewing gum. This is obtained by tapping the trees, 

 or by pressing the fruit. That obtained by tapping is known as " chicle 

 corriente," and that from the fruit as " chicle bianco " or " chicle virgen." 

 The sap obtained by tapping is boiled after having been collected, and as 

 a result the gum coagulates and is separated. Large mounts of the gum 

 are exported from Chiapas, Tabasco, and Yucatan. The Aztecs were well 

 acquainted with its extraction ; the women and children chewed it, and figures 

 were sometimes modeled from it. 



