STANDLEY TREES AND SHRUBS OF MEXICO 1323 



16. PARMENTIERA DC. Prodr. 9: 244. 1845. 



Trees, usually armed with spines; leaves alternate or subopposite, mostly 

 trifoliolate; flowers large, greenish, pedicellate, soUtary or fasciculate on old 

 wood; calyx closed in bud, in anthesis cleft along one side and spathelike; corolla 

 tube dilated and campanulate, curved, the limb somewhat bilabiate, 5-lobate; 

 stamens 4; ovary 2-celled; fruit elongate, terete, indehiscent, with fleshy peri- 

 carp, smooth or costate; seeds small, numerous, not winged. 



One other species is known, P. cereifera Seem., the candle-tree of Panama. 



Fruit short and thick, costate; leaflets mostly acute and entire 1. P. edulis. 



Fruit long and slender, smooth or nearly so; leaflets usually very obtuse and 



often toothed 2. P. aculeata. 



1. Parmentiera edulis DC. Prodr. 9: 244. 1845. 



?Crescentia edulis Desv. Journ. de Bot. Desv. 4: 113. 1814. 



? Parmentiera foliolosa Miers, Trans. Linn. Soc. Bot. 26: 166. 1870. 



? Parmentiera lanceolata Miers, Trans. Linn. Soc. Bot. 26: 167. 1870. 



Sinaloa to Tamaulipas, Campeche, and Oaxaca; type from Yautepec, Morelos. 

 Guatemala and El Salvador. 



Tree, 4.5 to 9 meters high, the branches armed with short stout incurved 

 spines; leaves glabrous, long-petiolate, the petiole naked or narrowly winged, 

 the leaflets elliptic, ovate, or obovate, 3 to 8.5 cm. long, acute or abruptly attenu- 

 ate at base; corolla about 7 cm. long; fruit 10 to 16 cm. long and 2 cm. thick or 

 larger. "Chote" (Tamauhpas, San Luis Potosi); "cuajilote," "huajilote," 

 "cuachilote," "guajilote" (Oaxaca, Tamauhpas, Veracruz, Jahsco, Morelos, 

 Campeche, Sinaloa, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala; from the Nahuatl 

 cuau-xilotl) ; "gueto-xiga" (Oaxaca, Zapotec, Reko). 



The tree is often cultivated for its shade and fruit. The fruit is sweet and 

 edible, and is eaten either raw or cooked. It is sometimes made into pickles or 

 preserves and also roasted in ashes. Stock of all kinds are fond of it. It is 

 considered a good remedy for colds; the roots are used as a diuretic, especially 

 in the treatment of dropsy, and the Juice of the leaves was formerly, at least, 

 dropped into the ears as a cure for deafness. The flowers are greenish white or 

 greenish yellow, and the fruit green tinged with yellow. 



The name Crescentia edulis Desv. has no connection with Parmentiera edulis 

 DC, and it is not certain that Desvaux's name relates to the present plant. He 

 describes the leaves as simple, but his description of the fruit points to Parmen- 

 tiera edulis. 

 2. Parmentiera aculeata (H. B. K.) Seem. Bot. Voy. Herald 183. 1854. 



Crescentia aculeata H. B. K. Nov. Gen. & Sp. 3: 158. 1818. 



Colima, Campeche, and Yucatdn; type from Campeche. 



Shrub or tree, 3.5 to 7.5 meters high, the branches armed with stout spines; 

 leaves long-petiolate, the petioles not winged, the leaflets suborbicular to obovate, 

 1 to 3 cm. long, aljruptly decurrent at base, puberulent or glabrous; calyx 2 cm. 

 long; fruit 18 to 25 cm. long, about 1 cm. thick. "Xkat-cunc," "kaat," "pepina" 

 (Yucatan). 



The flowers are said to be green. This species has been reported from Yucatan 

 as P. cereifera Seem. 



17. CRESCENTIA L. Sp. PI. 626. 1753. 

 Unarmed trees; leaves alternate or fasciculate, simple or trifoliolate (rarely 

 5-foliolate) ; flowers large, yellowish, solitary or fasciculate along the trunk and 

 larger branches; calyx closed in bud, in anthesis campanulate and irregularly 

 cleft; corolla tube campanulate, the limb oblique, 5-lobate; stamens 4; fruit large, 

 oval or globose, indehiscent, the pericarp hard and shell-like; seeds numerous, 

 exalate, imbedded in pulp. 



