73 



cell wide and from a few to 15 or acre cells high. 



Distribation. coaaon naraeo and uses 



'Jhe tree is known only from Golombia ^nd Panama, where 

 it grows in the inferior v/araer belt on the slopes and ridges 

 of the hills. In Colombia the fruit aiift also the tree, sre 

 known under the name jpera . en account of the shape of the 

 former, v/hich looks like a diminute i^ear. In Panama, the 

 tree is called fell , a name probably taken from one of the 

 native languages. The v/ood is said to be strong and is 

 extensively used in house building in the villages along 

 the Atlantic coast and in Darien. 



The birdcatcher's i.iilk-wood 



Sapium aucuparium Jacq[,, xinum. Pl. carib. 31. 1760 



Description of the tree 



A tree 5 to 10 m. high, the trunl: low, the crov/n depressed 

 and sjjreading; bark rugose, grayish; floriferous branchlets 

 erect. Leaves coriaceous, glabrous, olive green, the petio- 

 les 5 to 15 m;a. long, j_jrovided with two conical glands, tne 

 blades lanceoxate or obovate- lanceolate, 6 to 13 cm. long, 

 1.3 to 2.5 cm. broad, obtuse or acute and incurved at the 

 apex; margin serrulate, each tooth provided at first with 

 a s.aall deciduous gland; stipules ovate-renif orm, fimbriate 

 on the laargin, i'loral s^^ikes about 10 cm. long, single, 

 terminal, androgynous or only :;iale; glands oolong; bracts 

 broadly ovate obtuse, fimbriate; brae tec les reduced to hair- 

 like appendages. Female flowers 5 tc 8, distant, the pe- 

 rianth bilobulate, the cvary globoso, the 3 stigmas sessile. 

 Clusters of male flowers close together, 7 to l£-f lovvered, 

 the periaiith 2-cleft, the stamens 2. Capsules 3 to 6 on 

 each sx^ike, --essile, mere or less globose-depressed, about 

 10 cm. long and 13 cm. in diameter; seeds lenticular, a^ i- 



Gulate, smooth, about 6 mm. long and broad. 



