79 



for canoes or dugouts, which are heavy and net very buoyant, 

 Of iate it has been successfully put on the raaricet as a ;aa- 

 hogany subtitute, often used for inside work in house 

 building. The ipounded bark, mixed with water, is said to 

 stupefy fish and the fleshy peduncles of the fruit are edi- 

 ble. In Costa Rica and v/estern Panama, the tree is cglled 

 espave, in eastern Panama, Colombia and part of Venezuela, 

 it is known as caracoli. 



i'he ..iCisciaitc-./ood Jree 

 Itlosquitoxylum jaaaicense Urb . liotizblatt 1: 7U. 1695. 



Description of the tree 



A tree up to 25 meters high and about 40 cm. in diameter, 

 the trunlc straight, covered with a reddish, scaly bark, the 

 crown rounded depressed. Leaves alternate, the ryahis gla- 

 brous, subangular, 5 to 20 cm. long, the leaflets, opposite 

 cr su'oOi'posite, oblique, 5 to S-jugate, membranous; petio- 

 les 1.5 to 2 fflj-n. long; blades ovate cr ovate-elliptic, cu- 

 neate at the base, obtuse or slightly emarginate at the 

 apex, 3 to o cm. long, 1.4 to 2 cm. broad, dark green and sub- 

 lustrous above, paler and xjubescent beneath. Inflorescence 

 racemose, terminal, 20 to 25 cm. long, the rachis minutely 

 adipressed pilose, the bracts and bractlets triangular, acute, 

 jjLibescent, 1,5 to 2 mm. long, the flo/^ers sessile, '.vhite, 

 inconspicuous; involucre 3-foliolate; sepals 5, pubescent, 

 about 1.5 mm. long; petals 5, ovate, 1.3 mm. long, mere or 

 les pubescent; stamens 5, staminodial in the female flowers; 

 disc epigynous, crenate, purplish; ovary globose, sessile; 

 style very short, 3-f id . Capsule ovoid, at first light red, 

 turning to ijurple later. 



The genus Llosciuitcxylum is closely related to Rhus, dif- 

 fering only in the structure of the ovai-y and the mode of 

 dehiscence of the capsule. The bark is full of an odorous, 

 resin-like latex. The tree bears an inmense numoer of seeds 

 and when these are ri^-e, its crowns form red spots easily 

 discovered from afar. 



