112 



pit Openings. Ends of vessel segments wither horizontal or 

 oblique and wholly absorbed. V/ood fibers about 3.25 mm. 

 long ./ith relatively thick walls and siaall cell cavities. 

 Pits exceedingly small and scarcely visible under high 

 power of comijound microscOi:)e. ,/ood parenchyma rather abun- 

 dant, scattered throughout the v/ood; it occurs in short tan- 

 gential lines of one cell in .vidth. Hays very numerous and 

 conspicuous, usually from 5 to 8 cells wide and many times 

 as high. 



D istribution, common names and uses 



'2hia cpecies was originally discovered by A. i'endler in 

 the forests near Ghagres, at the mouth of the river of the 

 same name, Febraary 12, 1350. ^inoe then, it was never col- 

 lected again, until one of us hsd the good fortune of meeting 

 several individual trees apparently belonging to the same 

 species in the forests surrounding Pinogana in southern 

 Darien. 2he tree is icnown to the natives as membrillc ma - 

 cho . 2he yellov/ish wood is easy to .vork and is used tc a 

 small extent as a house and handy-work timber. 



i'he Jarien Gannonball-Jree 



G ouroupita darienensis Pittier, Gcntr. U.S. Hat. Herb. 26; 



7. 1927. 



Desc r iption of the tree 



a very large, deciduous tree v/ith a straight trunk 

 reaching u.^ to 30 ia. in height and 1.25 m. in diamfiter, from 

 the apex of v/nioh the ;aain limbs radiate h*.ri?,ontally, 

 formin^ a flat, sparsely branched crowns 3ark of the trunk 

 and limbs thick, soaly, that of the branchlets with a strtrng 

 fiber, ./ood brownish to yellowish, with a fetid, exceedingly 

 repulsive smell. Leaves obovate, short jetiolate, with 

 toothed margins. Floral racemes short, growing from the 



