133 



Distribution, cofaiaon naaes and uses 



The 2arkey-oail 'x'ree has a wide distribution, being found 

 all along the northern c;.ast of oouth Ainerica froa the [>uia- 

 na to QolOinbia, and then along the Pacific sloi^e of Tanaipa 

 and Gosta Kica, where it is one of the charaeteristio s^jb- 

 cies of the park-like forests and of the outskirts of the 

 savanas, ujp to an altitude of about 300 meters. luaspeoific 

 name, m orototoni , is taken from the ualibi lai^mage ; in the 

 i'renoh Guiana it is called i ois cano n batard , iois de liai or 

 3ois de jaint Jean (May, or ot. John's Jood) and in Vene- 

 zuela Yagrumo de sabana . It is the uangabe of GheijO and 

 other places in the eastern part of fana;na , v/hile in Chiri- 

 qu£ and Costa xiica it goes by the naiae cf jjava , turkey- tail 

 tree, on account of the arrangement of the leaflets. The 

 v;ood is often used in boards or beams in house building, 

 and has been suggested as a good . material for making matches. 



Sapotaceae 

 T he 3alata-tree of Liarien 



Mimusops darienensis Pittier, Gcntr. U.S. Hat. Herb. 18: 



249. 1917. 



Description of the tree 



A tree 40 to 50 meters high and 1,5 meters and over in 

 diameter, the trunk straight, covered with a scaly, grayish 

 brown bark, the limbs strong, more or less spreading into a 

 depressed crown; young branchlets more or less brownish pu- 

 bescent. Leaves alternate, thick, coriaceoiis, gathered on 

 the newer growth, the ^jetioles 2 to 3 cm. long, roundish, 

 flattened, above or obscurely canaliculate, the oxades obo- 

 vate or elliiitic-oblong, obtuse, glabrous and sublustrous 

 abvve, at first mere or less ferruginous and then brownish 

 green beneath; stipules narrow lanceolate, about 5 mm. long. 



