140 



Boraginaoeae 

 Prince-tfood 'jUree 



Cordia alllodora (H. & P.) Cham.. Linnaea 19; 121. 1823. 



Desoriptlon of the tree 



A tree 10 to 20 m. high and seldom over 50 cm. in dia- 

 meter at the base. Trunk straight, branching from 5 to 10 

 m. above ground, the crown sparse and irregular; bark grayish 

 and rimose. Leaves alternate, entire, petiolate; petioles 

 1.5 to 2 cm. "long; blades ovate to lanceolate, attenuate 

 toward the base, more or less acute or acuminate at the 

 apex, Sparsely stellate hairy above, densely so beneath, 10 

 to 18 cm. long, 3 to 7 cm. broad. Inflorescences large, and 

 broad, terminal, panniculate; ^jeduncles and pedicels densely 

 stellate hairy; calyx tubulose, stellate-hairy, 4 to 5 mm. 

 long, with 10 salient longitudinal ribs and 5 minute teeth; 

 corolla salver-shaped, 5-lobed, persistent, white at first 

 and then turning to brown; sta.-nens exserted, the anthers 

 ovate-elliptic; stigma bifid, each branch divided into broad 

 lobes. Fruit drupaceous, surrounded by the accrescent calyx. 



The largest specimens of this tree are usually found in 

 localities with abundant rainfall. They always show the pe- 

 culiarity of the forks of the younger twigs being thickened 

 in a rounded, hollow swelling which shelters soxTie kind of 

 predacious ant. 



■Description of the wood 



oapwood thick, light brown; heartwood slightly darker, 

 remotely resembling slippery elm. Wood moderately hard and 

 heavy (specific gravity varies from .574 to .700), strong, 

 close-grained, taking a medium good polish. Annual rings 

 of growth barely visible under high power microscope. 



Pores ^transverse section) moderately numerous, small 

 (.04-. 18 mm. in diameter), round, open or sometimes closed 

 with dark colored tyloses in the heartwood, and arranged 



