145 



The Panaman Vitex 



Vltex floridala Duchass. & Walp. in Walp. Ann. 3ot. Syst. 3: 



£40. 1852. 



Description of the tree 



A middle sized deciduous tree, the trunk straight, co- 

 vered with grayish rimose bark, the branchlets at first pu- 

 berulous, later subglabrate. Leaves coriaceous, undeve- 

 loped at the time of flowering, glabrous, 3-foliolate, the 

 lateral leaflets very caducous; petiole slender, 3 to 4.5 cm. 

 long; petiolules 4 to 18 mm. long; blades ovate to elliptic, 

 acute or subobtuse, 4 to 13 cm. long, 2 to 6 cm. broad, the 

 terminal one largest. Cymes axillary, shorter than the petio- 

 les of the mature leaves, 3 or 4 times divided, the rachis 

 minutely pubescent; bractlets linear, 1.5 mm. long, hairy, 

 deciduous; calyx pubescent, cupuliform, irregularly 5- toothed, 

 about 3 mm. long; corolla purplish blue, hairy without, the 

 tube 5 mm. long, ventricose, the inferior lobe larger, orbi- 

 cular, the lateral and upper lobes almost even, obovate; 

 stamens long exserted, the filaments 5.5 and 6.5 mm. long, 

 barbate at the base, the anthers ovoid, contiguous; ovary 

 globose, glabrous; style glabrous, up to 9 mm. long. Berry 

 ovoid, glabrous, bluish black, about 14 mm. long. 



Like the other Panaman member of the genus, Vitex maao- 

 niana Pittier, this tree is usually gregarious, '/men, be- 

 tween March and May, one happens to look at the distant fo- 

 rests, either from the open parts of the Canal, the savannas 

 of the western slope, or';^the steamer running close to the 

 coast, he may sometimes notice pale purple spots jutting 

 from the green background. These show the presence of one 

 of our Vitex, in full blossoms but still leafless.^ 



At close range, the Panaman Vitex is a tree of scant 

 ramification, seldom over 20 meters high, but reaching some- 

 times about 1 meter in diameter. The trunk is straight and 

 usually slanting. 



Description of the wood 

 Sapwood thick, nearly white; heartwood slightly darker. 



