150 



niaceous trees of very distinct appearance and which have 

 no right to the denomination of Lignum vitae , under which 

 the first one is often known among Americans in the Canal 

 Zone. Guayacan , Suajacum and Lignum vitae are really sy- 

 nonyms, when they apply to the iiygophyllaceous trees, with 

 blue flowers, known by the botanists as Guajacum arboreu m 

 and G, officinale , but only the first one should be used 

 for the yellow flowered Teccma of the Isthmus. In Guatemala, 

 the same tree goes under the name of cort^s , or corteza , and 

 in some parts of Mexico as verdecillo . / 



' The wood of the Isthmian Guayacan is one of the most 

 highly prized timbers of the Panamanian forests, and efforts 

 should be made to grow the trees and insure a regular supply 

 for the market. About 1348, Seemann noticed in the ruina 

 of the Cathedral of Old fanama "beams of its v;ood, which 

 have been exposed to the influence of climate since the des- 

 truction of the city in 1617". Ihese beams v;ere perfectly 

 sound at the time and are still so today, ilany of the gua- 

 yacan ties used in the building of the first Panama railroad 

 have been used again after many years of service. This hard 

 wood has many other applications; the natives even turn the 

 roots into curves for their schooners and small crafts, and 

 the Indians make mortars, pestles, hoes and other small im- 

 plements requiring hard wood, out of the broad buttresses 

 at the base of the trunk.) 



The Pink-f lo'flered Tecoma 



Tecoma pentaphylla Jusa., D.C. Prodr. 9: 217. 1846. ^ 



Description of the tree 



A deciduous tree 8 to 15 m. high, and up to 40 cm. In 

 diameter, the trunk usually erect, covered with smooth grayish 

 bark, the crown either depressed and spreading or elongate; 

 young branchlets tetragonous, glabrous. ('Leaves coriaceous, 

 opposite, glabrous; petioles 7 to 10 cm. long, broad and flat 



