164 SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. SAPOTACE. 
Several species of Sideroxylum are large and valuable timber-trees, producing hard handsome 
durable wood. The sweet fruits of Siderorylum dulcificum,' the Miraculous Berry of the English 
colonists on the west coast of Africa, are eaten to counteract acidity, and are an article of trade among 
the natives.2 From the milky sap of Stderoxylum attenuatum, a native of southeastern Asia from 
Burmah to the Philippine Islands, gutta-percha of inferior quality is obtained,’ and the sap of other 
species is probably utilized in the same way. 
The generic name, from oidypos and £vAor, relates to the hardness of the wood produced by the 
different species of this genus. 
1 A. de Candolle, Prodr. viii. 183 (1844). — Oliver, F7. Trop. Afr. 3 A. de Candolle, J. c. 178 (1844).— Miquel, Fil. Ind. Bat. ii. 
iii. 503. 1036. — Kurz, Forest Fl. Brit. Burm. ii. 117. 
Bumelia dulcifica, Schumacher, Dansk. Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift. 4 Spons, Encyclopedia of the Industrial Arts, Manufactures, and 
iii. 150 (Guin. Pl.) (1828). Raw Commercial Products, 11. 1627, 1652. 
2 Treasury of Botany, 1057. 
