114 
SILVA OF NORTH AMERICA. 
POLYGONACE, 
species,’ distributed from southern Florida to Mexico, Central America, Brazil, and Peru, are distin- 
guished.” 
° e e e e eye ° 7 3 
Coccolobis possesses astringent properties, which are sometimes utilized in medicine,’ and many of 
the species produce hard dark-colored valuable wood. 
The generic name, from xdxxos and Aofds, is in allusion to the character of the fruit. 
1 Humboldt, Bonpland & Kunth, Nov. Gen. et Spec. ii. 175.— 
Kunth, Syn. Pl. Ziquin. i. 465.— Meisner, De Candolle Prodr. xiv. 
150; Martius Fl. Brasil. v. pt. i. 23 —A. Richard, Fl. Cub. iii. 
183. — Grisebach, Fl. Brit. W. Ind. 161; Cat. Pl. Cub. 61. — Lin- 
dau, Bot. Jahrb. xiii. 120. 
? Traces of leaves found in the tertiary rocks of Europe (Et- 
tingshausen, Foss. Fl. Tert. Bilin, 88, t. 30, f. 1, 2) and in those of 
the Rocky Mountain region of North America (Lesquereux, Hay- 
den Rep. U. S. Geolog. Surv. vi. 387 [1872]) have been referred to 
Coccolobis ; but the specimens upon which the determinations have 
been made are so fragmentary that it is hardly safe to assume with 
the existing knowledge that the genus ever inhabited a larger area 
of the earth’s surface than it does at the present time. 
8 Rosenthal, Syn. Pl. Diaphor. 223, 1111. 
CONSPECTUS OF THE NORTH AMERICAN ARBORESCENT SPECIES. 
Leaves coriaceous, broadly ovate or suborbicular, cordate at the base . . . . . - ee ee 
Leaves ovate or oblong-lanceolate . 
1. C. Uvirera. 
2. C. LAURIFOLIA. 
