1187 



reaching a height of about 30 feet, the trunk stout 

 and occasionally as much as 3 feet thick, and the bark 

 rough and grayish. The young branchlets are dotted 

 with grayish lenticels. The leaves, which are borne 

 upon slender petioles f inch long, are commonly 4| 

 inches in length, l to l inches in breadth at the 

 widest point, and oblong-lanceolate in outline, with 

 a long, slender tip. The upper surface is dull green, 

 the lower surface glaucous, and the margin is rather 

 finely serrate. The flowers, which are produced from 

 January to May, are white, about f inch wide, and very 

 numerous on slender racemes 2 to 4 inches in length. 

 As many as 15 or 20 fruits sometimes develop on a 

 single raceme, but many drop off before reaching ma- 

 turity, with the result that 2 to 5 ripe fruits are 

 commonly found on each raceme. The season of ripening 

 in Guatemala is from May to September. The ripe 

 fruits, which are slightly oblate in form and up to f 

 inch in diameter, separate readily from the short 

 fruit stalks, leaving the green, 5-toothed calyces 

 adhering to the latter. In color the fruit is deep 

 glossy maroon-purple. The skin is thin and tender, 

 but so firm that the fruit is not easily injured by 

 handling. The flesh is pale green, meaty but full of 

 juice. The flavor is sweet, suggestive of the Bigar- 

 reau type of cherry, with a trace of bitterness in 

 the skin. The stone is a trifle large in comparison 

 to the size of the fruit. Pleasant to eat out of hand, 

 this cherry can also be eaten stewed, or made into 

 preserves or jams. In Guatemala it is most commonly 

 eaten out of hand and as a sweet preserve . This species 

 does not appear to be adapted to hot tropical sea- 

 coasts,- but it seems to be distinctly subtropical in 

 character. It may succeed in moist subtropical re- 

 gions such as Florida, where other types of cherries 

 do not thrive." (Popenoe.) 



Ruprechtia fagifolia Meisner. (Polygonaceae . ) 44878. 

 Duraznillo seeds from Estacadita, near Sabanita de Coro, 

 Venezuela. Presented by Mr. H. M. Curran. "Komari. A 

 small tree. May, 1917." (Curran.) South American tree 

 with smooth bark which, in renewing itself each year, 

 wrinkles in a peculiar way, giving the tree a charac- 

 teristic appearance. In the spring it is covered with 

 yellowish flowers which later become pinkish, making 

 the tree very ornamental. The wood is of no commercial 

 use, so far as is known. (Adapted from Lillo, Con- 

 tribucidn al Concimiento de los Arboles de la Argen- 

 tina, p. 83. ) 



