204 VEGETATION 



Islands, and in south Florida, Porto Kico and San Domingo. Species of 

 Fagara are used for making walking-sticks. (Jessup Coll.) 



RHIZOPHORA MANGLE L. (Mangrove). 

 Plate XLI, Fig. 2, and Plate LXXXIV, Fig. 1. 



This remarkable plant is usually a shrub or small tree in the Bahamas, 

 but on Watlings Island we found a grove that was 35 feet high. In Jamaica 

 it sometimes reaches 70 feet. The wood is heavy and strong and, according 

 to Sargent, is used for fuel and wharf-piles, on account of its strength and 

 immunity from attacks of the teredo. Eichard Ligon says in "A true and 

 exact History of the Island of Barbados," 1657 : " The Mangrove is a tree 

 of such note, as she must not be forgotten; for, though she be not of the tall 

 and lusty sort of trees, yet, she is of great extent; for there drops from her 

 limbs a kind of Gum, which hangs together one drop after another, till it 

 touch the ground, and then takes root, and makes an addition to the tree. So 

 that if all these may be said to be one and the same tree, we may say that a 

 Mangrove tree may very well hide a troop of Horse. The bark of this tree 

 being well ordered will make very strong thred whereof they make Hamocks, 

 and divers other things they wear; and I have heard that the linnen they 

 wear is made of this bark, as also their chaires and stooles." The mangrove 

 occurs in shallow salt water on all the Bahama Islands, and is widely distrib- 

 uted in the tropics of both hemispheres. (Jessup Coll.) 



JACQUTNIA KEYENSIS Mez. (Joe-bush). 



A low, stout shrub or tree, with small, thick leaves. Though very brittle, 

 the wood is heavy and hard, and takes a good polish. A decoction of the 

 leaves and bark is used by the negroes for washing the head. 



HIPPOMANE MANCINELLA L. (Manchineel). 



This is probably the most poisonous of all trees, and its baneful properties 

 attracted the attention of many of the early writers. Though highly poisonous, 

 the injurious effects of the manchineel, like those of the upas, have 

 been greatly exaggerated by imaginative explorers. The milky sap no doubt 

 causes great inflammation in most cases, but I handled it on several occasions 

 with no worse results than a small, temporary blister. The manchineel tree 

 is about the height and shape of an apple tree, and its fruit superficially 

 resembles the crab-apple. It was often mistaken for an edible fruit by ex- 

 plorers, who suffered much evil in consequence. The wood when dried loses 



