Bursera gummifera, 
THE GUM-BEARING BURSERA. 
Synonymes. 
Bursera gummifera, 
Gommart gommiiere, Gommier blanc, 
Gummitragender Bursere, 
Almacigo, 
West-India Birch, 
Gumbo-limbo, 
Von Jacquin, Stirpium Americanarum. 
Lunan, Hortus Jamaicensis. 
Nuttall, North American Sylva. 
France. 
Germany. 
Spain and Spanish America. 
British West Indies. 
Southern Florida and Bahama Islands. 
Engravings. Nuttall, North American Sylva, pi. ; Loudon, Encyclopaedia of Plants, figure 143S9 ; and the figures below 
Specific Characters. Leaves pinnate. Leaflets ovate-acute, entire, opposite, and slightly circinate. Ra- 
cemes axillary. 
Description. 
PSS5&S|HE Bursera gummifera is 
?2 '"Tp M an evergreen tree, attaining 
f/| U M> a height of fifty or sixty feet, 
**>* p**^ ^^^^^ with a trunk from three to 
five feet in diameter. In open situations its trunk is 
often short, and divides itself into a number of large 
limbs, so divergent that they form a spacious head. 
The bark of the trunk and branches is of a reddish- 
brown, and has a loose epidermis, resembling that 
of the yellow birch (Betula excelsa.) The leaves 
are pinnate, from six to twelve inches in length, and 
somewhat drooping. The leaflets are from three to 
four inches long, ovate-acute, opposite, and are borne 
on short footstalks. They are of a dark-green, and 
shining on their ii^per sides, and light beneath, with 
numerous veins, connected in a singular manner. 
The flowers, which appear in November or Decem- 
ber, are of a yellowish colour, occur in clusters, and are situated on separate 
stalks. The fruit, which ripens in January or February, is roundish, or slightly 
oblong, with a sharp protuberance at the end, and is about one fourth of an 
inch in diameter. It is of a purplish colour, hangs in clusters, and is joined to 
the axil by a footstalk about one fourth of an inch long. Each berry contains 
a hard, white seed, of a triangular form, which is surrounded by a clear, bal- 
samic fluid, much sought after by various species of birds. 
Geography and History. This species is particularly abundant on the islands 
of Cuba and Jamaica, and is also found in considerable quantities on the Baha- 
mas and in southern Florida, and along the coast to the Spanish Maine. It was 
introduced into Britain in 1690, and can only be reared there as a hot-house 
plant. 
Several large trees are growing in the suburbs of Havana, in the island of 
Cuba, and in the town of Key West, in Florida. 
Soil, Culture, fyc. In its natural habitat, the Bursera gummifera prefers a 
