40 HOUGH'S AMERICAN WOODS. 



to Brazil. It is named after a distinguished Italian writer on agricul- 

 ture, Pietro de Crescenzi. 



323. CRESCENTIA CUCURBITINA L. 



BLACK CALABASH. 



Ger., Schwarze Calabasse. Fr., Colebasse (Fr. W. L), 



Sp., Higuero, Colabazo de playa, Guautec ornate. 



SPECIFIC CHARACTERS : Leaves clustered at the ends of the branchlets, thick 

 and leathery, 5-8 in. long, with very short wrinkled petioles, obovate-oblong, 

 rounding to an abrupt point at apex, narrow cuneate at base, with entire revolute 

 margin, lustrous dark green with deeply impressed midrib above, paler beneath 

 and with prominent veins which are arcuate and unite a little distance from 

 the margin. Floivers appearing in early spring, on peduncles i T / 2 to 2 in. long, 

 furnished with two acute bractlets near the base and enlarged at apex; calyx 

 with 2 large concave lobes nearly as long as the corolla tube; corolla thickish, 

 dingy purple or creamy white streaked with purple bands on the lower side, 

 about 2 in. long, stamens in 2 pairs and a staminodium on posterior side inserted 

 about midway on the wall of the corolla tube; ovary obliquely conical. Fruit 

 oblong, or subglobose, 2 T / 2 to 4 in. long, unbonate, suspended on a thick stem 

 \y-2 to 2 in. long, and enlarged at apex, obscurely 4-ridged, dark green, its shell 

 about iV in. thick, finally hard and brittle; seed about ^ in. long, somewhat 

 broader than long, 2-lobed and y^ in. thick. 



The Black Calabash is a low spreading tree seldom more than 20 

 or 25 ft. (8m.) in height, with few long branches and usually leaning 

 or recumbent trunk which may be 8 to 10 in. (0.25111.) in maximum 

 diameter. The bark of trunk is of a brownish gray color and quite 

 smooth, exfoliating with age in thin irregular scales. 



HABITAT. The borders of swamps and low rich hammocks in the 

 vicinity of Bay Biscayne and the Florida Keys, many of the West 

 Indies, southern Mexico, Central America and Venezuela, often grow- 

 ing in the shade of forests of taller growth. 



PHYSICAL PROPERTIES. Wood soft, light, not strong, with many 

 small, quite regularly distributed open ducts and of a mottled dark and 

 light brown color with lighter sap-wood. Specific Gravity, 0.6319; 

 Percentage of Ash, 1.35; Relative Approximate Fuel Value, 0.6234; 

 Weight of a Cubic Foot in Pounds, 39.38. 



USES. We are not aware of any particular use to which this tree 

 is applied, though its large glossy leaves and interesting flowers and 

 fruit suggest an appropriateness for ornamental planting in low moist 

 localities. 



