Tallow wood 



377 



II. TALLOWWOOD 



GENUS XIMENIA [PLUMIER] LINN^US 

 Species Ximenia americana Linnaeus 



THORNY small tree or shrub, which encircles the globe in the tropics, 

 entering our area in peninsular Florida and the Keys, where it attains 

 a maximum height of 6 meters. It is the type species of the genus. 

 It is also called Seaside plum. Hog plum, Mountain plum, False 

 sandalwood, and Wild oHve. 



The branches are thorny and spreading; the bark is close, smooth, reddish, 

 and very astringent. The twigs are angular, be- 

 coming round and smooth. The leaves are alter- 

 nate, or in clusters of 3, firm and leathery, oblong or 

 eUiptic, 3 to 7 cm. long, blunt or notched at the 

 apex, tapering or rounded at the base, entire on the 

 margin, sHghtly hairy when young, bright green and 

 smooth above, paler beneath; the leaf-stalk is slen- 

 der, grooved, 5 to 10 mm, long. The flowers are 

 yellowish white and fragrant, perfect, in 2- to 4- 

 flowered axillary clusters, on pedicels about as long 

 as the leaf-stalk; the calyx is persistent, with 4 or 5 

 triangular sharp-pointed lobes; the corolla narrowly 

 bell-shaped, leathery, 4-lobed, the lobes linear, 

 with reflexed elongated tips ; stamens 8, borne at the 

 base of the ovary, their filaments thread-Hke, erect; 

 anthers Jinear, opening lengthwise; ovary superior, sessile, ovoid-oblong, 3- or 4- 

 celled, and smooth; styles united, as long as the calyx; stigma capitate; ovules 3 or 

 4 in each cell. The fruit, ripening in July, is a yellow or reddish, pulpy drupe, 

 globose or broadly ovoid, 14 to 17 mm. in diameter, with an almond-like odor and 

 acid taste. The stone is ovoid, about 2 cm. long, minutely pitted, light reddish 

 brown, with a white seed. The fruit is edible, and is a favorite food of many birds. 



The wood is hard, close-grained, yellow; its specific gravity is about 0.92. It 

 is said to be used as a substitute for Sandalwood in the Eastern tropics. 



The genus contains about 5 species of tropical trees or shrubs. The name is 

 in honor of Franz Ximenes, a Spanish naturahst, writer on medicinal plants about 

 1615. 



Fig. 332. Tallowwood. 



