484 



Cocoa Plum 



brownish gray; the twigs are nearly smooth, dark red-brown, soon becoming 

 scarred by numerous conspicuous light yellowish lenticels. The leaves are per- 

 sistent, alternate, broadly elliptic to nearly 

 orbicular, 5 to 7 cm. long, rounded, blunt- 

 pointed or notched at the apex, con- 

 tracted at the base into a very short, stout 

 stalk, entire, leathery, dark green and shin- 

 ing above, yellowish green with promi- 

 nent midrib beneath; the small, sharp- 

 pointed stipules fall off early. The flowers 

 are in cymes 2.5 to 5 cm. long, borne in 

 the axils of the leaves expanding in spring 

 and summer; peduncles short, stout, sub- 

 tended by deciduous bracts and bractlets; 

 the bell-shaped calyx is densely hairy, its 

 lobes triangular-ovate, sharp-pointed, one 

 half the length of the 5 spatulate, whitish 

 petals; the stamens are about as long as 

 the petals, their filaments slender, distinct; 

 the ovoid anthers are 2-celled, opening 

 lengthwise; the sessile ovary is thickly 

 hairy, the style fiHform, arising from the base of the ovary, and terminated by a 

 small truncate stigma; the 2 ovules are ascending. The fruit is globose, or usually 

 sHghtly ovoid, 2 to 4 cm. in diameter, smooth, and variable as to color, pink to 

 creamy white or purple; the white flesh is sweet and juicy, often 8 mm. thick, 

 and adherent to the stone, which is pointed at both ends, prominently ridged, 

 deeply reticulated on the surface, thin walled, i to 4 cm. long. 



The wood is hard, strong, close-grained, light brown, with a specific gravity 

 about 0.77; it is of no importance economically. The fruit is of the shape and 

 size of a plum, insipidly sweet, but very variable as to sjze, color, and taste. It 

 is used for preserves in Cuba under the name Hicaco. The seeds are edible, and 

 an oil is expressed from them in some of the West Indian islands. The leaves, 

 bark and root are astringent and are sometimes employed in tropical America as 

 remedial agents. 



A closely related shrub or small tree, Chrysohalanus pdlocarpus Meyer, which 

 inhabits the same geographical area, has smaller, often obovoid purple fruit with 

 a narrow pit, and usually pointed leaves; it may be specifically distinct. 



The name, Chrysobalanus, is Greek and signifies golden date. One other 

 species, C. oblongifolius Michaux, is a shrubby plant, native in the coastal regions 

 of the southeastern United States: another occurs on the coast of Africa. 



Fig. 442. Cocoa Plum. 



