820 



The Cordias 



across, the lobes rounded and irregularly wa\7-margined ; filaments short, the 

 anthers oblong, included, or in some flowers exscrtcd; the ovary smooth, the style 

 slender, included or exserted. The fruit is ovoid, 2.5 to 4 cm. long, narrowed at the 

 apex and entirely enclosed in the calyx, bright white and smooth; the flesh is thin, 

 the stone irregularly grooved and contains i or 2 white seeds about 1.5 cm. long. 

 The wood is hard, close-grained, dark brown; its specific gravity is about 0.71. 

 This tree is often planted for ornament in tropical countries on account of its 

 abundance of beautiful flowers and showy fruit and is also called Sebestena and 

 Anaconda. 



2. ANACAHUITA Cordia Boissieri A. de Candolle 



This small, round-topped, much branched evergreen tree grows but sparingly, 

 and usually only as a shrub, in the Hmestone soils of Texas and New Mexico, 



increasing in abundance and size 

 southward, in Mexico, where it at- 

 tains a height of 8 meters, with a 

 trunk diameter of 2 dm. 



The bark is 10 to 12 mm. thick, 

 divided into fibrous ridges of a gray 

 color. The twigs are stout, round 

 and covered with rusty hairs, be- 

 coming gray, and only slightly hairy. 

 The leaves are thick and firm, ovate 

 to oblong-ovate, 8 to 12 cm. long, 

 blunt or sharpish-pointed, rounded 

 or heart-shaped at the base, wavy on 

 the margin or entire, dark green, 

 somewhat wrinkled and rough above, 

 brownish velvety beneath; the leaf- 

 stalk is very hair}-, stout, 2 to 4 cm. 

 long. The flowers, appearing from September to June, are nearly sessile, in cymes i 

 to 1.5 dm. across; the calyx-tube is broadly cylindric, densely hair}^, about i cm. long 

 and ribbed ; its triangular lobes are sharp-pointed ; the corolla is white with a yellow 

 center, its tube funnclform, short hairy on the outer surface, twice the length of the 

 calyx, the limb about 5 cm. across, its lobes nearly orbicular and crisp-margined. 

 The fruit is ovoid, 2.5 to 3 cm. long, light reddish brown, shining, partly enclosed 

 in the calyx; the flesh is sweet and pulpy, the stone smooth, long-pointed. 

 The wood is soft, close-grained, and brown, its specific gravity about 0.68. 

 All parts of this plant are aromatic and are used by the Mexicans as cough 

 remedies and have also been widely exploited as cures for consumption. The 

 fruit is also eaten and made into jeUies. It is sometimes planted in Mexico for 

 its abundance of beautiful fragrant flowers, which should induce its more general 

 planting in warm climates in which it will thrive. 



Fig. 749. Anacahuita. 



