846 



The Guettardas 



Fig. 768. Velvetseed. 



Stout, about 6 mm. long. The hairy flowers 

 are yellowish white, about 8 mm. long, in few- 

 flowered axillary cymes on hairy slender pedun- 

 cles mostly shorter than the leaves; calyx-tube 

 cylindric, 2 to 3 mm. long, densely hair}^; co- 

 rolla-lobes oblong or ovate oblong, shorter 

 than the tube and spreading; filaments united 

 to the corolla-tube for a portion of their length ; 

 anthers oblong, nearly sessile and included in 

 the corolla-tube. The fruit is a subglobose 

 drupe, 8 to 10 mm. in diameter, dark purple, 

 the flesh thin, dry and sweet; the globose stone 

 is 4- to 8-celled, i- to 4- seeded. 



The wood is hard, dense, reddish browTi and 

 satiny; its specific gravity is about 0.83. It is 

 not known to be used except for fuel. 



2. ROUGH VELVETSEED Guettarda scabra Ventenat 



A small rough-leaved, branching tree or shrub occurring in sandy soils of 

 peninsular Florida, the Keys, and the West Indies, reaching a maximum height 

 of about 6 meters and a trunk di- 

 ameter of 1.5 dm. 



The gray bark is nearly smooth. 

 The twigs are slender, round, rough 

 hair}', hght red-brown and marked 

 with large leaf scars. The leathery 

 persistent leaves are oval, oblong- 

 ovate to rhombic-obovate, 2.5 to 8 cm. 

 long, pointed or blunt at the apex, 

 wedge-shaped to heart-shaped at the 

 base, revolute on the margin, very 

 rough above, rusty hairy, 8- to 11- 

 nerved and prominently reticulated 

 beneath; the leaf-stalk is stout, 5 to 

 15 mm. long; the calyx-tube is 

 densely hair)', 3 to 4 mm. long; the 

 corolla is about 2.5 cm. long, its tube 

 silky hairy, its 5 to 7 lobes are usually 



Fig. 769. Rough Velvetseed. 



oblong. The fruit is puberulent, subglobose, its flesh nearly dr}^, about 6 mm. 

 in diameter, the stone 4- to 6-celled. 

 The wood is heavy, hard and dense. 



