i', i BSERACE& 



short, rounded, obtuse, with broa;l-ovate- dark rerel se-ale-s slightly se-arious e,n the margins. 

 Bark of the trunk ami large branrhes 1' thie-k, glandular dotted, separating freely inte> 

 thin paperry bright re;e]-brenvn se-ale-s expensing in falling the dark red-brown or gray inner 

 bark. Wood spongy, ve-r.y light, exceeelingly soft and weak, light brown, with thick sap- 

 woejel, soon bece>ming dise-olem-el by decay. Pieces of the trunk and large branches set 

 in the ground soon pre>duce roots anel grow rapidly into large trees. The aromatic resin 

 e>btaineel by incisions cut in the trunk was formerly used in the treatment of gout, and in 

 the West Indies is manufactured into varnish. An infusion of the leaves is sometime 

 used in Florida as a substitute for tea. 



Distribution. Moriela, from Cape Canaveral to the southern keys, and on the west 

 e;oast from Terra Ceia Island, Manatee County, Plagida, De Sota County, and Gasparilla 

 Island southwarel; ejne; e>f the largest and most common of the south Florida trees, and the 

 only one which she-ds its fe>liage eluring the autumn and winter; on most of the West Indian 

 islands, in tropical Mexico, Guatemala, New Granada, and Venezuela. 



2. Bursera microphylla A. Gray. 



Leaves glabrous, deciduous, I'-lJ' long, with a slender narrowly winged rachis and 

 petiole; and usually 10-20 oblong or oblong-obovate leaflets rounded at apex, obliquely 

 cuneate at base, sessile, about J' long and -^ wide. Flowers appearing in June before 



Fig. 588 



the leaves, \' long on slender pedicels from the axils of minute acuminate caducous 

 bracts, in mostly 3-flowered clusters \' in length; staminate, calyx-lobes ovate, acute; 

 petals 5, lanceolate, acuminate, revolute on the margins, 3 or 4 times longer than the 

 calyx-lobes, white; stamens shorter than the petals; pistillate flower not seen. Fruit 

 ripening in October, ellipsoid or slightly obovoid, solitary, drooping on the thickened ped- 

 icel i' in length, 3-angled, \' long, red, glabrous, splitting into three valves; nutlets usually 

 ovoid, acute, narrow at base, thin walled, 3-angled, gray with a deep depression at base. 

 A tree, rarely 10-12 high, with a short trunk 2|'-3' in diameter, stout erect and spread- 

 ing branches, forming a wide round-topped head, and slender glabrous red branchlets, 

 roughened during their first year by the crowded scars of fallen leaves; more often a low 

 shrub. Bark of the trunk pale yellow, separating into membranaceous scales, the outer 

 layer thin and firm, the inner layer corky, reddish brown, \' thick. Wood hard, close- 

 grained, pale yellow. 



