4o6 



Jamaica Caper Tree 



lar flower-stalks 5 to 12 mm. long; the 4 ovate to 

 lanceolate sepals are pointed and about i cm. 

 long; the 4 white petals are oblong, blunt, and 

 about as long as the sepals, turning purple when 

 old; there are 16 to 32 stamens, 5 cm. long or less, 

 with filiform separate filaments, which are long- 

 hairy near the base and purple; the ovary is borne 

 on a smooth stalk 3 to 5 cm. long £uid ripens into 

 a long, linear drooping, torulose, pointed pod 3 

 dm. long or less, and about 6 mm. thick. 



The yellow wood is hard, with a specific gravity 

 of about 0.70. 



Capparis cynophallophora Linnaeus, usually a 

 straggling shrub, rarely over 3 meters high, the 

 only other Capparis growing within our area has 

 smooth, strongly-netted veined leaves and smooth 

 pods; it occurs in southern Florida and the West Indies. 



Fig. 358. — Jamaica Caper Tree. 



