674 



Purple Haw 



III. PURPLE HAW 



GENUS CONDALIA CAVANILLES 

 Species Condalia obovata Hooker 



i ONDALIA, named by Cavanilles in honor of Antonio Condal, a Spanish 

 scientist of the eighteenth century, includes about lo species of thorny 

 trees and shrubs, natives of the southwestern United States, Mexico, 

 and southern South America, the typical species being Condalia micro- 

 phylla Cavanilles, of Chih. They have small alternate leaves, small, perfect and 



regular flowers without petals, borne 

 sohtary or in clusters in the leaf-axils; 

 the fruit is a small drupe. 



Condalia obovata, known also as Log- 

 wood and Bluewood, inhabits dry re- 

 gions in Texas and northern Mexico. 

 It attains a maximum height of about 

 lo meters, with a trunk up to 2 dm. 

 thick, has upright branches and zigzag 

 gray, finely hairy twigs tipped by thorns; 

 it is often shrubby, however, forming 

 chapparal thickets, not over 4 meters 

 high. 



The bark is thin, brown and ridged. 

 The leaves are obovate or spatulate, i 

 to 2.5 cm. long, wedge-shaped at the 

 base, entire-margined, hairy when young, 

 at least on the under side, pale green 

 and smooth above, usually blunt at the apex and abruptly tipped, sometimes 

 notched. The very small green flowers are sohtary or few together in the axils 

 and very short-stalked; there are 5 ovate pointed sepals, 5 stamens alternate with 

 them, tind a i -celled ovary containing i ovule; the style is short and thick, the 

 stigma 3-lobed. The drupe is dark blue or nearly black, oblong, about 6 mm. 

 long, the pit thick-walled, the flesh sweet. 



The wood is heavier than water, its specific gravity being about 1.20; it is red, 

 hard and dense, is used for fuel and is said to yield a blue dye. 



Fig. 625. — Purple Haw. 



