724 



Stoppers 



They have opposite, usually leathery, feather- veined entire leaves, without stip- 

 ules. The inflorescence is centripetal, the flowers variously clustered, or soli- 

 tary, with small bracts and bractlets. The calyx-tube is globose to top-shaped, 

 the lobes 4 or 5 ; the petals are inserted on the margin of the disk, usually 4, 

 rarely 5, spreading; stamens many, their filaments thread-like, separate, in several 

 rows, or sUghtly united at the base into 4 groups, the anthers versatile ; ovary ses- 

 sile, 2- to 3-celled, with several ovules in each cell; style simple and thread-Uke, 

 terminated by a stigmatic tip. The fruit a pulpy, dryish, or leathery berry, capped 

 by the persistent calyx; seeds i to 4, globose or variously flattened. 



The name is in honor of Prince Eugene of Savoy (i 663-1 736), an Austrian 

 general and patron of botany and horticulture. 



The species that are known to occur in our area all become arborescent. 



Flowers in short racemes. 



Leaves oblong to cuneate-obovate; fruit longer than broad. 

 Leaves ovate to elliptic; fruit broader than long. 

 Flowers solitary or umbellate. 



Peduncles shorter than the leaves. 



Leaves acute or subacuminate; fruit thicker than long. 

 Leaves abruptly acuminate; fruit about as long as thick. 

 Peduncles longer than the leaves. 



1. E. buxijolia. 



2. E. axillaris. 



3. E. rhombea. 



4. E. conjusa. 



5. E. longipes. 



I. SPANISH STOPPER — Eugenia biudfoUa (Swartz) Willdenow 



Myrtus huxijolia Swartz. Myrtus axillaris Poiret, not Swartz 



Also called Gurgcon stopper; this small tree or shrub of the West Indies enters 

 our area in southern peninsular Florida and the Keys, where it grows in sandy or 



rocky soil and attains a 

 height of 6 meters, with a 

 trunk diameter of 3 dm. 



The bark is about 3 

 mm. thick, light reddish 

 brown, and scaly. The 

 twigs are round, slender, 

 with reddish hairs, soon 

 becoming smooth, gray or 

 reddish gray. The leaves 

 are leathery, oblong to 

 obovate, 2 to 3 cm. long, 

 blunt at the apex, taper- 

 ing at the base to the short 



.^ ^^ _ . , c. petiole, entire on the revo- 



FlG. 663. — Spanish Stopper. ^ ' 



lute margin, deep green 

 above, yellowish green and black dotted beneath. The flowers expand at nearly 



