Marlberry 769 



lobes hairy-fringed; corolla wheel-shaped, i cm. across, the 5, rarely 4 or 6 lobes, 

 oblong to obovate, blunt, rcflexed, and marked by purplish lines and dots; the 

 stamens are of the same number as the lobes of the corolla and inserted at the top 

 of its tube; filaments very short and broad; anthers orange-colored, longer than 

 the filaments; the ovary is globose, gradually contracted into a long, slender style, 

 capped with a simple, disk-like stigma. The fruit, ripening in spring, is a de- 

 pressed globose, dryish berry 7 to 9 mm. in diameter, subtended by the persistent 

 calyx and tipped by the base of the style, becoming black and shining when fully 



Fig. 701 . — Marlberry. 



ripe; seed solitary, depressed, somewhat kidney-shaped, 3 mm. long, punctate and 

 reddish brown. 



The wood is hard, very dense, brown, marked by darker bands; its specific 

 gravity is about 0.86. 



The genus comprises about 200 species, mostly tropical shrubs and trees, of 

 both hemispheres. Some of them are said to produce edible fniits, but otherwise 

 they are of no economic importance. The name was used by the natives of* 

 Guiana for, the type species, Icacorea guianensis Aublet. 



