822 



The Strongbacks 



the calyx is bell-shaped, 6 to 7 mm. long, the lobes oblong to ovate or Ijinceo- 

 late-oblong, shorter than the tube ; the coroUa is white, i cm. long, the tube longer 

 than the calyx, its lobes orbicular or kidney-shaped. The fruit is subglobose, 9 

 to 14 mm. in diameter, subtended by the persistent calyx. 



The plant was described and illustrated by Nuttall as Cordia floridana, and 

 erroneously stated to have yellow flowers. 



2. STRONGBACK — Bourreria havanensis (Roemer and Schultes) Miers 

 Ehretia havanensis Roemer and Schultes 



Also called Strongbark, this tree inhabits the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and 

 other West Indies, reaching a height of 12 meters and a trunk diameter of 2 dm., 

 but is often only a bushy shrub. 



The trunk is usually short, its branches spreading, round and slender. The 



bark is about 2 mm. thick, reddish brown. 

 The twigs are slender, round, shghtly hairy, 

 soon becoming smooth, red or grayish. The 

 leaves are thick and firm, obovate to ob- 

 long or oval-obovate, 4 to 12 cm. long, 

 rounded or notched at the apex, narrowed 

 at the base, entire, revolute on the margin, 

 dark green and smooth above, pale green 

 and prominently reticulate veined beneath; 

 the leaf -stalk, is slender, stiff, grooved, 11 to 

 15 mm. long. The flowers, appearing at al- 

 most all seasons, are in terminal cymes 5 to 

 10 cm. across; pedicels 4 to 12 mm. long; 

 the calyx is bell-shaped, 5 to 6 mm. long, 

 the 5 teeth irregular, blunt; the corolla is 

 about I cm. long, its tube sHghtly longer than 

 the calyx, the spreading lobes nearly orbicu- 

 lar; the fruit is subglobose, 10 to 13 mm. in diameter, capped by the remnants 

 of the style and subtended by the persistent calyx-lobes; the skin is thick and 

 tough, orange-red; the flesh is thin, enclosing 4 thick-walled nutlets. 



The wood is hard, strong, dense and brown; its specific gra\ity is about 0.80; 

 it is used principally for fuel. 



Fig. 751. — Strongbiick. 



