Berry — Saccoglottis, Recent and Fossil. 127 



Art. XI. — Saccoglottis, Recent and Fossil; by 

 Edward W. Berry. 



One of the most interesting of the romantic assemblages 

 of fruits and seeds that constitute the sea drift, typically 

 developed in the tropics, is Saccoglottis amazonica. 

 Although the plant itself was described by Martius from 

 the lower Amazon, its strange fruits had been known in 

 Europe for over two centuries before their identity 

 became known. They were figured by Clusius in 1605 

 and mentioned by Sloane in 1696 but it was not until 1889 

 that their botanical identification was accomplished, the 

 details of this story having been told by both Morris 1 

 and Guppy. 2 



The latter author deals very fully with this species, 

 whose fruits are widely distributed in the Antillean sea 

 drift, and are occasionally washed ashore in Europe. 

 The fruits possess great buoyancy because of the ligneous 

 pericarp and the numerous large resin cysts which it 

 contains. Although the fruits are such ideal ocean 

 travellers there is no evidence that they have established 

 themselves on any of the Antilles where they are habit- 

 ually washed ashore, unless the few plants in southern 

 Trinidad have been introduced in this way through the 

 agency of the Orinoco drift. 



According to Guppy this species is an inhabitant of 

 the estuarine forests of the great rivers of Brazil, the 

 Guianas, and Venezuela. As far as I know it has never 

 been recorded from Colombia or Central America or 

 anywhere on the Pacific coast. Great interest, therefore, 

 attaches to my finding the fruits in 1919 near Old Panama 

 in the sea drift of Panama Bay. Obviously the parent 

 plant must grow somewhere on the Pacific watershed of 

 Central or Northern South America. Two of these fruits 

 from Panama Bay are shown in the accompanying figures. 

 One with the warty sarcotesta intact and indicative of the 

 fruit not having been in the water a long time, and the 

 other with the outer coat worn away thus exposing the 

 resin cavities and representing the usual form of preser- 

 vation of these fruits in the Antillean sea drift. 



1 Morris, D., Nature, Jan. 31, 1889; Nov. 21, 1895. 



- Guppy, H. B. ; Plants, Seeds and Currents in the West Indies and 

 Azores, pp. 133-137, 1917. 



Am. Jour. Sci.— Fifth Series. Vol. IV, No. 20 —August, 1922. 

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