70 CONTRIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HERBARIUM. 
palm from the mountains about Caracas. The trunk is said to be erect, 30 feet — 
(9 meters) high, subcylindrical, and very spiny. The fronds are about 5 feet 
long, with. four pairs of remote, broad, cuneate, praemorse pinnae, strongly 
whitish-pubescent on the under side. The petiole is also beset with spines. 
Spathe acuminate at both ends, aculeate on the outside, smooth within, opening 
longitudinally; spadix 14 feet (45 centimeters) long, composed of cylindrical 
spikes placed opposite. Flowers hermaphrodite; calyx trifid, its divisions acute; 
petals acuminate; filaments 6, subulate; anthers rounded; style as long as the 
stamens; stigma trifid. Drupe globose, the fleshy farinaceous pulp rather taste- 
less, though edible; nut hard, of the size of a musket ball, unilocular. black, fur- 
rowed with a large number of greyish grooves, of which three are always much 
larger than the others; the kernel is white, very sweet, and very good to eat. 
Aiphanes grows in the ravines and forests of the high mountains of the district 
of Caucagua, province of Caracas, Venezuela, and requires a fertile, somewhat 
moist soil. It flowers and fruits in July. 
From the above it appears that Aiphanes is a genus quite different from that of 
the spiny palm collected at Vega Baja, and it seems to approach some of the South 
American forms described under Bactris much more closely than it resembles the 
Porto Rican tree. 
Aipim. See Manihot palmata. 
Ajenjo cimarron. See Parthenium hysterophorus. 
Aji. See Capsicum. 
A general name for red peppers, a favorite condiment and vegetablein Spanish 
countries. Numerous varieties are known and distinguished by common names 
in Mexico and Cuba, but the subject has not yet received attention in Porto Rico. 
The large **‘ sweet’ peppers are called *‘aji dulce’ in Porto Rico, and belong to 
the botanical species Capsicum annuum, while the small, more pungent varieties 
belong to C. frutescens. 
Aji caballero. 
Near Toa Alta this name was used for a species of Capsicum supposed to be 
C. frutescens. (No. 894.) 
Aji dulce. See Capsicum annuum. 
The Spanish name for the large ** sweet’ peppers. 







Aji picante. See Capsicum. 
*“Pungent peppers’? are mostly small varieties of Capsicum -frutescens or C. 
baceatum. 
Ajo. See Allium sativum. 
Ajonjoli. See Sesamum orientale. 
Akee. See Blighia sapida. 
Alambrillo. See Rajania cordata: 
This is the Cuban name of this plant: the Porto Rican designation is unknown. 
Albahaca. See Ocimum basilicum. 
Also applied at Rio Piedras to a Scutellaria, probably S. pilosa or S. coerulea. 
Albahaca cimarrona. See Ocimum micranthum and O. americanum. 
Albizzia lebbek. ACACIA AMARILLA. PLATE XV." 
A beautiful leguminous shade tree, native in the East Indies, but now aim 
sively introduced in tropical and semitropical countries. It endures drought and 
thrives in rocky limestone soils, and would thus appear to be well fitted for th 
south side of Porto Rico, where it already exists in small numbers, as well as at 
Mayaguez and San Juan. 
Aleachofa. See Cynara scolymus. 
