164 LIBUTIONS FROM THE NATIONAL HEBBABITJM. 



Antigua, Guadeloupe, Martinique, St. Vincent, Bequia, Cannouan Ken Bull. no. 

 81, j>. 248 . Union do . Barbados Grisebach . Grenada, Trinidad Grisebach 

 garita Tropical and subtropical regions of l»"ili hemispheres. In the, <>M World, 

 however, ii is a cultivated plant . 



i the I >a rk and leaves is made a medicament used in all wasting diseases; from 

 the flowers and Beeds another used for intermittent fever. The bast is employed in 

 the manufacture of paper. It- whitish, close-grained wood in used for fuel and also 

 makes good charcoal. 



The plant is easily recognized on account of its peculiar habit. The primary 

 petioles are very Bhort, the pinnae extremely 1 < » 1 1 -_r and Bpine-pointed, tin- Leaflets 

 minute and sometimes almost abortive. 



Local oames, polo d rayo,florcL rayo. Jerusalem thorn <""k and Collins . 



22 HAEMATOXYLUM L. 

 Haematoxylum I.. Sp. PI. 1: 384. 17")."). 



Calyx with a short receptacle; segments ■">. Bubequal, deeply imbricate; petals 5, 

 oblong, spreading, nearly equal, imbricate in estivation; Btamens l<>. free, uearly 

 erect ; filaments slightly pilose at the base; ovary Bubsessile, free, 2 or 3 ovulate; style 

 filiform; Btigma small, terminal; Legume lanceolate, compressed, membranous, adher- 

 ing at tin- sutures, separating Lengthwise in the middle of the valves int<> 2 boat-shaped 

 false valves; Beeds transverse, oblong, the chalaza ventral, albuminous. Glabrous 

 net-, the leaves paripinnate or bipinnate, the leaflets obovate, paucijugate; stipules 

 Bometimes Bpinous, sometimes .-mall and caducous; (lowers yellow, small, in lax 

 axillary racemes; bracts small, caducous; bracteoles wanting. 



1. Haematoxylum campechianum L. 

 (Urban, 277.) 



Tree ."> meters high, the branches white-barked, often .-piny, leaves paripinnate; 

 leaflet- :; or 4-jugate, obovate, retuse, glabrous, L.5 t<> 2.5 cm. long; flowers yellow; 

 calyx l mm. long; petals bblong-obovate, *'» mm. Long. 



Near P<>nce. <»n the seashore; near Cabo Mojo, toward Puerta Real, on roadsides; 

 near Mayaguez, on Mount Mesa; near Isabela, in forests Dear the seashore. Bahama, 

 Cuba, Jamaica. Cayman. Haiti. St. Thomas. St. Croix. St. .John. St. Bartholomew 

 I Stockholm Berbarium i, Antigua (Grisebach . Guadeloupe, Dominica. Martinique, St. 

 Lucia (Grisebach i, St. Vincent, Bequia, Mustique Kew Bull. no. 81, p. 248), ( rrenada, 

 Tobago, Trinidad. This tree is indigenous in Mexico and in Central America. It is 

 widely diffused, however, either under cultivation or naturalized, in the West Indies. 

 especially Jamaica, and in the northern part of South America, as well as in some 

 parts of tropica] Asia. 



From the blood-red heartwood of the tree i which becomes black on exposure to the 



air i- made Logw 1 campeachy-wood), an exceedingly valuable dyestuff. The 



important crystalline principleof this wood, haematoxylin (C 16 H u 6 ),is much use 

 a- a dyestuff to produce blue, violet, and black. The most valuable Logwood cornea 

 from the wesl coast of Yucatan, the least valuable from the Antilles. The wood is 

 of value in cabinet work, and the hark contain.- a gum from which one kind of India 

 ink, also called Chinese ink, is made. In the countries where the tree is indigenous the 

 the hark, bast, and Legumes are used by the people medicinally. 



Local names, polo <h campeche, <<imj>(<fi< . 



