301 



Native of Tropical America ; introduced by cultivation to W. Africa, 

 the West Indies, India, &c. 



The pods are good fodder for stock, and the tree is grown for this 

 purpose in the West Indies, India and other places. 



The wood is light — 26-36 lbs. per cubic ft. (Gamble, Man. Ind. 

 Timb. 310) ; ^ood for all purposes except in exposed situations 

 (West Ind. Bull. ix. 1909, p. 305) unless well tarred ; makes good 

 furniture and flooring (Bull. Dept. Agric. Jamaica, iii. 1905, p. 169) ; 

 though according to Gamble (I.e.) the wood in India has been found 

 nearly worthless either as timber or fuel. 



Propagated by seed ; grows rapidly in almost any situation. 

 Recommended with Casnarina for reclaiming the land along the 

 sea-shore on the Gold Coast (Thompson, Col. Rep. Misc. No. ^, 1910, 

 p. 7) ; cultivated as a decorative and shade tree, Old Calabar (Rep. 

 Bot. Gdn. Old Calabar, 1900-01), used as a shade tree for cocoa and 

 Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) in Trinidad and Jamaica, where 

 it is found the Guinea grass grows better when shaded by this tree, 

 than when grown in the open (Bull. Misc. Inf. Roy. Bot. Gdns. 

 Trinidad, 1901, p. 347). The tree is deciduous, and the leaves, 

 together with the flowers, pods and seeds, supply a good proportion 

 of nitrogenous manure. 



Some currency has been given to the statement that this tree 

 affords a good water supply in dry regions, but this is without 

 foundation and the so-called rain is said to be caused by "multitudes 

 of cicadas sucking the juices of the tender young branches and 

 leaves, and squirting forth slender streams of limpid fluid," a 

 phenomenon which does not appear to have occurred outside Peru. 



Ref.— "Rain Tree," in Kew Report, 1878, pp. 46-47. "The 



Rain Tree of Movobamba," Thiselton-Dyer, in Nature, xvii. 1878, 



pp. 349-350. "Shade Trees," in Bull. Roy. Bot. Gardens, Trinidad, 



July 1901, pp. 347-349. "Guango, (PUhecolobium Saman)," in 



Bull. Dept. Agric. Jamaica, i. 1903, pp. 247-248, with analyses of 



seeds and pods. Ibid, in West Indian Bull. v. No. 2, 1904, 



pp. 112-115, with analyses of seeds and pods. PUhecolobium 



Saman (Uango, Rain tree)," PI. Util. Congo, De Wildeman, Art. 



xxxi. pp 550-554, with analyses. " The Rain Tree of Peru (Pitlic- 



colobium Saman)" in Queensland Agric. Journ. xxv. 1910, pp. 

 243-245. 



R0SACEAE. 

 Chrysobalanus, Linn. 



Chrysobalanus Icaco, Linn. ; Fl. Trop. Air. II. p. 365. 



III. — Plumier, Ic. Burm. t. 158 ; Jacq. Icon. Select. Stirp. Am. t. 

 94 ; Browne, Jamaica, t. 17, f. 5 ; Diet. Sc. Nat. t. 236 ; Desc. Ant. 

 ii. t. 84 ; Lam. Encycl. t.42 8, f. 1 ; Tuss. Ant. iv. t. 31 ; Schnizlein, 

 Ic. t. 274 ; Spach, Suites (Hist. Nat. dee Yegetaux) t. 5, f. 4 ; Gard. 

 Chron. May 6th 1871, p. ^G ; Sargent, Silva, N. America, iv. t. 148 ; 

 Contr. U.S. Nat. Herb. viii. t. 26. 



Vvrnac. names. — Varach (Gambia, Blackburn, Allegre) ; Eschimno 

 (Loanda, Gossweiler) \ Apnru (Fr. Guiana, Heckel) ; Icaquier (Fr. 

 Guiana, Heckel). — Cocoa or Coco Plum, Coco Plumb Tree (Tussac), 

 Icaquier d'Amerique (Tussac), Prune-coton, Prune de l'anse (Heckel), 

 Fat Pork Tree (Hughes). 



