Gums, Resins, 



110 



[Feb, 1908. 



dnct of the Palo Amarillo is the oil 

 (about 30 per cent.) extracted from the 

 seeds. It is a good drying oil for 

 varnish, and, like the oils of other 

 Evphorbiacece a purgative. Conside) ing 

 the favourable nature of Dr. Altami- 

 rano's and Dr. Endlich's accounts, it 

 may be useful to point out that Mr. 

 George Kennedy, H.M. Vice Consul at 

 Mexico, reports as late as February 28th, 

 1907, that no satisfactory process has 

 yet been discovered to separate these 

 two substances at a sufficiently low cost 

 to give the Palo Amarillo a commercial 

 value as a rubber producer. He also 

 gives the proportion of rubber and resin 

 (desiccated?) contained in the latex 

 of Euphorbia fulva as 40 and 00 respec- 

 tively.* 



Finally, it may be added that Euphor- 

 bia fulva belongs to a small group 



* Report, enclosed in Mr. Tower's despatch, 

 Commercial No. 13, of the 1st of March, 1907. 



(Laurifoliw, Boiss.) of arborescent Eu- 

 phorbias extending from Mexico to Peru 

 and the West Indies. One of these 

 species, E. calyculata, H.B.K., locally 

 known as Ghupire or Tencuante, in some 

 pa i ts of Mexico, occurs with E. fulva. 

 Its latex is very inferior, and Dr. Alta- 

 mirano suggests that the unsatisfactory 

 results of the examination of certain 

 samples of "Palo Amarillo" rubber may 

 be due to a confusion of the two species. 

 E. fulva can be easily distinguished from 

 E. calyculala by its smaller leaves 

 (3-6 cm.) by 1-2 cm.) which are woolly 

 beneath, its short, stout, leafless flower- 

 ing branches dividing into 4-5 rayed 

 umbels, of which, however, only one ray 

 is properly developed bearing a flower 

 or fruit. The West Indian species is E. 

 punicea, Sw., a native of Jamaica, Cuba, 

 and the Bahamas. Nothing is known as 

 to its economic value. — Royal Botanic 

 Gardens, Kew Bulletin, No. 7, 1907. 



