AGRICULTURAL SURVEY OF SOUTH AMERICA 21 
3 inches thick, 3 feet wide, and 30 feet long with a clear grain and 
very few knots. It is used for furniture and for house trimmings. 
The jacaranda (Jacaranda chelorria) is a tall, graceful tree with 
racemes of blue blossoms and violet-colored wood that is excellent 
for fine cabinet work. The lepacho is a big tree with large pink 
blossoms and straight-grained, tough, durable wood much used for 
wagons, farm implements, construction, and fencing. The tipa 
( Machaerin tipa) is a tree much used for street planting. Its profuse 
blossoms retain their color for several days. A small-growing hack- 
berry (Celtis seUowi) is rather common. The pepper tree (Schinus 
dependeus) reaches great size in the north and there is an avenue of 
fine specimens in Cordoba. The chinaberry tree (Melia azederach) 
is planted extensively throughout the northern half of Argentina for 
fuel and shade. In Santa Fe chinaberries have been planted between 
estates and they stretch across the flat prairie in straight lines from 
horizon to horizon. The cina cina (Parkinson acutifolia) is a curious 
shrub with long, needle-like leaves and bright yellow blossoms and 
is much used for hedges. 
The pacara (Enter olobwm thnbowa) grows to large size in the north 
country. It has a jet black, circular, convoluted seed pod the shape 
and size of a human ear, and is commonly called oreja negro" 
(negro ear). Perhaps the most curious of all the trees of northern 
Argentina is the palo borracho (Ohorisia speciosa) or " drunken tree." 
It has a remarkable bottle-shaped, short, thick trunk. Starting at 
the ground with a diameter of 2 feet, it swells out like a barrel to a 
diameter of 3 feet or more a short distance above ground and then 
tapers to a diameter of 1 foot at a height of 12 to 16 feet, where the 
branches begin. The bark is light gray or green and smooth, except 
for innumerable conical warts the size of walnuts which are often 
spiny. The foliage is very thin. The blossoms are pink, with petals 
3 inches long. The seed pods are similar to cotton bolls and as large 
as an orange. The smooth black seeds are hard, about the size of 
cottonseed, and are surrounded with a mass of long, silky, white fiber, 
used formerly by the Indians for spinning and weaving. It is really 
a tree cotton, and when the pods open and the silky fiber fluffs out 
they look like giant cotton bolls. The swollen trunks are sometimes 
used for making dugout canoes. 
A conspicuous feature of the landscape in northern Entre Rios, 
Corrientes, Chaco, and Formosa are the "palmeros," or open groves 
of palms (Cocos yatay) with grass growing between and underneath 
them. They are tall, straight, and cover immense areas. The wood 
is hard and durable and the trunks are used for fuel, telegraph and 
telephone poles, posts, and cheap construction work. 
Giant cactus (Opuntia sp.) cover great areas in Santiago del 
Estero and other dry sections. They reach a height of 24 feet and a 
stem diameter of 16 inches, and bear fruits the size of a small pear. 
Throughout the subtropical region the trees support flowering air 
plants and are draped and interlaced with vines and mosses. In the 
wooded country the larger trees are scattering, only a few large 
specimens to an acre, usually with a thick, impenetrable undergrowth 
of acacias, spiny shrubs, and cactus. 
