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development has been normal, the tree will flower in its third year, 
whether it has permanent branches or not. I have seen many two 
years old trees with flowers and fruit, but I would consider this 
premature, and indicating that something is wrong with the tree. 
The season of flowering is from February to the beginning 
of May in the Zacualpa district in Mexico, and in Western 
Guatemala. The earliest fruifs begin to ripen in May and ripe 
seeds can 'be had until August. 
The flowers are unisexual, but both sexes occur on the same 
tree. I have often heard it stated by planters and others, that 
there are two distinct trees, the male and female. It is also said, 
and generally believed, that the “male trees” do not produce 
latex as well as the “female.” In my experience all the older 
trees carry both male or staminate and female or pistillate flow'ers. 
While the trees are young they often have only staminate flowers 
but after, reaching a more mature age both sexes are present. I 
think we can safely abandon the idea that some trees are male and 
therefore no “ milkers,” while others are female and good milk 
producers. Such an analogy is rather far fetched and has a strong 
flavour of ignorance. 
I have found trees on tvhich the female flowers have been 
sterile on account of insufficient development of the ovary. Such 
trees naturally do not produce fruit. Whether there are any 
permanently sterile trees is a question yet to be investigated. 
I have seen numerous instances where a tree had no flowers 
one year but developed a profusion of both staminate and pistillate 
flowers the next year. <i I have also noticed cases where a tree 
had an abundance of fruit one year and none the following. 
Whether there is any regularity in this development of flowers and 
fruits I am -not in a position to say at present. 
The idea that a sterile tree, or at least a tree not carrying fruit, 
produces less latex than a fruiting one is erroneous. I have noticed 
instances of trees with plenty of fruit giving little or no latex, and 
again of non-fruiting trees with an abundance of latex. It seems 
though as if a tree generally yielded more latex while in fruit than 
during any other time of the year. 
The staminate flowers consist of imbricated scaly flat pods, 
which open along the edge like a clam shell, with clusters of yel- 
lowish stamens on the inner side. These pods or heads are up to 
one inch' long, as a rule, but another kind of smaller staminate 
flowers are found immediately below a cluster of pistillate flowers. 
The stamens in these semi-spheric'al heads often have pollen grains 
which are shrivelled up and apparently sterile. 
The female flowers have numerous ovaries on a common disc- 
like receptacle or cup, covered with scales larger than those of the 
staminate flowers. Each pistil carries two straight, scarred, two- 
parted styles. 
The fruit is first green, and when ripening gradually turns 
a deep red, finally fading into an orange colour. From eight to 
thirty fruits mature in each cluster, and a much larger number 
