millan calls it remarkable for the shape and size of its trunk, contracted 
at top and bottom, giving it the appearance of a bottle. 
BYRSONIMA CRASSIFOLIA. (Malpighiaceae). A large shrub 
or small tree to 30 feet high, native of Central America. The flowers 
are in clusters at the ends of branches. The flower petals are large, 
bright yellow, turning reddish with age; the fruit a yellow globe the 
size of a cherry. Standley’s “Flora of British Honduras” says: “The 
tree is a highly ornamental one when in blosom, bearing its golden 
flowers in the greatest profusion. The fruit has a flavor somewhat 
suggestive of green apples, and it is much eaten in Central America 
generally, at least by children.” My seeds came through USDA from 
a plant established in 1921 (P. I. 51405) from seed collected by 
Wilson Popenoe in Guatemala. 
BAUHINIA MONANDRA. This small tree has very graceful, 
dainty flowers, the four lower petals pink, the broad standard (upper 
petal) a beautiful golden yellow with pink edge. There are bright 
_ red dots on all the petals. After 24 hours the petals all fade to a 
clear, lovely pink. Deciduous, but blooms two or three times a year. 
SARACA INDICA. (Caesalpinieae). Common Saraca. The 
Saracas are called by Corner “among the most beautiful of our native 
(Malayan) flowering trees,” and he lists several varieties, adding: “Tf 
S. thaipingensis is the showiest species and S. declinata has the most 
richly colored flowers, S. palembanica is certainly the most charming.” 
None of these three is growing in the United States, although S. 
thaipingensis is flowering in the Harvard Botanical Garden in Cuba 
and through the courtesy of the Superintendent, David Sturrock, I 
have planted seed which I hope will germinate. But other members 
of the Saraca group have exquisite flowers, and Saraca indica is one 
of the favorite trees of India because of its beautiful bloom. Colthurst: 
“Familiar Flowering Trees in India” says: “The first rush of bloom is 
in February, when the groups of small orange and scarlet flowers 
appear so suddenly and so closely all over the twigs and branches, 
that the tree almost looks as if it had broken out in some exanthemat- 
ous fever. After this it blooms intermittently until the rains are well 
advanced. The flowers, about an inch long, have no petals, but are 
constructed by a tubular calyx, two rounded bracts and a four-parted 
petal-like border, out of which 3 to 9 deeply crimson stamens protrude. 
Like so many other of our Indian flowers, their tone intensifies with 
age; their youth is ochreous, and their maturity vivid scarlet; a 
change not due to decadence, but apparently brought about by ex- 
posure, to the sun’s rays, since flowers always shaded remain yellow. 
They are deliciously fragrant at night, and the common Indian belief 
is that the tree only flowers where a woman’s foot has trod. . . . 
The trees are most sacred to Buddhists and Hindus alike who plant 
them around their temples and employ the flowers as votive offerings 
