GMELINA ARBOREA. (Verbenaceae). MALAY BusHBEECH. This 
is a charming tree of shady localities and the lower hills throughout 
India. Ida Colthurst in “Familiar Flowering trees in India” says: 
“Nature, always inimitable in her choice of harmonizing colors, no- 
where perhaps excels herself as when she blends yellow and browns; 
and a good example of this art is the exquisitely scented bloom of 
Gmelina. The flowers appear on a naked tree, from the end of Febru- 
ary right on to mid-April, and in shape bear some resemblance to 
Antirrhinum (SNappRacon). They have five petals, four of which 
are tawny, and the fifth a bright yellow which in the bud is bent 
inwards and protected by the darker ones. The leaves, broad (6x9 
inches) and heart-shaped and ending in a point, appear as soon as 
the season of blooming is over.” The leaves are dark green and glossy 
on the upper surfaces, pale green underneath. Sturrock says it is a 
handsome, unarmed tree requiring rich soil. Corner’s “Wayside Trees 
of Malaya” calls the flowers “orange yellow,” says they are often in 
clusters a foot long at the tips of the branches and from leaf axils. 
The tree, usually 50 to 60 feet, grows much larger in Burma and is 
valued for its timber because it “lasts well under water, better than 
teak.” (Brandis: “Forest Flora of Northwest and Central India.”) 
GMELINA ASIATICA. According to Corner, this is a scrambling, 
thorny evergreen tree to 25 feet with much smaller leaves than the 
foregoing, and J-inch clear-yellow allamanda-like flowers in short 
clusters. It flowers nearly throughout the year, according to Brandis, 
and is “an excellent hedge plant” as it usually appears as a shrub. 
GMELINA HYSTRIX. Bristty BusuBeecu. Bailey’s encyclo- 
pedia describes this: “A large, spiny, scandent shrub. Flowers in dense 
terminal cymes, the colored bracts very large. Corolla 2 inches across, 
yellow. A sprawling plant with the habit of Bougainvillea.” 
BLUE OR PURPLE-FLOWERED TREES 
GUAIACUM OFFICINALE. (Zygophyllaceae). Common Lic- 
NuUMvITAE. Although Bailey’s encyclopedia says the blue or purple 
flowers of this 30-foot tree from the West Indies are “not showy,” I 
beg to differ. Its fine-cut bright evergreen foliage forms a background 
for countless numbers of small blue flowers iu terminal clusters that 
are perfectly beautiful and I have seen specimens trimmed back 
into hedges simply covered with bloom and breath-taking in their 
loveliness. Holdridge: “Trees of Puerto Rico” calls the “bright blue 
flowers . . . very ornamental,” and Standley: “Flora of Panama 
Canal Zone” goes further and says: “The showy flowers.” The tree is 
extremely slow-growing. Its wood is olive-brown to black, oily or 
waxy, with a distinctive odor, very hard, heavy and fine-grained. 
16 
