Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

y him from trees and living material supplemented
by herbarium specimens. On field trips
through l'uerto Rico and on brief visits to Mona,
St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola, he
collected about 1,200 numbers of herbarium specimens
of trees. As a result, n few additional island
recol-ds mere obtained and one new tree species was
named. An article on the trees of Mona Islmd
(90) wns based mainly on his two field trips there.
In checking the identifications, he exnmined the
collections from Puerto Rico and the Virgin
Islands in the National Herbarium of the United
States National Museum, Washington, D.C. Sets
of specimens have been deposited there and in the
herbarium of the Institute of Tropical Forestry
and will be distributed to other lierbnria.
The junior author, Director of the Institute of
Tropical Forestry, has conducted forestry investigntio~is
in Puerto Rico continuously since 1942 and
lias studied many of these tree species in the forests
and esperimental plots. He 11s prepnred the
clinpter "Forests and Forestry in Puerto Rico and
tlie Virgin Tslnndq" checked the descriptions, and
contributed notes on wood and uses. Also, he hns
compiled the data on propagation, growth rate;
and site adaptability, and distribution by forest
types.
The manuscri t was completed in 1955, then
trnnslated into 8 panish for the Spanish edition,
and has been slightly revised in 196.2 before publication.
The notes on Puerto Rican \roods have
been expanded to include lnter investigntions at
the Institute of Tropical Forestry. Also, many
common names recorded in recent floras of other
countries have been added.
PLAN
Tlie 250 common tree species of Puerto Rico and
the Virgin Islands described and illustrated in this
volume are grouped by plnnt fnmilies in the usual
botanical nrrangement adopted by Britton and
nTilson (5) and within each family alphabetically
by scientific names. However, the three large ssub-
families of the legume fnmily often accepted as
separate families are kept apart. Sixty-eight
plnnt fnmilies and 185 genera are represented.
Illustrations
Facing their respective descriptions, the line
drnwings sho\r fol~age and flowers and usually
nlso the fruits. Most are nnturnl size (or very
slightly reduced), but some hare been reduced to
% and a few to 1/2 natural size as indicated. Xenr-
ly all were made from fresh specimens in Puerto
Rico.
Tree Names
The heading for the descriptive text of each
species contains on the left the preferred common
names in Spanish and English, on tlie right the
nccepted sc~entific name, and at top center the
fnmily nnmes. An asterisk (*) after the scientific
name means that the species (or fnmily) is exotic,
or introduced, and not native in Puerto Rico and
the Virgin Islands. At the end of the text of each
species are listed other common nnmes in use and
botanical synonyms, the other scientific names
used fornierly or sometimes nolv. These names
a pear nlso in the Index of Common nnd Scientific
dmes. English fnmily nnmes are derived from
nn importnnt example, while scientific or Latin
family names terminate in Lbncene" with fern excep-
tions.
Prefewed Common Names
Common names of trees often vary from place
to place, some being applied to more than one unmlntcd
species, wh~le other species may sornrtimes
lack n d~stinctive local name. The autIio:.s have
attempted (1) to record all names commonly ap-
lied witliin this region to each species; (2) to se-
Poet as a preferred name the one most widely em-
plo ecl locally if not associated more commonly
wit f i tulotlier species; and (3) to suggest for
species with no local common name one estensively
used elsewhere. Since S anish is the language of
Puerto Rico, and ~n~Esh that of the Virgin
Islnnds, two names are given for most trees present
in both areas.
The Spnnisli common name in the heading is
that prefemble for Puerto Rico, based chiefly upon
prevalent usage. Tlie selection has been made
after consultation with local botanists and with
foresters both of the Commonwealth Division of
Forests, Fisheries and Wildlife and of the Institute
of Tropical horestry, United Stntes Forest
Service. Personnel of the Division who completed
an island-wide forest inventory provided valuable
information on usage.
English common names in the hecrdinp include
those found in the Virgin Islnnds or in widespread
use elsewhere. These preferred names, many of
which were listed by Rritton and Wilson (5),
were checked in the field with rum1 inhabitants
on different islands. For the 05 species also native
or nnturalized in the United States, chiefly southern
Florida, bhere is added the name accepted by
the United Stntes Forest Service in the Check
List of Nntive and Naturalized Tms of the
United Stntes (19). For some less known species
without local English nnmes, those ndopted elsewhere,
such as in other West Indian islnnds, in
Standardized Plant Names (17), or in commerce,
have been accepted. Where two English common
names are listed, the first is the local name in the
Virgin Islands, and the second is either the Check
List name ndopted by the United States Forest
Service and recommended for the United States
or another name also widely employed. If no
English nnme has been selected, the Spnnish common
name may be suitable or the generic nnme
may serve.