Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

Icacoq Culebra, Vie ues, St. Croix, St. John, St.
Thomas, and Virgin 8 orda.
PU~LIC ~~o~m~.--Guinica.
RAXGE.-Chiefly alon shores in southern Floridn
including Florida I e eys and throughout West
Indies from Bahamas and Cuba to Trinidad and
Tobago and in Bonah, Curwao, and Aruba.
Also Atlantic nnd Pacific coasts of Mexico and
Central America to Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela.
On Revillagigedo, Galapagos, and other
islands.
OTHF~~ CO~LMON ~~~m.-poison-guava, manchioneel
(Virgin Islands) ; manzanillo (Spanish,
commerce) ; mnnzanillo de costa, pinipiniche
(French) ; maximilier
maqeniel,
Indies).
SPURGE FAMILY (EUPHORBIACEAE)
The English name manchineel is a corruption of
the Spanish word manznnilla (little apple), from
which the Latin scientific name also is derived.
This genus has only one species.
Symptoms and treatment of manzanillo or man-
chineel poisoning in the Grenadines have been
summarized by Richard A. Howard1 as follows:
"Serious nausea and dlarrhea are usually followed by
shock and by an appalling muscular weakness. Sloughing
on of mucous membranes occurs within a day or two if
even a small quantity of the fruit is eaten. The juice of
the tree or the fruit in the eye will cause violent conjunc-
tivitis and usually temporary blindness.
considered the best antidote for thls poison
clines. A suspension of arrowroot starch is given in lib-
eral doses when the fruit has been eaten and poultices of
arrowroot starch are applied to external burns from the
juice of the manchineel."
Howard, Richard A. The vegetation of the Grenadines,
I\'indward Islands, British West Indies. Harvard Univ.
Gray Herbarlum Contrib. 174, 129 pp., illus. 1052.
125. MoIinillo, sandbox, hura Hura crepitans L.
This handsome large tree, with sap and seeds are single and lateral near ends of twigs, on stout
both poisonous, planted along highways and in stalks 1/2-1 inch long, and include a cup-shaped
pastures and wild, is recognized by: (1) a globu- cnlyx 1/5 inch long and broad and a pistil, the
lar crown of dense foliage; (2) the trunks and of about 15 cells inside the calyx, n long
bmnches usually with many blackish spines tubu Ova?' nr style sh-llh inches long, and a prominent
inch long on the smoothish light brown bark; (3) enlarged nnd flattened stigma 1/2-1% inches across,
hmrt-shaped lenves with blades curved up at the including about 15 narrow lobes.
midrib, 5-8 inches long and 4-5 inches broad, The seed capsule is flattened and sunken in the
abruptly long-pointed, with or without teeth on center. When dry it splits and explodes violently
edges, and with lonm round pen petioles about with a loud noise, scattering the hard 1-seeded
ns long ns the blaxes; (4) copious watery or sections at a distance. The brown seeds are
sli~htly whitish latex, which is very irritating nnd rounded and flattened, %-I inch long and broad.
poisonous; nnd (5) the lnrp dnrk brown seed Flowering from winter to summer, the fruit macapsule
2%-3% inches in dlameter and lj/q-1?L2 turing in spring and summer.
inches high, grooved into about 15 sections.
The snpmood is whitish to light yellow, and the
Deciduous or nearly so, to 80 feet in height, with henrtwood is pale yellowish brown, pale olive gray,
straight trunk 2-4 feet or more in diameter. The or dnrk brown. The wood is moderately soft, modthick
bark forms a sheath around the base of each erately lightweight (specific gravity 0.38), britt!e,
spine. Inner bark is light brown, irritating to the fine-textured and often with interlocked gram.
taste.
Air-seasoning is rapid but moderately difficult
The leaves are alternate on the stout p n to with warping. The wood is very susce tible to atbrown
twigs. Blades nre slightly thickened, dnrk tack by dry-wood termites nnd varia 6 le in durgreen
and slightly shiny above and paler beneath, ability.
In n variation hairy, especially on the veins be- In Puerto Rico the wood is used chiefly for
neath.
fenceposts and fuel. Elsewhere it is used for gen-
Male and femnle flowers are borne on the snme eral carpentry, interior construction, boxes, crates,
tree (monoecious), the former numerous in n ter- veneer, ply\rood, furniture, joinery. and poles.
minal crowded cluster (s ike) 1-2 inches long and Formerly, dugout canoes were hollowed from
inch in diameter at t k' e end of a slender green large trunks.
stalk 2v2-4 inches long and resembling a short enr The caustic, poisonous latex causes inflammation
of corn. Individual male flowers are s/lo inch long or eruption upon contact yith the skin of some
and 4/8 inch broad, dark red, consisting of a cup- persons and is very irritatmg to the eyes, reportlike
calyx and 8-20 stnmens in 2 or 3 rings on $he edly causing temporary blindness. It mnkes the
central column. Female flowers, also dark red, tree unpopular with wood cutters. The juice has
276