Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

MALLOW FAMILY (MALVACEAE)
Key to the 3 species Illustrated (Nos. 150452)
A. Leaves with mostly 11 or 9 main veins from base; petioles and lower leaf surfnceii densely covered wlth whithhgray
star-shaped hairs; flowers with yellow petals, tunling orange and reddish with age-150. Hibkrcue
tiliacetie.*
&I. Leaves with mostly 7 main veins from base, petiolca and blades with scattered minute scalee.
B. Leaves abruptly long- or short-pointed at apex; flowers wlth red petals--1.51. Montcztcn~a apecioaiasima.
BB. Leaves long-pointed at apex ; flowers with pale yellow petals, turning to purpl~lS2. Theepeefa populnea.*
150, Ema jagua, sea hibiscus
Hibiscus tiltaceus L.*
This small tree or shr~~b is characterized by: sides ropes, fish nets, mats, and coarse cloth for-
(1) long-petioled, heart-shaped and nearly round merly were made from the bnrk, which even could
leaves 4-7 inches long nnd brmd, with mostly 11 be eaten in times of famine along with the roots
or 9 main veins from base, shiny yellow pen and rrnd yo~~ng leaves. Also, the fiber has served for
hairloss on upper snrfnce; (2) the young twigs, tying tobacco. The trees sprout from stumps and
petioles, lower leaf surfaces, calyx, nnd seed cap- when cut back produce long vigorous shoots from
sules densely covered mi th whitish-gray stnr- which quantities of ro$es can be made. Different
shaped hairs; (3) widely spreading or prostrate 1):wts of the tree !have served in home medicines.
crooked branches; (4) tho large funnel-shaped Also n honey plant.
yellow flowers 34% inches long and broad, turn- Gromn as an ornnmentnl for the showy flowers.
ing orange and recldish with age; and (5) theellip- The plants are easily proptt ated b cuttings and
tic, ,my-green, hairy seed capsules 1-1% inches nro sttrrt ed in fence rows as 7 iving i" onceposts. In
long, which split into 5 parts.
coastal s\tT:lm s near mangroves, leaning trunks
An evergreen tree attaining 10-20 feet in height, and branches orm roots in the mud and n~d buildwith
a short crooked trunk to 6 inches in diameter in the land.
and n broad crown. The bnrk is p y and smooth,
the thin inner bark fibrous. The twigs have rings
at nodes and become bro~vn and hairless in age.
Lenves are alternate and ]lave petioles 2-5 inches
in length. Leaf blades nrc! abruptly short- or longpointed
at apes nncl heart-shaped nt base, with
edges not toothed, nncl slightly thickened. There
are 2 lnrge short-poi~~ted whitish hairy scales
(stipules) 1-11/2 inchos long at base of leaf, soon
shedding ancl leaving a ring scar.
A few flowers are borne in terminal brnnching
clusters (panicles or Internl near ends of twigs,
ench on a whitish h airy stalk x-2 inches long. At,
the base of a flower there is a yy-green hairy
cup (involucre) Yi inch long wit 1 usually 9 or 10
narrow pointed lobes. The calyx, also my-green
hairy, is 1-1% inches Ion , tubular wit 5 narrow
5
%
long-pointed lobes. Petn s 5 (greenish tinged in
dried specimens), 21,/2-3% inches long, rounded
1)ut broader on 1 side, with star-shaped hairs on
outside. Numerous stamens nre on a column about
3 inches long united with otnls at base. The
pistil consists of a, densely f miry conical 5-celled
ovary with long slender st,yle and '5 broad sti mas.
The long-po~ntecl seed cnpsr~les split and f renlr
open the calyx and involncre which remain attached.
There are many brownish-black seeds
l/s+!/le inch long. Flower~ng and fruiting through
the ear.
~ lsapwood e is whitish, t~sd heartwood is dark
greenish brown. The wood is moderately soft,
porous, and moderately heavy (specific gravity
0.6). Used chiefly for fuel, somet~mes elsewhere
for floats or as a cork substitute.
An important use of tlle fibrous bnrk, mhicll
cnn be peeled off in long strips, is for cordage. Be-
f
%ondsides, thickets, and swamp areas in the
lower mountain regions of Puerto );Lice. Also in
BIonn, Vieques, St. Thomas, and St. John. (Recorded
long ago from St. Croiu.)
Pun~xc FORESTS.-Carite, Guilarte, Luquillo,
Rio Abnjo, Toro Negro.
R.\xa~.-Seashores throughout the tropics,
probably of Old World ori in and nnturnlized in
~lnierica. Southern Floric 4 n including Florida
ICo s, Bermuda, and bhrou h West Indies from
1311 i" lamas and Cuba to Trini f ad and Tobago. Also
from IZexico to Peru and Brazil.
OTIIER colrBrow xa3r~s.-majapa (Puerto Rico,
Spnnish) ; dnmajagua Dominican Republic) ;
inajnpn hembra (CubnJ ; mnjno Honduras) ;
nlgodoncillo, mahoe (Panama) ; sea 6 ibiscus, linden
hibiscus, tree hibiscus, mahoe United Stntes) ;
mnhoe (English) ; seaside ma'oe dnmaim, Trinidad
and Tobago) ; mahot (st. Vincent) ; blue
mol~o, wild cotton (British Honduras) ; maho,
liny~~vn (British Guiann) ; coton mnrron, mahaut
franc (Haiti) ; bois flot, bois de lihge, grnnd mahot,
mnl~ot gombo (Gundeloupe) ; bois flot (Martinique)
; pariti (French Guiana) ; maho
(Snrinnm) .
BOTANICAL ~~~o~nr.-Parititim tiliaceum (L.)
St.-Hil., Juss., & Camb.
Tho S nnish common name mnjngun, of which
the ~agyish name rnahoe is a corruption, is an
A~nerican Indian word applied in tropical Americir
to several unrelated trees with useful fibrous
bnrlr.
binhoe (HibZPacs e7aCus Sw. is a related large
npltlnd tree native in Cuba and '1 amnicn and introclaced
into Puerto Rim in experimental forest
plnntntions. It has a tnll straight trunk and