Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

CHOCOLATE FAMILY (STERCULIACEAE)
Key to the 3 species illustrated (Nos. 15tLlSS)
& Leave8 deeply 6-lobed, with 6 main veins from heart-shaped base ; petiole nearly ns long aa blade--157. Btmlb
apetola..
AA. Lenves not lobed.
B. Lenves mith 3 or sometimes 6 main veins from the oblique bnse, with edges finely saw-toothed-166. Guazumu
ulnilfoolia.
BB. Leave8 with 1 main vein or midrib, not toothed on edges-168. Theobromu cacao..
156. Guiicima, jacocalalu Guazumg ulmifolia Lam.
T'
This tree is reco ized by: (1) long widely
spreading branches, iorizontal or slightly drooping,
with the alternate leaves in 2 rows in a flattened
arrangement ; (2) bark becoming furrowed
ilnd rough or sligl~tly shag ; (3) young twigs
covered with minute rusty- f' romn or light gray
star-shnped hnirs; (4) the ovate to lance-shaped
leaves 21/24 inches long and 1-2% inches wlde,
long-pointed, finely saw-toothed, and with 3 or
sometimes 5 main veins from the rounded oblique
base; (5) small brown-tinged yellow 5-parted
flowers in clusters at bnse of loaves; and (6) fruit
round to elliptic, hard, very warty, black, s/8-1
inch long. . -
A s~nnll to medium-sized tree to 50 feet high and
2 feet in trunk diameter, with spreading r6;mded
crown. Tlie bnrk is grny or pay brown, j/4 inch
or more in thickness. Inner bark is light brown,
fibrous, and slightly bitter. Evergreen except in
areas wit.11 long dry seasons. The long slender
twigs become dark brown.
The slender petioles G-l/z inch long are covered
\\-it11 minute rusty-brown or light gray star-shaped
Iinirs. Lenf blades are thin, nearly hairless or
sometimes densely hairy, green on upper surface
and paler beneath. At night the leaves hang
vertically.
nrnnched flower clusters (panicles) are 1-2
inches long at bnse of leaves and bear many small,
slightly fragn~nt flowers on minutely hairy stalks.
Tlie spreading flowers are about s/s inch long and
htllf as broad, consisting of a 2- or 3-lobed rustybrown
or light p y hairy calyx less than 348 inch
long, turned back and then greenish, 5 yellow
petals each with a slender 2-forked appendage, add
yellowish stamen column with about 15 anthers
surroundin the pistil, composed of hairy light
peon 5-cel f ed ovary, style, and 5 united stigmas.
The warty seed capsules, which mature in fall
and winter, are 5-celled, open at the apex or irregularly
by pores, and contain many seeds inch
long. Flowering from spring to fall (March to
October) and with fruits throughout the year.
This is a variable species with differences in
sliape and amount of hairiness in the leaves and
in slitlpe nnd method of opening of seed capsules.
Some botanists distinguish 2 species, both widely
distributed with almost the same range and both
occurring in Puerto Rico. Trees in moist areas
have nearly hnirless foliage with rusty-brown
hairs, ~vliile those in dry areas have densely light
p y hairy foliage a d have been separatad ns s
different s ecies (G. tomentosa H. B. K.).
Sapwoo f; is light brown nnd heartwood is pinkish
to brownisli. The wood is moderntely soft,
lightwoiglit~ to moderately heavy (specific gravity
O.5), easily worked, and not durable. It is very
susce tible to attack by dry-mood termites.
In 6 ucrto Rico the wood is used chiefly for posts.
Various uses of tlie wood elsewhere include genoi%l
cnrpentry, interior construction, furniture,
barrel staves, boxes and crates, tool handles, gunstocks,
shoe lasts, violins, and clmrcoal for gunpowder.
The trees sometimes serve as shade in pastures.
Immature fruits and foliage are browsed by
lio~ses and cattle, especially in dry periods, and the
fluits are fed to hog. These ~nucilaginous green
fruits, fresh or cooked, are edible, and it is re-
ported that a beverage cnn be prepared by soak-
ing tlie crushed fruits in water. In some areas
rope nnd twine are made from the tough fibrous
bnrk and young stems. The flowers attract bees
and tire a source of honey. Different parts of the
pllint are employed in home medicines.
This s ecies is characteristic of openings, stream
banks, c f earings, and second owth of disturbed
:mas and is less common in !r orests. It requires
light, grows rnpidl and is hardy in dry as well
ns molst arens. T~US, it has been classed as a
weed tree. It is re orted to be one of the com-
monest and most mi A' ely distributed tree s ecies in
Cuba and one of the commonest plants o Central
America.
Along stream courses and in thickets, pastures,
and forests in the coastal and lower rnountnin regions
of Puerto Rico. Also in Vieques, St. Croix,
St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola.
PUBLIO ~REBTB.-A irre, Cnmbalache, Gunjatncal
Qurinicn, Luqul (i" lo, Marictlo, Rio Abajo,
Susua.
~~UNICIP~ZLITIES WHERE EBPECIALLY COMMON.-
8, 21, 66.
R,ZNQE.-Throughout West Indies except Bahamas)
from Cuba to Trinidad and obago and
cultivated in Dutch West Indies. Also from
bfexico to Ecuadorl Peru, northern Argentina,
Para yay, and Bm~l.
OTHFJ~ C03f3fON NAB~ES.-@.C~~~, ylhim0
(Spanish) ; guicirna cimarronlr Domimcan Re-
public) ; guhcima de caballo ( b uba) ; tablote,
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