Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

COMBRETUM FAMILY
184. Almendra, Indian-almond Terminalia cdappa L.*
This familiar tree commonly planted for shade,
arnament, and nuts is introduced. rather than
native. It is characterized by: (1) horizontal
branches in circles at different levels on the trunk;
(2) large leathery leaves broadest toward apex
(obovate) , turning reddish before falling; (3)
many small greenish-white flowem 3/1G-% inch
across in narronr lateral clusters; and (4) elliptic,
slightly flattened greenish fruits about 2 inches
long, each with a hard husk containing a large
. edible seed ar nut.
Usuallv a medium-sized tree, to 50 feet in height
and 1 fo6t in trunk diameter, sometimes larger and
wit11 slight buttresses. It is evergreen except in
areas with a marked dry season. The gray bnrk
is smoothish and thin, becoming slightly fissu.red.
Inner bark is pinkish brown, slightly bitter and
astringent. Twigs are brown, finely hairy when
young, slender but swollen at leaf scars and the
nodes.
The leaves are alternate but crowded together
near ends of twigs and have stout,. finely brown
hniry petioles ys+, inch long. Blades are 6-11
inches long and 31,-6 inches broad, abruptly
short-pointed cw rounded at apex and gradudly
narrowed toward the rounded base. not toothed on
edges, slightly thickened, the upper surface shiny
green or dark green and hairless, and the lower
surface paler and often finely brown hairy.
Flower clusters (narrow racemes) are 2-6 inches
long, with numeroas, mostly short-stalked. slightly
fragrant flowers, mostly male and R few bisexual
flowers nwr base (polvqamous) . Both kinds have
a greenish-white or light brown. hairy calyx with
cup-shaped tube and 5 or 6 pointed, spreading
lobes '/lo long and bearing twice as many small stamens
near base. In nddition the bisexual or female
flowers, which are stalkless, have a slender
style and a narrow basal tube (hypanthium) s/le
inch long, brownish green and finely hairy, rwmbling
a stalk but containing the inferior 1-celled
ovary.
The fruits (drupes) are &bout 1 inch broad,
poin+ecl. sliahtlv flattened and with 1 or 2 narrowly
winpecerl edges. light. bro~\.n at maturity. The
thin outer layer is slightlv sour and can be eaten.
Inside the hard fibrous husk thero is a light brown,
thick, hfird stone containing an oily seed or nut
nhout 11/* inches long and W inch broad, somewhat
like the true almond. Flowering and fruiting
- nearly throuuh the year.
The heartwood is reddish brown with slightly
dnrkar ~t~ripes, and the snpwood lighter in color.
Tho wood is hard, moderately heavy (specific
gravity O.59), moderatelv strong, tough, mediamtextured,
and with irregular and often interlocked
grain. It is very susceptible to attack by dry-mood
termites. Rats of air-sewoning is rapid, and
amount of de,mde is moderate. Machining characteristics
are as follows: planing is very poor;
shaping, boring, and mortising are fair; turn~ng is
poor ; and sanding and resistance to screw splitting
aro good.
Locnl uses are for posts and fuel. However, this
nttract,ive wood if carefully handled in machining
~vould be suitable for millwork, furniture, veneer,
and cabinetwork. Elsewhere it has been recommended
for boatbuilding, general construction,
bridge timbers, crossties, flooring, and boxes and
crates.
The bnrk, roots, astringent pen fruits, and
leaves contain tannin and have been used in tanning.
-4 bltlclr dye serving for ink has been obtained
from bark, fruits, and foliage also. An oil
has been extracted from the seeds.
Planted chiefly for shade and ornament and for
the edible seeds. and growing rapidly. One of the
common roadside trees in Puerto Rico, attractive
for its peculiar branching and the reddish-tinged
old leaves. Trees are extensively planted along
sandy seashores, being hardy and salt tolerant,
tl1oug11 reportedly not resistant to hurricanes or
storm winds. A thrips insect attacks the trees
generally in autumn and winter, causing the leaves
to turn yellomish or whitish and to fall and thus
making the leafless trees less suitable for shade.
N:ttumlized in Puerto Rico, especially on the
sandy soils and dunes along the coasts, but extansivelg
planted lind escaning from cultivation in
various places. Also in Mona, Vieques, St. Croix,
St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, and Virdn Gorda.
Rh~~~.-Native of East Indies and Oceanica
and widelv planted and naturalized in tropical
rezions. Southern Florida including Florida
ICeys, Rermnda, and throughout West Indies.
Also from bfexico to Peru and Brazil.
Om~n co~r~rox XAJ~EB. - almendro (Puerto
Rico, Spanish) ; almond, West-Indian-almond
(Virgin Islands) : almendro de la India (Dominican
Renublic, Cuba, Colombia) ; alcornoque
(Costa Rica) : almendrdn (Venezuela) ; almendro
amerlcano (Colombia) ; castafin (Peru) ; Indiannlmond,
t ropical-almond, West-Indian-almond
(IJnited States. English) ; almond (British West
Indies. British Honduras. British Guiana) ; amandier
des Indes, amandier tropical, zanmande
(Haiti) ; nmandier, amandier - nays (Gnadeloupe)
; arnandier de Cayenne (Guqana Francesa)
; manguel, wilde amandel (Dutch West Indies)
; amandn, amandelboom (Surinam) ; amendoeirn,
c21ap6o de sol, guarda-sol, castniiola
(Brazil).