Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

214. Tortugo amarillo, false-mastic
This t.ree mith milky latex is characterized by:
(1) elliptic to oblong, slightly shiny, yellow-green
lenves appearing wavy or slightly wrinkled at
edges, wlth long slender petioles and yellow midribs;
(2) numerous small ellow flowers about %
inch long and nearly % inc r 1 across, widely spreading
and 5- or Blobed, with sonie~vhat unpleasant
odor, crowded in clusters nlong twigs, mostly back
of lenves ; and (3) elliptic yellow sour fruits about
9/4-1 incli long.
Small to medium-sized evergreen tree mith
st.rniglit trunk nncl dense irregulnr crown, generally
15-50 feet high and 4-12 inches in diameter,
sometimes larger. Elsewhere reported to reach I
maximum height of 80 feet and trunk diameter of
more than 3 feet. Bark of smnll trunks is smootllish,
with many small lissures and l~orizontal crncks,
gra or light brown, on large trunks becoming
tl~ic 1 , deeply furrowed, and splitting into plates.
Inner bark is whitish and bitter, with a smnll quantity
of white latex. The twigs are brown and hairless,
light green and mili~~tely hniiy when young.
The yellow- en petioles of the alternate leaves
are %-I% inc f= les long and often slightly winged
toward apex. Blades nro 2lh-41/2 inclies long nncl
7/R-2% inches broad, blunt-pointed, rounded, or
sliglitly notched at apex and short-pointed at base,
very slightly thickened, hairless except \\-lien
young, yellow green or n little paler beneath, and
curved upward on both sides of the midrib.
The bright or pale yellow flowers are borne usuJ1
several together? sometimes single, on slender
stnl& inch or less in length. Calyx consists of
5 or 6 rounded yello~v-green overlapping sepals
more than x6 inch long; the yellow corolla \vitli
short tube and 5 or 6 rounded ~videly spreading
lobes 1/8 inch long; ns many yellow stamens erect
at apex of corolla tube opposito the lobes and nlternnting
mith pointed deeply toothed appendages
(stnminodes) ; and greenish-yellow pistil 1/8 inch
long with 5-celled ovary and short tapering style.
The scientific name refers to the peculiar, strong,
cheeselike odor of the flowers.
SAPODILLA FAMIL 'Y (SAPOTACEAE)
Sideroxylon foetidissimum Jacq.
IJst~nlly 1 large brown seed is contained in the
berry, ~vhicli is shaped like an olive. Though edible
and consumed by animals, the fruits have an
~~n~lensnnt,.pmmy taste. Flowering and fruiting
tlntl fri~~til~g at different times dur~ng the year
but not continuously.
The thick sapwood is yello~vish and the heartwood
is yellowish or ornnge. The wood is hnrd,
lienvy (specific gravity 0.8), strong, and durable.
The good timber is used for construction. Elsewllore
it has been employed for boats, heavy
pltlnlting, fnrniture, and fenceposts.
Re orted to be a fair hone plnnt and to be
suitn 6 le as an ornamental for t Z e clustered yellow
flolvers.
Coastal and moist limestone forests of Puerto
Rico, probably common in the original forests but
now scarce because of demand for the n-ood. Also
in Mona, St. Croix, St. Thomas, St. John, and
Tortoln.
Pr;~tr.rc ~RESTS.-Cnmbnlche, Gunjntaca, Rio
Abajo.
RANGE.-Central and southern Florida including
Floridn, Keys and through West Indies from
I3nliamns and Cuba to Grenada and Barbados. A
vt~riety occurs nlso in Yucatiin Peninsula of southenstelm
Mexico and in British Hondurns.
OTHER ~ M O S ~~~~s.-tortugo colorado
(Puol-to Rico) ; mastwood, bully-mastic (Virgin
Isln~icls) ; cnyn nmnrilla (Dominican Republic) ;
jocuma, jocuma amarilla, jocuma blanca, jocuma
lecl~era, cnguani (Cuba) ; false-mastic, mastic,
mnstic jungleplum (United States) ; mastic (Ba-
Ilnmns) ; mastic-bully (Bnhamns, Jamaica) ; mast-
\vood (Antigun, St. Vincent) ; caimite ncoma (Dominicn)
; acoma (Grenadines) ; acomat (Haiti) ;
Itcotnn, acomn bltard, ncomn franc (Guadeloupe) .
BOTANICAL s~~o~YErs.-Sidero~?/lon ??~28t&h0dcndron
Jacq., 8. portoriceme Urban, Mmticicodendron
foetidiseimum (Jacq.) Cronq. The generic
name is sometimes spelled SideroxyZum.