Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands

COMPOSITE FAMILY (COMPOSITAE)
250. Carruzo Clibadlum erosum (Sw.) DC.
Shrub or small tree with bristly hairy twigs Probably flowering and fruiting nearly through
easily recognized by the op osite long-stnllted the year.
leaves wit11 thin broadly ovate 1 lades long-pointed The whitish wood is soft, and there is a large
at both ends, the edges irregularly and doubl white pith.
toothed with long and short teeth, green and roug g In openings, cutover areas, and roadsides in forabove,
and gray green and soft hair be- ests of the lower and u per mountain regions of
hairK neat . Other characters nre: (1) bristly { airy Puerto Rico including Rarf forest of the peaks.
stout pen to brown twigs; and (2) large terminal It is a light-requiring species mainly of disturbed
clusters with numerous greenish and white tireas. Also recorded from St. Thomas more than
rounded flower heads about 4 ~nch long and n century ago but not found there since.
broad, each with many crow 2' ed tubular white I'UI~LIC ~oa~m-s.-Carite, Luquillo, Toro Ne o.
flowers.
RAN~E.-Puerto Rico and in the Lesser Ant1 T' les
A widely spreading and much brnnched ever- on Sabn, St. ICitts, Montserrat, Guadeloupe, Dogreen
shrub or small tree 10-20 feet or more in minica, Mnrtinique, and St. Vincent.
height and to 3 inches or more in trunk diameter. OTIXER COJIMON ~~x~~.--cachimbo, tuchima
The bark is p y and smoothish to slightly fissured. (Puerto Rico) ; bois Qnivrant (Guadeloupe) .
Inner bark 1s yellowish nnd slightly bitter. The The composite family (Compositne)., to which
twig3 are ringed at the nodes by 2 &lobed light. this small tree belongs, is easily reco
brown leaf scars.
flowe~s crowded together in heads. rued
That appears by the
Petioles are 1 4 inches long, ,finely hniry, light to be a single flower is found upon inspection. to
peen or purplish tinged, stout, at base broad and contain man smnll flowers, some frequently with
slightly 3-lobed. Blades are 3-8 inches long and strap-shape d corolla x.esomblin a sin le petal and
2-6 inches wide.
others in the center or disk wit f tubu f ar corolla of
The much branched clusters (corymbs) of nu- a different color. The seedlike fruits (akenes)
merous flower heads are 4-6 inches broad and hare ~lsually bear long hairs or scales at apex. The
n slightly bitter odor. On the outside of ench family is a very large one containing numerous
flower head are a few overlapping, hairy mnr- species of herbs and some shrubs and in the tropics
gined, greenish scales about s/16 inch long with n few species of small trees.
whitish points, enclosing mnny narrow flowers Guerrero (Eupatoriurn portoherne Urban;
inch long and smaller light green scales. s non m Critonia portoricenais (Urban) Britton
The marginal flowers are fertile and female, con- dwiiion) is the 0.1 other species of this tarnil
sisting of elliptic, flattened, green inferior ovary reaching tree size in K uerto Rico. This is a sma 9 1
bearing tubular white corolla minutely 5-toothed tree or shrub 10-20 feet high, known only from
at apex and the protruding 2-forked white style. northern, centrnl, and western Puerto Rim and
The other flo~vers are sterile and male, consist~ng from Vieques but sometimes planted for its fraof
rudimentary pistil of narrow inferior ovary grnnt foliage. It has opposite elliptic leaves with
bearing unbranched st le and the tubular white petioles less than % Inch long and blndes 3-6
corolla, which is 6-toot l ed at apex and which has ~nches long arid 1-2 inches wide, thin, toothed on
inside the tube 6 stamens united by the narrow edges, hairless, with many gland dots and lines,
dark brown anthers.
and f12pnt. The large terminal flower clusters
Several black seedlike fruits (akenes) about YB caontain mnny stalkless heads, ench with about 5
inch long, elliptic and flattened, nre produced tubular white flowers. The seedlike fruits have
within the flower head, which also turns blackish. long hairs at apex.