Alligatorwood

Guarea glabra Vahl, Eclog. 3: 8. 1S07
Guarea Vahliana A. Juss. Mem. Mus. Paris 19: 240. 282. 1830. Guarea humilis C. DC. in DC. Monog. Phan. 1: 563. in part. 1878. Guarea ramiflora C. DC. in DC. Monog. Phan. 1: 567, in part. 1878. Guarea Lherminieri C. DC. Bull. Herb. Boiss. 2: 571. 1894.
A tree; leaves 6-20 cm. long, the petioles and rachis strigulose when young, glabrous in age, the rachis grooved above; leaflets 4-10, lanceolate to elliptic or ovate, 7.5-18 cm. long, 3-7.8 cm. broad, acuminate at the apex, inequilateral or nearly equilateral and acute at the base, glabrous above, the midrib impressed, hirsute beneath in the axils of the veins, the midrib and lateral veins prominent; panicle axillary, the branches strigulose when young; flowers long-pedicelled, the pedicels slender, 4-6 mm. long, minutely strigulose, enlarged at the apex; calyx rather flat, the stipe-like base equaling or a little shorter than the pedicel; lobes of the calyx suborbicular, pubescent with strigulose hairs mostly toward the apex, ciliate; petals elliptic to broadly ovate, 7.5-8 mm. long, 4.5-5 mm. broad, obtuse at the apex, minutely ciliate, puberulent on the outside ; ovary globose-ovoid, glabrous ; style rather slender, glabrous ; capsule 2.6-3 cm. in diameter; seeds 1.5-2 cm. long.
Type locality: Montserrat.
Distribution: Lesser Antilles; recorded by C. de Candolle from St. Croix and northern South America.