Jamaica Dogwood Tree
The Jamaica Dogwood (Ichthyomethia Piscipula, A. S. Hitch.) grows in southern Florida, a conspicuous and beautiful tree when the great clusters of pink pea-like blossoms hang on the bare branches. The slender brown pods have four wide, papery, longitudinal frills. The hard wood is used in boatbuilding, and the bark of the roots contains a drug like opium. The natives of the West Indies have from ancient times used this bark to stupefy fish they were trying to capture.