Casearia sylvestris Sw.

Shrub or small tree 2-10 m high, the trunk to 12 cm in diam, the branchlets puberulous but soon glabrous. Leaves with the petioles to 10 mm long, slender, canaliculate above, minutely puberulous when young but soon glabrous, the stipules minute, 1-1.5 mm long, caducous; blade narrowly oblong-ovate or narrowly oblong-elliptic, sometimes narrowly ovate or elliptic, the base symmetrical or often somewhat asymmetrical and usually acute, the apex long-acuminate, the acumen slender and up to 2.5 cm long, the margins entire or nearly so, to 14 cm long and 5 cm wide, membranous to thin-coriaceous, dark green, lustrous especially above, pellucid-punctate, glabrous, the costa prominulous below. Inflorescences axillary, sessile, densely fasciculate, the fascicules many-flowered, the bracts minute and forming a cushion in the leaf axils. Flowers pale yellow or white, the pedice's slender, to 5 mm long, articulated near or below the middle, puberulous to densely puberulous below the articulation; calyx 2-3 mm long, the lobes 5, broadly ovate, united at the base into an obtusely angulate tube 0.5-0.8 mm long, rounded, 1-1.5 mm wide, erect-patent at anthesis, minutely ciliolate, glabrous or sparsely puberu-lous-outside, sparsely puberulous to puberulous inside; stamens 10, inserted at the apex of the calyx tube, the filaments slightly unequal, to 1.5 mm long, almost glabrous to sparsely puberulous, slightly united at the base among themselves and with the staminodes, the anthers didymous, subglobose, ca 0.3 mm long, with a dorsal, apical gland; staminodes 10, ? intrastaminal and alternating with the stamens, to 1-1.2 mm long, whitish-puberulous; gynoecium 2-2.2 mm long, the ovary obtusely angulate, ca 0.7-1 mm in diam, glabrous or sparsely pilose at the apex, attenuate into the style, the stigmas 3, capitellate, papillate. Capsule sur-rounded by the persistent, patent calyx, ovoid-globose, 3-4 mm long, obtusely angulate, apiculate, glabrous or nearly so, reddish or purple at maturity, splitting into 3 valves; seeds 2-6, +-ovoid, to 2 mm long, the testa light brown, glabrous, foveolate, the aril incomplete, reddish.

Moist or dry forest or thickets, often in second growth, occasionally in cloud forest; mainly at low elevations but sometimes ascending to 1,200 metres331.338. A pioneer species of secondary forests and is characteristic of dryer forests.

Can be grown by cuttings or seedlings.