Colubrina elliptica (Sw.) Briz. & W.L.Stern

Soldierwood (en)

Species

Angiosperms > Rosales > Rhamnaceae > Colubrina

Characteristics

Shrubs or trees, erect, 2–6 m. Stems straight, strigose, glabrescent. Leaves deciduous; petiole 5–20 mm; blade broadly elliptic to elliptic-ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 4–9 cm, herbaceous, base cuneate to rounded, 2 prominent glands at petiole/blade junction, margins entire, apex acute to acuminate, abaxial surface sparsely strigose, glabrescent, adaxial surface glabrous; pinnately veined, secondary veins 5–8 pairs, arcuate. Inflorescences: thyrses, 8–20-flowered; peduncles 1–7 mm; fruiting pedicels 8–15 mm. Capsules 6–7 mm.
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A shrub. It grows 4-6 m tall but can be 20 m tall. The trunk can be 1.5 m across. The bark is orange brown and peels off in thin layers. The flowers are green to yellow. The fruit are red to orange.
Life form perennial
Growth form
Growth support free-standing
Foliage retention
Sexuality hermaphrodite
Pollination -
Spread -
Mature width (meter) -
Mature height (meter) 5.5 - 6.05
Root system -
Rooting depth (meter) 0.9
Root diameter (meter) -
Flower color
Blooming months
JanFebMar
AprMayJun
JulAugSep
OctNovDec
Fruit color -
Fruiting months -
Nitrogen fixer -
Photosynthetic pathway c3

Environment

A tropical plant. It grows in thickets in dry coastal regions and on limestone. It grows below 1,000 m above sea level. It has some salt tolerance.
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Dry or moist thickets at elevations below 1,000 metres.
Light -
Soil humidity -
Soil texture -
Soil acidity -
Soil nutriment -
Hardiness (USDA) 9-12

Usage

The bark is steeped in water to make a fermented drink. The leaves are also used.
Uses food material medicinal wood
Edible barks leaves
Therapeutic use Itch (unspecified), Pimple (unspecified), Tea (unspecified), Intoxicant (unspecified)
Human toxicity -
Animal toxicity -

Cultivation

Plants can be grown from seed.
Mode seedlings
Germination duration (days) -
Germination temperacture (C°) -
Germination luminosity -
Germination treatment -
Minimum temperature (C°) -
Optimum temperature (C°) -
Size -
Vigor -
Productivity -

Images

Leaf

Colubrina elliptica leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Colubrina elliptica leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)
Colubrina elliptica leaf picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Fruit

Colubrina elliptica fruit picture by Nelson Zamora Villalobos (cc-by-nc)

Distribution

Colubrina elliptica world distribution map, present in Bahamas, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Cayman Islands, Ecuador, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Mexico, Martinique, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of)

Conservation status

Colubrina elliptica threat status: Critically Endangered

Identifiers

LSID urn:lsid:ipni.org:names:717073-1
WFO ID wfo-0000615231
COL ID 5ZQ7R
BDTFX ID -
INPN ID 629393
Wikipedia (EN) Link
Wikipedia (FR) Link

Synonyms

Ceanothus reclinatus l'hér. Colubrina hondurensis Colubrina pittieriana Ziziphus domingensis Rhamnus venosa Rhamnus elliptica Diplisca elliptica Rhamnidium moreireanum Colubrina reclinata Colubrina fermenta Colubrina venezuelensis Colubrina elliptica