WorldFloraDB - Lecythis ampla

Characteristics

Large trees to about 40 m. tall, the leafy twigs remarkably slender. Leaves relatively small and membranaceous, broadly elliptic, abruptly and rather shortly subcaudate-acuminate, obtuse at the base, about 8-10 cm. long, finely crenulate, glabrous; petiole slender, about 5 mm. long. Flowers unknown to us. Fruit globose-subampullaceous, yellowish brown and finely granular, not verrucose, 15-20 cm. long, 12-15 cm. broad, the calycine rim at the upper third and distinctly 6-lobed, the margin of the orifice concave, relatively smooth and with little evidence of the abscissed veins.

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A tree. It grows 40 m high. The trunk is straight. The bark is brown and has cracks along it. The leaves are simple and alternate. They are 8 cm long. The leaves have a wavy edge and fine teeth along the edge. The flowers are 3 cm across. They have 6 blue to pink petals. The fruit is round and has a thick woody wall. It is 20 cm across. It has a lip that opens on a 9 cm wide hole. There are up to 50 seeds inside. The seeds are 4-5 cm long and have a groove. They are attached to the inside of the pot by fleshy stalks

Life form	perennial
Growth form	tree
Growth support	free-standing
Foliage retention	evergreen
Sexuality	hermaphrodite
Pollination	-
Spread	-
Mature width (meter)	-
Mature height (meter)	37.5 - 40.0
Root system	-
Rooting depth (meter)	-
Root diameter (meter)	-
Flower color
Blooming months	-
Fruit color	-
Fruiting months	-
Nitrogen fixer	-
Photosynthetic pathway	c3

Environment

A tropical plant. In Costa Rica it grows between 5 and 500 m altitude. It grows in wet forest.

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An emergent tree in the canopy of very humid tropical forests.

Light	-
Soil humidity	-
Soil texture	-
Soil acidity	-
Soil nutriment	-
Hardiness (USDA)

Usage

The nuts are eaten. Caution: The seeds can be poisonous if grown on soils high in selenium.

Uses	fiber poison wood
Edible	nuts seeds
Therapeutic use	-
Human toxicity	-
Animal toxicity	-

Cultivation

Plants are grown from seed.

Mode	seedlings
Germination duration (days)	-
Germination temperacture (C°)	-
Germination luminosity	-
Germination treatment	soaking
Minimum temperature (C°)	-
Optimum temperature (C°)	-
Size	-
Vigor	-
Productivity	-