Characteristics
A shrub or small tree. It is sometimes 1-2 m high. In the rainforest it can grow 40 m high. It then often has buttresses. The bark is greyish brown and deeply cracked. The plant has lots of sticky white sap. The leaves are 7-21 cm long and usually sword shaped and rounded at the tip. The leaf stalk is 2.5 cm long. The tree loses its leaves for a short period of time just before flowering. The new leaves and flowers develop together. The flowers are greenish-white. The fruit ripens reddish-purple to black. The fruit are edible.
| Life form |
perennial
|
| Growth form |
tree
|
| Growth support |
-
|
| Foliage retention |
evergreen
|
| Sexuality |
hermaphrodite
|
| Pollination |
-
|
| Spread |
-
|
| Mature width (meter) |
-
|
| Mature height (meter) |
40.0
|
| Root system |
-
|
| Rooting depth (meter) |
-
|
| Root diameter (meter) |
-
|
| Flower color |
-
|
| Blooming months |
-
|
| Fruit color |
-
|
| Fruiting months |
-
|
| Nitrogen fixer |
-
|
| Photosynthetic pathway |
-
|
Environment
A tropical plant. It is native to the southern Caribbean. It grows from sea level to 1500 m altitude. It grows in lowland forests which are occasionally flooded. It can grow in dry forest in white sand. It suits hardiness zones 11-12.
| Light |
-
|
| Soil humidity |
-
|
| Soil texture |
-
|
| Soil acidity |
-
|
| Soil nutriment |
-
|
| Hardiness (USDA) |
|
Usage
The latex has been used as a source of chicle for chewing gum. The fruit is oily and eaten.
| Uses |
gum
oil
|
| Edible
|
fruits
|
| Therapeutic use
|
-
|
| Human toxicity |
-
|
| Animal toxicity |
-
|
Cultivation
| Mode |
-
|
| Germination duration (days) |
-
|
| Germination temperacture (C°) |
-
|
| Germination luminosity |
-
|
| Germination treatment |
-
|
| Minimum temperature (C°) |
-
|
| Optimum temperature (C°) |
-
|
| Size |
-
|
| Vigor |
-
|
| Productivity |
-
|
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