Dialium guianense | |
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Scientific classification | |
Kingdom: | Plantae |
Clade: | Tracheophytes |
Clade: | Angiosperms |
Clade: | Eudicots |
Clade: | Rosids |
Order: | Fabales |
Family: | Fabaceae |
Genus: | Dialium |
Species: | D. guianense |
Binomial name | |
Dialium guianense (Aubl.) Sandwith | |
Synonyms | |
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Dialium guianense is a species of tree in the flowering plant family Fabaceae. [1] The species occurs through North America (South Eastern Mexico), Central America and South America, and was an important source of food and wood for the ancient Mayans. [2]
In English the common name for this species is ironwood, a name shared with many other plants. [1] In Mexico the common name is Guapaque. [3] In Colombia the common name is Granadillo or Tamarindo de montaña (literally "Mountain tamarind"). [4]
Dialium guianense is a broad or compound leafed tree growing up to 31–35 m (102–115 ft) tall. [1] [5] It bears a single seeded (rarely, two seeded) edible fruit; the taste is said to be similar to tamarind. [6] [5]
It is from South America to Central America. [7]
It is native to Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panamá, Peru, Suriname, Venezuela as well as the territory of French Guiana. The species was also introduced to Cuba and Puerto Rico. [8]
In Suriname the species regularly occurs in humid forests. [9] In Belize the species is abundant in swampy forests but it can also be found in dry areas. [10]
The wood from the trees were valued for the construction of railroads, fence posts, and house frames. In Tabasco and Chiapas it's fruit is used for preparing beverages and also some kind of sweet paste with sugar [11] It has also been used for flooring and bridges. [12] In Mexico the tree valued as a source for food. [13]
Hornbeams are hardwood trees in the plant genus Carpinus in the family Betulaceae. The 30–40 species occur across much of the temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere.
Tamarind is a leguminous tree bearing edible fruit that is indigenous to tropical Africa and naturalized in Asia. The genus Tamarindus is monotypic, meaning that it contains only this species. It belongs to the family Fabaceae.
Genipa americana is a species of trees in the family Rubiaceae. It is native to the tropical forests of North and South America, as well as the Caribbean.
Ironwood is a common name for many woods or plants that have a reputation for hardness, or specifically a wood density that is heavier than water, although usage of the name ironwood in English may or may not indicate a tree that yields such heavy wood.
Acacia koa, commonly known as koa, is a species of flowering tree in the family Fabaceae. It is endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, where it is the second most common tree. The highest populations are on Hawaiʻi, Maui and Oʻahu.
A frugivore is an animal that thrives mostly on raw fruits or succulent fruit-like produce of plants such as roots, shoots, nuts and seeds. Approximately 20% of mammalian herbivores eat fruit. Frugivores are highly dependent on the abundance and nutritional composition of fruits. Frugivores can benefit or hinder fruit-producing plants by either dispersing or destroying their seeds through digestion. When both the fruit-producing plant and the frugivore benefit by fruit-eating behavior the interaction is a form of mutualism.
Muntingia is a genus of plants in the family Muntingiaceae, comprising only one species, Muntingia calabura, and was named in honour of Abraham Munting. It is native to the Neotropics, from Mexico south to Bolivia and Argentina, with edible fruit, and has been widely introduced in other tropical areas.
Pithecellobium dulce, commonly known as Manila tamarind, Madras thorn, monkeypod tree or camachile, is a species of flowering plant in the pea family, Fabaceae, that is native to the Pacific Coast and adjacent highlands of Mexico, Central America, and northern South America. It is also sometimes known as monkeypod, but that name is also used for several other plants, including Samanea saman. It is an introduced species and extensively naturalized in the Caribbean and Florida, as well as the Philippines and Guam via the Manila galleons. It has also been introduced to Thailand and South Asia, It is considered an invasive species in Hawaii.
Dialium is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae, subfamily Dialioideae. Velvet tamarind is a common name for several species. The genus includes 37 species which range from the tropical Americas to sub-Saharan Africa, Madagascar, India, Indochina, and western Malesia.
Lyle's flying fox is a species of flying fox in the family Pteropodidae. It is found in Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, with an outlying population in Yunnan, China. It faces persecution from farmers and it is killed for bushmeat in parts of its range. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being "vulnerable".
Olneya tesota is a perennial flowering tree of the family Fabaceae, legumes, which is commonly known as ironwood, desert ironwood, or palo fierro in Spanish. It is the only species in the monotypic genus Olneya. This tree is part of the western Sonoran Desert complex in the Southwestern United States.
Bursera microphylla, known by the common name elephant tree in English or 'torote' in Spanish, is a tree in genus Bursera. It grows into a distinctive sculptural form, with a thickened, water-storing or caudiciform trunk. It is found in the southwestern United States and northwestern Mexico.
Ficus maxima is a fig tree which is native to Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America south to Paraguay. Figs belong to the family Moraceae. The specific epithet maxima was coined by Scottish botanist Philip Miller in 1768; Miller's name was applied to this species in the Flora of Jamaica, but it was later determined that Miller's description was actually of the species now known as Ficus aurea. To avoid confusion, Cornelis Berg proposed that the name should be conserved for this species. Berg's proposal was accepted in 2005.
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are usable as lumber or plants above a specified height. In wider definitions, the taller palms, tree ferns, bananas, and bamboos are also trees.
Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial factor in shaping plant community, biodiversity, metabolic processes and ecosystem dynamics for montane ecosystems. Dense montane forests are common at moderate elevations, due to moderate temperatures and high rainfall. At higher elevations, the climate is harsher, with lower temperatures and higher winds, preventing the growth of trees and causing the plant community to transition to montane grasslands and shrublands or alpine tundra. Due to the unique climate conditions of montane ecosystems, they contain increased numbers of endemic species. Montane ecosystems also exhibit variation in ecosystem services, which include carbon storage and water supply.
Dialium guineense, the velvet tamarind, is a tall, tropical, fruit-bearing tree in the flowering plant family Fabaceae. It has small, typically grape-sized, edible fruits with brown, hard, inedible shells.
Thrinax radiata, also known as the Florida thatch palm, is a medium to slow growing palm in the family Arecaceae. It is native to many Caribbean islands, Mexico, Central America, and far southern Florida. Its natural habitat is sandy, calcareous soil in coastal areas.
The Guianan savanna (NT0707) is an ecoregion in the south of Venezuela, Guyana and Suriname and the north of Brazil. It is in the Amazon biome. The savanna covers an area of rolling upland plains on the Guiana Shield between the Amazon and Orinoco basins. It includes forested areas, but these are shrinking steadily due to the effect of frequent fires, either accidental or deliberate. The ecoregion includes the Gran Sabana region of Venezuela.
The Sierra Madre de Chiapas moist forests is a tropical moist broadleaf forest ecoregion in southern Mexico and southern Guatemala, extending into the northwestern corner of El Salvador.
Campomanesia grandiflora is a species of tree the flowering plant family Myrtaceae. In Portuguese the species goes by the common name Acariquara branca.