Mora (plant)

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Mora
Dimorphandra mora-Jardin botanique de Kandy (1).jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Fabales
Family: Fabaceae
Subfamily: Caesalpinioideae
(unranked): Dimorphandra Group A
Genus: Mora
Benth. (1839)
Species [1]

6; see text

Mora is a genus of large trees in the subfamily Caesalpinioideae [2] of the legume family Fabaceae (or in some classifications the family Caesalpinaceae of the order Fabales). There are six species, all native to lowland rainforests in northern South America, southern Central America, the southern Caribbean islands, and Hispaniola. [1]

Contents

Species

Six species are accepted by the Plants of the World Online database: [1]

Description

These are large, heavily buttressed rainforest trees up to 40 m (131 ft) in height, to 60 m (197 ft) in the case of Mora excelsa . [3] The genus is noted for the exceptional size of its beans, which are among the largest known dicot seeds, in the instance of Mora oleifera being up to 18 cm (7 in) long, 15 cm (6 in) in breadth and 8 cm (3 in) thick, [4] [5] and a weight of up to 1 kg (2.2 lb). [6] These very large beans develop out of tiny flowers with a pistil only 1 mm wide. [7] The species Mora excelsa is one of the few rainforest trees to grow in pure stands. [8] [ better source needed ]

Uses

The beans of Mora spp. are edible if boiled, and are also the source of a red dyestuff. [9] Some of the species are important for timber production. Mora excelsa and Mora gonggrijpii are also known as nato , and are commonly used in guitar body and neck construction.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Mora R.H.Schomb. ex Benth. Plants of the World Online . Retrieved 7 September 2023.
  2. ↑ The Legume Phylogeny Working Group (LPWG). (2017). "A new subfamily classification of the Leguminosae based on a taxonomically comprehensive phylogeny". Taxon . 66 (1): 44–77. doi: 10.12705/661.3 . hdl: 10568/90658 .
  3. ↑ Beard, J. S. (July 1946). "The Mora Forests of Trinidad...etc". Journal of Ecology. 33 (2): 173–192. doi:10.2307/2256464. JSTOR   2256464.
  4. ↑ http://www.inbio.ac.cr/bims/ubi/plantas/ubiespejo/ubiid2143&find.html%5B%5D
  5. ↑ Elbert L. Little and Robert G. Dixon, "Arboles Comunes de la Provincia de Esmerelda" (Rome: UNFAO, 1969) p. 222.
  6. ↑ Daniel H. Janzen, "Costa Rican Natural History" (Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press, 1983) p. 281
  7. ↑ Encyclopedia Britanica (1970 edition) Volume 13 page 911
  8. ↑ Ivan T. Sanderson and David Loth, "Ivan Sanderson's Book of Great Jungles" (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1965) p. 116.
  9. ↑ O.N. Allen and Ethel K. Allen, "The Leguminosae" (Madison: Univ. Wisconsin Press) pp. 445-446
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