| Sapium glandulosum | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Eudicots |
| Clade: | Rosids |
| Order: | Malpighiales |
| Family: | Euphorbiaceae |
| Genus: | Sapium |
| Species: | S. glandulosum |
| Binomial name | |
| Sapium glandulosum (L.) Morong | |
| Synonyms | |
many [2] | |
Sapium glandulosum is a species of tree in the family Euphorbiaceae. It is native to the Neotropics from Mexico and the Caribbean south to Argentina, and it has been cultivated elsewhere. [3] [4] It is the most common Sapium species. [4] Its common names include gumtree, [5] milktree, [6] leche de olivo, and olivo macho. [7]
This is a species of tree up to 30 meters tall, usually with some buttress roots and multiple trunks. Smaller woody parts can have short, thick spines. It has a thin, patchy, peeling, scarred outer bark and a granular inner bark. It produces large amounts of milky latex. The alternately arranged leaves have toothed oblong or oval leaves up to 27 centimeters long by 8 wide. New leaves have gland-tipped teeth. The species is monoecious. The inflorescence is a spikelike arrangement of clusters of male flowers with a few female flowers at the base. The tiny rounded purple male flower is barely over a millimeter long. The female flower has 3 styles about 2 millimeters long. The fruit is a greenish-brown, rounded capsule up to a centimeter long which splits into 3 segments, each holding a seed. The seed is covered in a thin layer of red pulp. [4] [7]
This tree grows in tropical moist and wet forests. [7]
The copious latex is of high quality and can be used to make rubber. It is difficult to harvest, so it is not commercially useful. [4]
