Common Name:

General Information

Cordia bicolor is an evergreen or briefly deciduous shrub or tree with a rounded crown growing 10 - 20 metres tall. The bole is straight and cylindrical[].
The tree is harvested from the wild for its timber. A fast-growing species, it makes an excellent pioneer species[].
Cordia bicolor has a very wide distribution, large population, is not currently experiencing any major
threats and no significant future threats have been identified. The plant is classified as 'Least Concern' in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species(2019)[].

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

,

Range

S. America - Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana; C. America - Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, Mex

Habitat

Found at low and medium elevations, in moist or wet areas[]. Usually found in the sunnier areas of the forest or as secondary vegetation on open, disturbed sites[]. Wet, mixed forest, thickets, or pastures at elevations up to 550 metres[].

Properties

Conservation Status	Least Concern
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Semi-deciduous Tree
Height	15.00 m
Growth Rate	Fast
Pollinators	Bees, Butterflies, Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

The ovoid fruit of this species is about 12mm long and 8mm wide[].
Although we have seen no specific information for this species, the fruits of most Cordia species are comprised of a thin to fairly thick layer of pulpy, sweetish-tasting flesh surrounding a single seed and are more or less edible[, ], (though some are known to cause gastric disturbances).

Medicinal

None known

Agroforestry Uses:

A fast-growing, short-lived pioneer species, it is able to support the harsh, adverse conditions created when the primary forest tree-cover is damaged or destroyed. Its ability to grow, even thrive, under such extreme circumstances is important to the process of forest succession. Cordia's rapid growth quickly establishes an anchoring root system as well as a sheltering crown that help to protect exposed soils and provide the more consistent regimes of humidity and temperature that are required by most other plant species[].

Other Uses

The wood of most species in this genus is hard and, where the plants grow large enough, the wood is often harvested at least locally for use in construction etc and also for making charcoal[].

The wood of this species is used for fence posts and in rural construction[].

Propagation

Seed - very slow to germinate, the process can be sped up if the seed is scarified by lightly abrading the seedcoat to allow easier ingress of water[].

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