Common Name:

General Information

Licania operculipetala is an evergreen tree with a thick, rounded, compact crown; it can grow 25 - 35 metres tall[]. The straight, almost cylindrical bole can be 110cm in diameter and is buttressed to about 2.5 metres[, ].
The tree is harvested from the wild as a local source of wood.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

Central America - Costa Rica.

Habitat

A canopy or emergent tree in forests along the coastal zones; on well-drained ridges and hills; and the bottomlands of the wetter valleys[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	30.00 m
Pollinators	Bees, Insects
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Prefers a moist but well-drained soil[].

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The reddish wood is locally famous for its extreme hardness and density. It is said that sawmills generally reject it as a timber tree because of the difficulty encountered by blades in cutting through the wood. Apparently, some sections of the wood contain deposits of silicate minerals (drawn in through the roots) - literally giving these fibres a rock-hard texture[].

Propagation

Seed -
In the wild, the seeds germinate within two months of fruit fall, and the seedlings - using the stored food in the large seed - can grow 20cm during their first two weeks of life[].

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