Common Name:

General Information

Micropholis guyanensis is an evergreen tree with a dense, narrow crown of dark green foliage; it can grow up to 40 metres tall[]. The straight, cylindrical bole is unbranched for up to 18 metres and 60cm or more in diameter; it has flat buttresses up to 2 metres tall[, , ].
The edible fruit is gathered from the wild for local consumption. The tree also yields a gum and a wood that is used locally and also traded as 'curupixa' timber.

Known Hazards

None known

Botanical References

Range

S. America - Brazil, Bolivia and Peru, north to the Caribbean and through Central America to Costa Rica.

Habitat

Rainforests and savannah forests[].

Properties

Edibility Rating
Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	30.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Plants can flower and produce fruit for much of the year[].

Edible Uses

Fruit[]. The pulp is soft, white and transparent[]. The fruit, when ripe, turns purplish-brown to black, and has a sweet juicy consistency. It is quite delectable[]. The ellipsoid fruit is 12 - 25mm long and 15 - 20mm wide[].

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The tree yields a gum known as 'Balata Rosada'[]. Balata is a gum made from tree sap and resembling rubber. It is used for gaskets, chewing gum, and as a gutta-percha substitute.

The heartwood is yellow to greyish-brown, sometimes with a reddish or greenish tinge; it is not clearly demarcated from the 125 - 175mm wide band of sapwood. The texture is fine; grain straight; lustre medium; with indistinct growth rings. The wood is hard, heavy, strong, tough; it is reported to be resistant to teredo, but susceptible to attack by dry-wood termites. The rate of air-seasoning is rapid, and the amount of degrade is minor. The wood contains silica; its machining characteristics are as follows: planing, turning, and mortising are good; shaping and boring are excellent; sanding and resistance to screw splitting are fair. Sawing and machining are moderately difficult because of the silica in the wood, which dulls the saw teeth and cutting edges. However, the wood takes a high polish. It is used in construction and is also suitable for marine piling, furniture, cabinetwork, interior trim, flooring, paddles, farm implements, tool handles, veneer, plywood, and general carpentiy[].

Propagation

Seed -

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