Common Name:

General Information

Sapium laurocerasus is an evergreen tree with a columnar crown; it can grow from 6 - 18 metres tall. The bole can be up to 60cm in diameter[].
The tree is sometimes harvested from the wild for local use of its wood[].

Known Hazards

The plant contains an abundance of an irritating, poisonous latex[].

Botanical References

Range

Caribbean - Puerto Rico.

Habitat

Forests of the lower to upper mountains, and in moist limestone regions[].

Properties

Other Uses Rating
Habit	Evergreen Tree
Height	12.00 m
Cultivation Status	Wild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

None known

Other Uses

The heartwood is light brown or light yellow; the sapwood whitish. It is mostly fine-textured, except for many large pores which are visible to the naked eye on the end grain and appear as fine scratches or stipple marks on flatsawn surfaces; the grain is sometimes straight, more frequently tightly interlocked; lustre is medium; there are no visible growth rings; the seasoned wood is free of odour or taste. The wood is soft; light in weight; not very durable, being very susceptible to attack by dry-wood termites and other insects and to decay. Sap-staining fungi discolour freshly cut wood if it is neither dipped in fungicide nor dried promptly. Rate of air-seasoning and amount of degrade are moderate. Machining characteristics are as follows: planing is excellent; shaping and turning are fair; boring and mortising are poor; sanding is very poor unless only very fine abrasive paper is used; and resistance to screw splitting is good. Though cut occasionally for posts, the wood is unpopular because the caustic latex injures the skin. It is suitable for boxes, crates, interior construction, paper pulp, and plywood[, ].

Propagation

Seed -

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