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Useful Tropical Plants

Sapium marmieri

Huber

Euphorbiaceae

+ Synonyms

Sapium leitera Gleason

Sapium peloto Pax & K.Hoffm.

Common Name:

Sapium marmieri
Ripening fruits
Photograph by: Rodolfo Vásquez
Creative Commons License

General Information

Sapium marmieri is a tree that can grow around 20 metres tall. The bole is straight and cylindrical[
363
Title
Technical Information on 134 Species of Bolivian Woods
Publication
 
Author
USDA Forest Service -- Forest Products Lab
Website
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/publications/
Publisher
USDA Forest Service
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A PDF file, available for download. Exactly what the title says, brief and to the point.
,
434
Title
Flora of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Macbride. J.F.
Publisher
Field Museum of Natural History
Year
1936
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.
].
The tree is harvested from the wild for its wood. It was at one time considered to be of economic value as a source of latex for making rubber, but the advent of synthetic rubber, and the dominance of Hevea brasiliensis as the source of natural rubber, has made this species unimportant commercially.

Known Hazards

The latex is very poisonous[
434
Title
Flora of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Macbride. J.F.
Publisher
Field Museum of Natural History
Year
1936
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.
]. It is used as an arrow poison[
412
Title
Illustrated Guide to the Trees of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Pennington, T.D.; Reynel, C. & Daza, A.
Publisher
David Hunt; Sherbourne, England.
Year
2004
ISBN
0 9538134 3 6
Description
A very terse guide to the trees of Peru, managing to give basic guides to a large number of genera, with more detail on a few species in each genus.
].

Botanical References

412
Title
Illustrated Guide to the Trees of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Pennington, T.D.; Reynel, C. & Daza, A.
Publisher
David Hunt; Sherbourne, England.
Year
2004
ISBN
0 9538134 3 6
Description
A very terse guide to the trees of Peru, managing to give basic guides to a large number of genera, with more detail on a few species in each genus.
,
434
Title
Flora of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Macbride. J.F.
Publisher
Field Museum of Natural History
Year
1936
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.

Range

S. America - northern Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia.

Habitat

Lowland and montane rain forest at elevations up to 1,200 metres in Peru[
412
Title
Illustrated Guide to the Trees of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Pennington, T.D.; Reynel, C. & Daza, A.
Publisher
David Hunt; Sherbourne, England.
Year
2004
ISBN
0 9538134 3 6
Description
A very terse guide to the trees of Peru, managing to give basic guides to a large number of genera, with more detail on a few species in each genus.
]. Found in alluvial soils[
434
Title
Flora of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Macbride. J.F.
Publisher
Field Museum of Natural History
Year
1936
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.
].

Properties

Other Uses Rating *  *
HabitTree
Height20.00 m
Cultivation StatusWild

Cultivation Details

Not known

Edible Uses

None known

Medicinal

The latexi, known as 'Gaucho Mashan', is used as a powerful purgative. It is taken orally, generally mixing a small amount of it in water[
1900
Title
Bioactivity of certain medicinal latexes used by the Ese’ejas
Publication
Journal of Ethnopharmacology 47 (1995) 159-163
Author
Mongelli E. et al
Website
http://10.1016/0378-8741(95)01262-C
Publisher
 
Year
1995
ISBN
 
Description
 
].

Other Uses

The abundant milky sap is very poisonous. It can be used to produce a rubber of lower quality[
434
Title
Flora of Peru
Publication
 
Author
Macbride. J.F.
Publisher
Field Museum of Natural History
Year
1936
ISBN
 
Description
An excellent attempt at a Flora of Peru, though it is clear that many of the plants were imperfectly known at that time and so information on them was sketchy. Available for download from the Internet.
].

The heartwood is white; it is not clearly demarcated from the sapwood. The texture is medium; the grain is straight; lustre is absent. The wood is moderately easy to work and is used for purposes such as mouldings, furniture, veneer and plywood[
363
Title
Technical Information on 134 Species of Bolivian Woods
Publication
 
Author
USDA Forest Service -- Forest Products Lab
Website
http://www2.fpl.fs.fed.us/publications/
Publisher
USDA Forest Service
Year
0
ISBN
 
Description
A PDF file, available for download. Exactly what the title says, brief and to the point.
].
We have no more information on the wood for this species, but a general description of the wood from American members of the genus is as follows:-
The heartwood is whitish, yellowish, or light brown; it is not distinct from the cream-coloured sapwood. The texture is medium; the grain straight to slightly interlocked; lustre is low; there is no distinctive odour or taste. The wood has a low resistance to decay and insect attack, including dry-wood termites; lumber is particularly prone to blue stain. The wood is reported to air dry rapidly with only slight warping and checking. It works easily because of its low density; sometimes surfaces are fuzzy but it generally machines smoothly; one report indicates a difficulty in sanding. It is used for purposes such as plywood, fiberboard, particleboard, general carpentry, millwork, utility furniture, boxes and crates[
316
Title
Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607.
Publication
 
Author
Chudnoff. Martin.
Publisher
USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin.
Year
1984
ISBN
 
Description
Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
].

Propagation

Seed -
Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2024-12-01. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Sapium+marmieri>

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