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Other Names: Stink Toe, Brazilian / South American Cherry, Guapinol
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Related To:
[Fabaceae] Tamarind, Inga Bean, Moringa
Main Uses:
Timber, Food, Medicine
Growth Rate:
Slow, up to 3 feet per year.
Mature Height/Spread:
100 feet; this is a tall rainforest tree.
Flowering/Pollination:
White, fragrant flowers produced from spring to autumn. Bats are a primary pollinator of this species.
Tolerance:
Very little salt tolerance, drought tolerance is good once established.
Soil/Nutrition:
Acidic, rich, well-drained
Light:
Full sun
Wind:
Very sturdy.
Temperature:
Strictly tropical, trees are harmed by frost.
Dangers:
None
Diseases Prone:
None
Bearing Age:
20 years from seed.
Fruit:
Large pod, containing 2-4 large seeds surrounded by an odiferous mealy flesh. The pods are buoyant, which helps in dispersal of the species.
History/Origin:
The genus name 'hymenaea' refers to Hymen (the Greek God of marriage), so named for to the rich green twinned leaflets that occur in matching pairs. These leaflets are unique to this family, and not typical of trees in the 'fabaceae' genus which have distinctive pinnate leaves of a legume. Jatoba has a rich history of use by humans. It's copal resins collect over decades at the base of the tree can be dug from the ground in big chunks. These terpene resins are used in making varnish and incense. The bark and resins are also used as topical medicine, most effectively used to cure fungal infections. In the rainforest where most trees are usually playing host to all sorts of alga, fungi, or lichens, Jatoba bark grows relatively clean. The resins in the bark keep the tree clean and immaculate. It's bark is mad into an adaptogenic tea.
This copal resin is perhaps most famous for it's role in archaeology. The copal resins polymerize over time, forming "amber" which often contains insects, flowers, leaves, and other traces of ancient life. During the polymerization process the volatile mono and sesquiterpenes degrade over a span of about 1-2 million years. The non-volatile diterpenes fuse together forming a hard natural polymer that is resistant to decay. This 'amber' making process can be replicated using an autoclave,to apply heat and pressure to relatively fresh resin, a practice used in the industry. This substance lasts for eons, the oldest amber found reaching back over 300 million years. Unlike fresh copal resin, the polymerized 'amber' is unaffected by organic solvents such as hexane, alcohol, or ether.
Species Observations:
Seedlings will stop growing entirely if soil PH is inadequate, and can sit for years until adequate PH is restored. Temperatures below 60F will inhibit healthy growth.
For a species with such prominent anti-fungal properties, the seeds display a surprising susceptibility to fungal infections. Yet, the seeds germinate best in a warm, moist environment with healthy ones taking only a few days to sprout. Like many large woody-seeded fruits of Americas, this likely indicates the co-evolution of the tree alongside recently extinct large animals - pachyderms, gompotheres, and glyptodons - animals which would eat these large fruits, germinate the seeds in their digestive tract, while simultaneously protecting them from fungal infections. The flesh should be completely cleaned off the seeds when attempting to germinate, and the use of jatoba powder on the seeds should help with any fungal problems.
Propogation:
By seed.
Container Culture:
This tree is impractical to grow in a container.
Medicinal Uses:
Chips of bark are soaked in water overnight, or decocted as a tea to extract trace amounts of bioactive terpene compounds. These components of the tree's complex natural resin imbue a strength and energy to the drinker, and have been used for this adaptogenic purpose throughout the Amazon.
Nutritional Information:
The fresh resin is rich in diterpenes, sesquiterpenes, flavonoids, and oligosaccharides.
Preparation / Food:
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"Tree is in fine shape and budding! Packing was exceptional. Thank you so much!"
- Satisfied Customer 1
"WOW, Plant is 10X better than expected. Great condition. Thank you very much."
- Satisfied Customer 2
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