''Curatella americana'', commonly known as the wild cashew tree,
sambaı́ba,
and the sandpaper tree,
is a species of tree in the family
Dilleniaceae
Dilleniaceae is a family of flowering plants with 11 genera and about 430 known species.
It is known to gardeners for the genus '' Hibbertia'', which contains many commercially valuable garden species.
Description and distribution
The family is ...
. It is the sole accepted species in genus ''Curatella''.
[
]
Description
''Curatella americana'' is a semi-deciduous
Semi-deciduous or semi-evergreen is a botanical term which refers to plants that lose their foliage for a very short period, when old leaves fall off and new foliage growth is starting. This phenomenon occurs in tropical and sub-tropical wood ...
tree with a dense, rounded crown
A crown is a traditional form of head adornment, or hat, worn by monarchs as a symbol of their power and dignity. A crown is often, by extension, a symbol of the monarch's government or items endorsed by it. The word itself is used, parti ...
. It typically grows tall. The trunk is short, thick, and usually crooked, up to in diameter.["''Curatella americana''". ''Useful Tropical Plants''. Accessed 1 March 2021]
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Range
''Curatella americana'' ranges through the tropical Americas, including northern South America (Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and the Guyanas), Central America from Panama to Mexico, and the western Caribbean.[
]
Habitat
''Curatella americana'' is generally found in savanna
A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland-grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) biome and ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach th ...
and dry forest habitats. In Guatemala, it is found on dry open or brushy hillsides below elevation, or growing among pine
A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae.
''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
s.[
]
Human uses
Parts of the plant, including its edible fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...
s and seed
In botany, a seed is a plant structure containing an embryo and stored nutrients in a protective coat called a ''testa''. More generally, the term "seed" means anything that can be Sowing, sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds ...
s, are a local source of food, traditional medicines, and other commodities. It is generally harvested from the wild, although it is sometimes planted for its fruits and seeds. It is widely grown as an ornamental plant
Ornamental plants or ''garden plants'' are plants that are primarily grown for their beauty but also for qualities such as scent or how they shape physical space. Many flowering plants and garden varieties tend to be specially bred cultivars th ...
in Central America.[
]
References
External links
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{{Taxonbar, from1=Q8352702, from2=Q4337504
Dilleniaceae
Monotypic eudicot genera