''Bursera fagaroides'' is a species of flowering plant in the genus ''

Bursera ''Bursera'' is a genus with about 100 described species of flowering shrubs and trees varying in size up to high. It is the type genus for Burseraceae. The trees are native (often for many species endemic) to the Americas, from the southern Uni ...

'' known by the common names torchwood copal and fragrant bursera.''Bursera fagaroides''.
Plant Abstracts. Arizona Game and Fish Department. It is widespread across much of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

from

Sonora Sonora (), officially Estado Libre y Soberano de Sonora (), is one of the 31 states which, along with Mexico City, comprise the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Federal Entities of Mexico. The state is divided into Municipalities of Sonora, 72 ...

Oaxaca Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of the Mexico, United Mexican States. It is divided into municipalities of Oaxaca, 570 munici ...

, and its range extends just into

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

in the United States, although some sources suggest that it may now be extirpated in Arizona. This plant is a

shrub A shrub or bush is a small to medium-sized perennial woody plant. Unlike herbaceous plants, shrubs have persistent woody stems above the ground. Shrubs can be either deciduous or evergreen. They are distinguished from trees by their multiple ...

tree In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, e.g., including only woody plants with secondary growth, only ...

growing up to 10 meters (33 feet) tall. The trunk is swollen, with peeling red-tinged bark. The leaves are pinnate, each made up of 5 to 11 leaflets. The flowers are borne singly or in clusters at the ends of branches and are white, sometimes with a yellow or greenish tint. The gray-brown triangular fruit is about 6 millimeters long and splits open when ripe to release a reddish seed. ''Bursera fagaroides'' is similar in appearance to the elephant tree (''Bursera microphylla''), but can be differentiated by its longer, narrower leaflets. This plant grows in the scrub of the

Sonoran Desert The Sonoran Desert () is a hot desert and ecoregion in North America that covers the northwestern Mexican states of Sonora, Baja California, and Baja California Sur, as well as part of the Southwestern United States (in Arizona and California). It ...

. Farther south in Mexico it can be found in arroyos in

subtropical The subtropical zones or subtropics are geographical zone, geographical and Köppen climate classification, climate zones immediately to the Northern Hemisphere, north and Southern Hemisphere, south of the tropics. Geographically part of the Ge ...

scrub habitat. It is found in shallow soils and rocky substrates, often

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

. The seeds are consumed by birds such as the white-eyed vireo (''Vireo griseus''), and the

grey catbird The gray catbird (''Dumetella carolinensis''), American and British English spelling differences#Miscellaneous spelling differences, also spelled grey catbird, is a medium-sized North American and Central American passerine, perching bird of the ...

(''Dumetella carolinensis''). This species is 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 ...

and can be sculpted into

bonsai Bonsai (; , ) is the Japanese art of Horticulture, growing and shaping miniature trees in containers, with a long documented history of influences and native Japanese development over a thousand years, and with unique aesthetics, cultural hist ...

Uses

In Mexico, the gum from the tree has been used in treating scorpion stings and insect bites.

Gallery

Bursera fagaroides range map 1.png, Native range Bursera fagaroides bonsai at the BBG, August 2, 2008.jpg, As bonsai

References

External links

*NatureServe. 2014
''Bursera fagaroides''.
Plant Abstracts. Arizona Game and Fish Department.
''Bursera fagaroides'' var. ''elongata''.
Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum.
photo of herbarium specimen at Missouri Botanical Garden

Uses

Gallery

References

External links

Further reading