''Couratari'' is a genus of

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 ...

s in the family

Lecythidaceae The Lecythidaceae ( ) comprise a family of about 20 genera and 250–300 species of woody plants native to tropical South America, Africa (including Madagascar), Asia and Australia. Well known members of the family include the cannonball tree ...

, first described as a genus in 1775. They are native to tropical

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

and

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Couratari sp

They are large

s, often rising above the

rainforest Rainforests are forests characterized by a closed and continuous tree Canopy (biology), canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforests can be generally classified as tropi ...

canopy. The

leaves A leaf (: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, ...

are

evergreen In botany, an evergreen is a plant which has Leaf, foliage that remains green and functional throughout the year. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely during the winter or dry season. Consisting of many diffe ...

, alternate, simple, elliptical, up to 15 cm long, with a serrate to serrulate margin.

Vernation Vernation or leafing is the formation of new leaves or fronds. In plant anatomy, it is the arrangement of leaves in a bud. In pine species, new leaves are short and encased in sheaths. Each leaf bundle consists of two to five needles. All the ...

lines parallel to the midvein are often visible - a very unusual characteristic. The

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 ...

is 6–15 cm long, and roughly conical. A central plug drops out at maturity, releasing the winged

seeds 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 sown, which may include seed and husk or tuber. Seeds are the ...

to be dispersed by wind. The fruit of ''

Cariniana ''Cariniana'' is a genus of trees in the family Lecythidaceae, first described as a genus in 1842. The entire genus is native to South America. Many are of importance for timber production. Species of this genus may be known commonly as ''jequi ...

'' may be distinguished from those of ''Couratari'', as the former have longitudinal ridges, whereas the latter bears a single calyx-derived ring near the fruit apex.Davidse, G., M. Sousa Sánchez, S. Knapp & F. Chiang Cabrera. 2009. Cucurbitaceae a Polemoniaceae. 4(1): i–xvi, 1–855. In G. Davidse, M. Sousa Sánchez, S. Knapp & F. Chiang Cabrera (eds.) Flora Mesoamericana. Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, México ;Species

References

External links

Field Museum: ''Couratari'' photosField Museum Herbarium: ''Couratari'' photos
{{Taxonbar, from=Q5178100 Ericales genera