''Hura crepitans'', the sandbox tree, also known as possumwood, monkey no-climb, assacu (from Tupi ''asaku'') and jabillo, is an evergreen tree in the family

Euphorbiaceae Euphorbiaceae (), the spurge family, is a large family of flowering plants. In English, they are also commonly called euphorbias, which is also the name of Euphorbia, the type genus of the family. Most spurges, such as ''Euphorbia paralias'', ar ...

, native to tropical regions of North and South America including the

Amazon rainforest The Amazon rainforest, also called the Amazon jungle or Amazonia, is a Tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forests, moist broadleaf tropical rainforest in the Amazon biome that covers most of the Amazon basin of South America. This basin ...

. It is also present in parts of Tanzania, where it is considered an

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

. Because its fruits explode when ripe, it has also received the colloquial nickname the dynamite tree.

Description

The sandbox tree can grow to in height, and up to in girth at above the ground; its large

ovate Ovate may refer to: * Ovate (egg-shaped) leaves, tepals, or other botanical parts *Ovate, a type of prehistoric stone hand axe * Ovates, one of three ranks of membership in the Welsh Gorsedd * Vates or ovate, a term for ancient Celtic bards ...

leaves grow to wide. The trees are

monoecious Monoecy (; adj. monoecious ) is a sexual system in seed plants where separate male and female cones or flowers are present on the same plant. It is a monomorphic sexual system comparable with gynomonoecy, andromonoecy and trimonoecy, and contras ...

, with red, un-petaled flowers. Male flowers grow on long

spikes The SPIKES protocol is a method used in clinical medicine to break bad news to patients and families. As receiving bad news can cause distress and anxiety, clinicians need to deliver the news carefully. Using the SPIKES method for introducing and ...

, while female flowers grow alone in leaf axils. The trunk is covered in long, sharp spikes that secrete poisonous sap. The sandbox tree's fruits are large,

pumpkin A pumpkin is a cultivar, cultivated winter squash in the genus ''Cucurbita''. The term is most commonly applied to round, orange-colored squash varieties, but does not possess a scientific definition. It may be used in reference to many dif ...

-shaped capsules, long, diameter, with 16

carpel Gynoecium (; ; : gynoecia) is most commonly used as a collective term for the parts of a flower that produce ovules and ultimately develop into the fruit and seeds. The gynoecium is the innermost whorl of a flower; it consists of (one or more ...

s arranged radially. Its seeds are flattened and about diameter. The capsules explode when ripe, splitting into segments and launching seeds at . One source states that ripe capsules catapult their seeds as far as . Another source states that seeds are thrown as far as from a tree, most commonly . High-speed video analysis of its exploding fruit revealed that sandbox seeds fly with backspin as opposed to topspin, which had been previously assumed. Backspin helps seeds remain oriented to minimize their drag during flight.

Habitat

This tree prefers wet soil, and partial shade or partial to full sun. It is often cultivated for shade. Sandbox trees are tropical trees and prefer warmer, more humid environments.

Uses

Its wood is light enough that indigenous people used it to make canoes. Fishermen have been said to use the milky, caustic sap from this tree to poison fish. The Caribs made

arrow poison Arrow poisons are used to poison arrow heads or darts for the purposes of hunting and warfare. They have been used by indigenous peoples worldwide and are still in use in areas of South America, Africa and Asia. Notable examples are the poisons se ...

from its sap. The wood is used for furniture under the name "hura". In a time when most writing pens left wet ink on the page, the trees' unripe seed capsules were sawn in half to make decorative boxes (also called pounce pots) to hold the "sand" used to dry it, hence the name 'sandbox tree'. It has been documented as a herbal remedy. The seeds contain an oil that is toxic for consumption but can be made into

biodiesel Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats. The roots of bi ...

and

soap Soap is a salt (chemistry), salt of a fatty acid (sometimes other carboxylic acids) used for cleaning and lubricating products as well as other applications. In a domestic setting, soaps, specifically "toilet soaps", are surfactants usually u ...

; the starchy leftovers after extracting the oil from the seeds can be made into

animal feed Animal feed is food given to domestic animals, especially livestock, in the course of animal husbandry. There are two basic types: fodder and forage. Used alone, the word ''feed'' more often refers to fodder. Animal feed is an important input ...

after cooking.

Gallery

File:Honolulu-GraceCooke-sandboxtree-full.JPG, Large sandbox tree in

Honolulu Honolulu ( ; ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is the county seat of the Consolidated city-county, consolidated City and County of Honol ...

File:Hura crepitans Vietnam.jpg, ''Hura crepitans'' in

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

File:Hura crepitans 03.jpg, ''Hura crepitans'' in

Saint John, U.S. Virgin Islands Saint John (; ) is one of the Virgin Islands in the Caribbean Sea and a constituent Districts and sub-districts of the United States Virgin Islands, district of the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an unincorporated territory of ...

File:Honolulu-sandboxtree-trunk.JPG, Spiny trunk of ''Hura crepitans'' File:Hura crepitans in Guanacaste, Costa Rica.JPG, Leaf of ''Hura crepitans'' File:Hura_crepitans_seed1.jpg, ''Hura crepitans'' fruit carpel File:Hura_crepitans_seed2.jpg, ''Hura crepitans'' fruit carpel, opposite side

References

External links

Center for Wood Anatomy Research, details about the wood of the Sandbox tree

University of São Paulo: ''Hura crepitans''
photos
www.maya-ethnobotany.org seedpod explosion video
{{Taxonbar, from=Q2001703 Ayahuasca Euphorbioideae Flora of Southern America Medicinal plants of Central America Medicinal plants of North America Medicinal plants of South America Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus