Calophyllum antillanum
Encyclopedia
Calophyllum antillanum is an evergreen, medium-sized tropical tree in the Calophyllaceae
family. It is also known as Antilles calophyllum; Alexandrian laurel; Galba; Santa Maria; mast wood, beauty leaf, West Indian laurel.
It is prized for producing a very hard, durable wood. "The leaves were once used as a diuretic in Grenada
, but it is said in Dominica
to be poisonous (Politi, 1996). Famous hard wood . Very long lasting hut construction." It is considered an invasive weed species in some areas.
María wood is suitable for general construction, flooring, bridge construction, furniture, boat construction, cabinetmaking, shingles, interior construction, agricultural implements, poles, crossties, and handles. It is a good general utility wood where a fairly strong and moderately durable timber is required. In British Honduras, it was substituted for imported creosoted sleepers but required replacement after 3 or 4 years (24). In Mexico, attempts to use the timber in the veneer and plywood industry were not entirely successful.
The tree is also planted for shade along streets and as a windbreak or to protect against salt spray near the ocean. Frequently it is pruned to form a dense hedge along property lines in urban areas (28).
The latex from the trunk has been employed medicinally. The fruits are used as hog-feed, and lamp oil is extracted from the seeds.
The tree's adaptability to a variety of sites in Puerto Rico has made it popular among soil scientists and foresters for rehabilitation of degraded lands."
It is native to the Caribbean
region, including Antigua and Barbuda
; Barbados
; Cuba; Dominica
; Grenada
; Guadeloupe
; Hispaniola
; Jamaica
; Martinique
; Montserrat
; Puerto Rico
; St. Lucia; St. Vincent
and the Grenadines
; Trinidad and Tobago
; Virgin Islands (U.S.) - St. Croix. It has also been introduced to Florida
and Hawaii
In Trinidad
it was used to make spinning tops for children.. It has also been reported from Costa Rica
, Colombia
, Mexico
, El Salvador
, Puerto Rico
, Ecuador
, and Paraguay
, etc.
Galba, its common name in Trinidad, may have been the origin of the stage name of Grenadian-born calypso
nian, Sir Galba
.
Calophyllaceae
Calophyllaceae is a family of flowering plants in the order Malpighiales and is recognized by the APG III system of classification. Most of the genera included in this family were previously recognized in the tribe Calophylleae of the Clusiaceae family. The Angiosperm Phylogeny Group...
family. It is also known as Antilles calophyllum; Alexandrian laurel; Galba; Santa Maria; mast wood, beauty leaf, West Indian laurel.
It is prized for producing a very hard, durable wood. "The leaves were once used as a diuretic in Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
, but it is said in Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
to be poisonous (Politi, 1996). Famous hard wood . Very long lasting hut construction." It is considered an invasive weed species in some areas.
- "The wood of maría is widely used in the tropics. The heartwood varies from yellowish pink through reddish brown while sapwood is generally lighter in color. The grain is usually interlocked, and the specific gravity ranges from 0.51 to 0.57. The wood is fairly easy to work, rating above average in shaping, sanding, and mortising, and below average in planing, turning, and boring. It is moderately difficult to air-season and shows moderate to severe warp. The sapwood is easily impregnated with preservatives by either pressure or open-tank-bath methods, but the heartwood is extremely resistant to impregnation."
María wood is suitable for general construction, flooring, bridge construction, furniture, boat construction, cabinetmaking, shingles, interior construction, agricultural implements, poles, crossties, and handles. It is a good general utility wood where a fairly strong and moderately durable timber is required. In British Honduras, it was substituted for imported creosoted sleepers but required replacement after 3 or 4 years (24). In Mexico, attempts to use the timber in the veneer and plywood industry were not entirely successful.
The tree is also planted for shade along streets and as a windbreak or to protect against salt spray near the ocean. Frequently it is pruned to form a dense hedge along property lines in urban areas (28).
The latex from the trunk has been employed medicinally. The fruits are used as hog-feed, and lamp oil is extracted from the seeds.
The tree's adaptability to a variety of sites in Puerto Rico has made it popular among soil scientists and foresters for rehabilitation of degraded lands."
It is native to the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
region, including Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda
Antigua and Barbuda is a twin-island nation lying between the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. It consists of two major inhabited islands, Antigua and Barbuda, and a number of smaller islands...
; Barbados
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles. It is in length and as much as in width, amounting to . It is situated in the western area of the North Atlantic and 100 kilometres east of the Windward Islands and the Caribbean Sea; therein, it is about east of the islands of Saint...
; Cuba; Dominica
Dominica
Dominica , officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island nation in the Lesser Antilles region of the Caribbean Sea, south-southeast of Guadeloupe and northwest of Martinique. Its size is and the highest point in the country is Morne Diablotins, which has an elevation of . The Commonwealth...
; Grenada
Grenada
Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea...
; Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe
Guadeloupe is an archipelago located in the Leeward Islands, in the Lesser Antilles, with a land area of 1,628 square kilometres and a population of 400,000. It is the first overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. As with the other overseas departments, Guadeloupe...
; Hispaniola
Hispaniola
Hispaniola is a major island in the Caribbean, containing the two sovereign states of the Dominican Republic and Haiti. The island is located between the islands of Cuba to the west and Puerto Rico to the east, within the hurricane belt...
; Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
; Martinique
Martinique
Martinique is an island in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of . Like Guadeloupe, it is an overseas region of France, consisting of a single overseas department. To the northwest lies Dominica, to the south St Lucia, and to the southeast Barbados...
; Montserrat
Montserrat
Montserrat is a British overseas territory located in the Leeward Islands, part of the chain of islands called the Lesser Antilles in the West Indies. This island measures approximately long and wide, giving of coastline...
; Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
; St. Lucia; St. Vincent
Saint Vincent (island)
Saint Vincent is a volcanic island in the Caribbean. It is the largest island of the chain called Saint Vincent and the Grenadines. It is located in the Caribbean Sea, between Saint Lucia and Grenada. It is composed of partially submerged volcanic mountains...
and the Grenadines
Grenadines
The Grenadines is a Caribbean island chain of over 600 islands in the Windward Islands.-Geographic boundaries:They are divided between the island nations of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada. They lie between the islands of Saint Vincent in the north and Grenada in the south. Neither...
; Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
; Virgin Islands (U.S.) - St. Croix. It has also been introduced to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
and Hawaii
Hawaii
Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...
In Trinidad
Trinidad
Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands and numerous landforms which make up the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. It is the southernmost island in the Caribbean and lies just off the northeastern coast of Venezuela. With an area of it is also the fifth largest in...
it was used to make spinning tops for children.. It has also been reported from Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, Ecuador
Ecuador
Ecuador , officially the Republic of Ecuador is a representative democratic republic in South America, bordered by Colombia on the north, Peru on the east and south, and by the Pacific Ocean to the west. It is one of only two countries in South America, along with Chile, that do not have a border...
, and Paraguay
Paraguay
Paraguay , officially the Republic of Paraguay , is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to the east and northeast, and Bolivia to the northwest. Paraguay lies on both banks of the Paraguay River, which runs through the center of the...
, etc.
Galba, its common name in Trinidad, may have been the origin of the stage name of Grenadian-born calypso
Calypso music
Calypso is a style of Afro-Caribbean music that originated in Trinidad and Tobago from African and European roots. The roots of the genre lay in the arrival of enslaved Africans, who, not being allowed to speak with each other, communicated through song...
nian, Sir Galba
Sir Galba
Sir Galba was a calypso singer and recording artist in the 1940s and 1950s.He was born George Brindsley McSween in the village of Birchgrove, St. Andrews, Grenada, in 1919. A troubled man, he had a relatively brief career and life, but Galba is remembered for his outstanding calypsos and...
.