Calophyllum brasiliense
Encyclopedia
Calophyllum brasiliense (Guanandi) is a species of Calophyllum
native to subtropical and tropical regions of Central America
, South America
and Caribe
.
tree
growing to 20–50 m tall, with a trunk up to 1.8 m diameter, and a dense, rounded crown. The leaves
are opposite, 6.3–12.5 cm long and 3.2–6.3 cm broad, elliptic to oblong or obovate, leathery, hairless, glossy green above, paler below, with an entire margin. The flower
s are 10–13 mm diameter, with four white sepals (two larger, and two smaller), and one to four white petals smaller than the sepals; the flowers are grouped in panicle
s 2.5–9 cm long. The fruit
is a globular drupe
25–30 mm diameter.
, from Santa Catarina to Pará, and also in Pantanal
and Amazon
forest; also common in Paraguay
, Peru
, Bolivia
, Colombia
, Venezuela
, Mexico
, Belize
, Guatemala
, Nicaragua
, Costa Rica
, Panama
, Puerto Rico
, Trinidad
, Dominican Republic
, Cuba
. It occurs between sea level and 1200 meters, many times in pure stands (this capacity in uncommon in tropical hardwood trees). Its natural dispersion occurs by water and fishes, monkey
s and mainly by bat
s.
, in the Amazon, 30 other trees are destroyed, because Mahogany does not occur in pure stands, as Guanandi does; This substitution is possible because Europeans, Japanese and Americans conscientious buyers are beginning to understand the importance in conservation of the Amazon Forest; so they tend to accept paying more for reforested wood; Moreover, the radicular system of trees as Guanandi raises the freatic sheet; it recoups and fertilizes the ground where it's planted. The wood of Guanandi and other speed growth quality timber trees promises to be very important commodities.
Other important trees specimens, in opposite from Guanandi, can not be harvested because they are attacked by Hypsipyla grandella
, Zeller. This caterpillar
destroys the main structure of this trees: Genuine South American Mahogany (Swetenia macrophila), Brazilian Cedar (Cedrela fissilis
) and Crabwood
(Carapa Guianensis)
The word "Guanandi" comes from the Tupy (a Brazilian Indian folk) language, means "soap that glues", in function of the yellow latex (balsam) of the rind, known as Jacareubin; It has the following medicinal uses: Against ulcer and gastritis; To avoid prostate damages. For skin cicatrization; against solar burning. In combat to molluscs that transmit "doença de Chagas" parasite. Some American and Asian universities also study the effect in reduction of cancer tumors. In addition, Terracom labs in a joint venture to Sarawak Medichen in Indonesia are providing patent for the use of Calanolide A
and Calanolide B, present in the latex and in the leaves of Calophyllum as AIDS inhibitors.
It is used in the cosmetic and dermatological industry, the oil being known as tamanu oil, for skin cleaning, and against skin wrinkles, after tattoo skin care. The fruit is composed of 44% of oil, and it can be burnt as bio-fuel. There are dozens of references about calophyllum oil active properties, from pre Colombian Incas and Aztecs in Latin America, to Asian and Polynesian Islands.
In São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil, some cities have plantation
s of Guanandi, with about one million trees planted. The same occur in UNA, south of Bahia state, where some guanandi tree farms have already started theirs production.
Calophyllum
Calophyllum is a flowering plant genus of around 180-200 species of tropical evergreen trees in the family Calophyllaceae. The generic name is derived from the Greek words καλος , meaning "beautiful", and φυλλον , meaning "leaf." Its members are native to Australasia, Madagascar, Eastern Africa,...
native to subtropical and tropical regions of Central America
Central America
Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...
, South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
and Caribe
Caribe
Caribe may refer to:* Caribe , a computer worm designed for mobile phones* Caribe , a Venezuelan telenovela* Caribe , a 1975 television series produced by Quinn Martin...
.
Description
It is an evergreenEvergreen
In botany, an evergreen plant is a plant that has leaves in all seasons. This contrasts with deciduous plants, which completely lose their foliage during the winter or dry season.There are many different kinds of evergreen plants, both trees and shrubs...
tree
Tree
A tree is a perennial woody plant. It is most often defined as a woody plant that has many secondary branches supported clear of the ground on a single main stem or trunk with clear apical dominance. A minimum height specification at maturity is cited by some authors, varying from 3 m to...
growing to 20–50 m tall, with a trunk up to 1.8 m diameter, and a dense, rounded crown. The leaves
Leaf
A leaf is an organ of a vascular plant, as defined in botanical terms, and in particular in plant morphology. Foliage is a mass noun that refers to leaves as a feature of plants....
are opposite, 6.3–12.5 cm long and 3.2–6.3 cm broad, elliptic to oblong or obovate, leathery, hairless, glossy green above, paler below, with an entire margin. The flower
Flower
A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants . The biological function of a flower is to effect reproduction, usually by providing a mechanism for the union of sperm with eggs...
s are 10–13 mm diameter, with four white sepals (two larger, and two smaller), and one to four white petals smaller than the sepals; the flowers are grouped in panicle
Panicle
A panicle is a compound raceme, a loose, much-branched indeterminate inflorescence with pedicellate flowers attached along the secondary branches; in other words, a branched cluster of flowers in which the branches are racemes....
s 2.5–9 cm long. The fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
is a globular drupe
Drupe
In botany, a drupe is a fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounds a shell of hardened endocarp with a seed inside. These fruits develop from a single carpel, and mostly from flowers with superior ovaries...
25–30 mm diameter.
Habitat
It is very common in BrazilBrazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, from Santa Catarina to Pará, and also in Pantanal
Pantanal
The Pantanal is a tropical wetland and one of the world's largest wetland of any kind. Most of it lies within the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso do Sul, but it extends into Mato Grosso and portions of Bolivia and Paraguay, sprawling over an area estimated at between and...
and Amazon
Amazon Rainforest
The Amazon Rainforest , also known in English as Amazonia or the Amazon Jungle, is a moist broadleaf forest that covers most of the Amazon Basin of South America...
forest; also common in 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...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, 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...
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, 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...
, Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, Guatemala
Guatemala
Guatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
, Nicaragua
Nicaragua
Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...
, 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....
, Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, 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...
, 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...
, Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
. It occurs between sea level and 1200 meters, many times in pure stands (this capacity in uncommon in tropical hardwood trees). Its natural dispersion occurs by water and fishes, monkey
Monkey
A monkey is a primate, either an Old World monkey or a New World monkey. There are about 260 known living species of monkey. Many are arboreal, although there are species that live primarily on the ground, such as baboons. Monkeys are generally considered to be intelligent. Unlike apes, monkeys...
s and mainly by bat
Bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s.
Common names
Common trade names of the wood of the Calophyllum brasiliense are: Jacareúba, Guanandi and Árbol de Santa Maria. Also known as: Landim, Olandim, Landi, Cedro do Pântano, Guanandi-Cedro (Brazil), Arary, Ocure, Cachicamo, Balsamaria, Aceite Mario, Palomaria or Pallomaria, Brazil beauty leaf (Brazilian pretty leaf) and even of Alexander Laurel, or crown of parrots of Alexander, for the beauty of its leaves.Cultivation and uses
The substitution of irregular, illegal cutting of Amazon trees by using forested trees as Guanandi is proven to be very positive to preserve these important biomes; To cut and transport a single MahoganyMahogany
The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....
, in the Amazon, 30 other trees are destroyed, because Mahogany does not occur in pure stands, as Guanandi does; This substitution is possible because Europeans, Japanese and Americans conscientious buyers are beginning to understand the importance in conservation of the Amazon Forest; so they tend to accept paying more for reforested wood; Moreover, the radicular system of trees as Guanandi raises the freatic sheet; it recoups and fertilizes the ground where it's planted. The wood of Guanandi and other speed growth quality timber trees promises to be very important commodities.
Other important trees specimens, in opposite from Guanandi, can not be harvested because they are attacked by Hypsipyla grandella
Hypsipyla grandella
Hypsipyla grandella is a moth of the Pyralidae family. It is found in southern Florida , most of the West Indies, Sinaloa and southward in Mexico, Central America, and South America except Chile....
, Zeller. This caterpillar
Caterpillar
Caterpillars are the larval form of members of the order Lepidoptera . They are mostly herbivorous in food habit, although some species are insectivorous. Caterpillars are voracious feeders and many of them are considered to be pests in agriculture...
destroys the main structure of this trees: Genuine South American Mahogany (Swetenia macrophila), Brazilian Cedar (Cedrela fissilis
Cedrela fissilis
Cedrela fissilis is a species of plant in the Meliaceae family. It is found in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, and Venezuela. This plant is currently threatened by habitat loss.-Source:...
) and Crabwood
Carapa
Carapa is a genus in the mahogany family Meliaceae. The c. 25 species become medium-sized to large trees to 30 m tall, occurring in tropical South America and Africa; common names for include Andiroba and Crabwood.-Species:...
(Carapa Guianensis)
The word "Guanandi" comes from the Tupy (a Brazilian Indian folk) language, means "soap that glues", in function of the yellow latex (balsam) of the rind, known as Jacareubin; It has the following medicinal uses: Against ulcer and gastritis; To avoid prostate damages. For skin cicatrization; against solar burning. In combat to molluscs that transmit "doença de Chagas" parasite. Some American and Asian universities also study the effect in reduction of cancer tumors. In addition, Terracom labs in a joint venture to Sarawak Medichen in Indonesia are providing patent for the use of Calanolide A
Calanolide A
Calanolide A is a new, experimental non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor first acquired from Calophyllum lanigerum trees in Malaysia. The U.S. National Cancer Institute tested calanolide A as a possible cancer treatment, but had no effect. It was later found to have potent anti-HIV...
and Calanolide B, present in the latex and in the leaves of Calophyllum as AIDS inhibitors.
It is used in the cosmetic and dermatological industry, the oil being known as tamanu oil, for skin cleaning, and against skin wrinkles, after tattoo skin care. The fruit is composed of 44% of oil, and it can be burnt as bio-fuel. There are dozens of references about calophyllum oil active properties, from pre Colombian Incas and Aztecs in Latin America, to Asian and Polynesian Islands.
In São Paulo state, southeastern Brazil, some cities have plantation
Plantation
A plantation is a long artificially established forest, farm or estate, where crops are grown for sale, often in distant markets rather than for local on-site consumption...
s of Guanandi, with about one million trees planted. The same occur in UNA, south of Bahia state, where some guanandi tree farms have already started theirs production.