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Bursera simaruba
Burseraceae FAMILY

Bursera simaruba

Bursera simaruba

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitTree
Growth—

A plant of the tropical regions of Central America, where it is found growing at elevations up to 1,000 metres[1]. It prefers areas where the mean annual temperature is in the range 18 - 25°c, and the mean annual rainfall is 800 - 3,000mm[1]. Prefers a sunny position and a well-drained soil[2]. Grows on a range of soils, including Lithosols, Vertisols and Oxisols[1]. Succeeds in dry soils[1]. Established plants are drought resistant[3]. Plants can be pruned back very hard and will resprout successfully[3]. A dioecious species, both male and female forms need to be grown if seed is required[2].

Propagation

Seed. Forty per cent germination occurs within 20 days[1]. Seed storage behaviour is orthodox. Seeds remain viable for 10 months[1]. Cuttings root easily. Even large branches 1 - 3 metres long will produce roots[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-19. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Bursera+simaruba>

Pollinators

Insects, especially bees

References

  1. [1]World Agroforesty Centre — http://www.worldagroforestry.org/ ↩︎An excellent online database of a huge range of trees giving very good information on each plant - its uses, ecology, identity, propagation, pests etc.
  2. [2]The New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. 1992. — Huxley. A. · MacMillan Press · 1992 · ISBN 0-333-47494-5 ↩︎Excellent and very comprehensive, though it contains a number of silly mistakes. Readable yet also very detailed.
  3. [3]Trees of Costa Rica's Pacific Slope — http://www.cds.ed.cr/teachers/harmon/page1.html ↩︎Information on over 80 species of tree from the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.
  4. [4]Present and Potential Commercial Timbers of the Caribbean — Longwood.F.R. · USDA Forest Service; Washington, DC. · 1962 ↩︎Quite detailed information on more than 60 species of Caribbean timber trees, giving species descriptions, habitat, detailed info on the wood and some info on other uses. Available for download on the internet.
  5. [5]Cornucopia II — Facciola. S. · Kampong Publications, California. · 1998 · ISBN 0-9628087-2-5 ↩︎The second edition of an excellent guide to the edible uses of plants, though it does not give any details of cultivation etc.
  6. [6]Dictionary of Economic Plants. — Uphof. J. C. Th. · Weinheim · 1959 · ISBN - ↩︎An excellent and very comprehensive guide but it only gives very short descriptions of the uses without any details of how to utilize the plants. Not for the casual reader.
  7. [7]Medicinal Plants of the Guianas — DeFilipps, R. A.; Maina, S. L.; & Crepin, J. · Smithsonian Museum · http://botany.si.edu/bdg/medicinal/index.html ↩︎A down-loadable PDF document of a book in pre-publication awaiting illustration. An excellent, if rather terse, guide to the traditional medicinal uses of the plants of the region