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Fabaceae FAMILY

Dipteryx oleifera

Dipteryx oleifera

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
0/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthSlow

A tree of the lowland, humid tropics, found at elevations up to 1,300 metres[1]. It grows in areas where the annual temperature varies between 24 - 30 °c, and the annual rainfall from 3,500 - 5,500mm[1]. Found in the wild in alluvial or sandy soils, and sometimes in acid and clayey soils[1]. A slow-growing tree[2]. The trees begin to flower and set fruit when they are 11 - 12 years old[3]. Fruits develop in about 4 months, usually during a dry period[3].

Propagation

Seed - viability is generally restricted to a period of 9 - 10 days[3]. Without pre-treatment, germination takes 12 - 20 days and is 80 - 90%[3]. The fruits should be placed on a germination bank or in sand with the peduncle up, taking care that they are half-covered by the medium. Sometimes fruits are planted directly in plastic bags. After 3 - 4 months in the nursery, seedlings can be outplanted[3]. Even though the seeds could be recalcitrant, they can endure a certain degree of dryness[3]. The dry fruits can be stored in moist sawdust for at least 3 months and some seeds will germinate[3]. When pseudocuttings are used for reproduction, they must remain in the nursery for at least 6 months[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Dipteryx+oleifera>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Timber Trees of Meso America. — UNEP · 2005 · http://www.unep-wcmc.org/forest/timber/workshops/reports/MA2005/Annex%202.pdf ↩︎A PDF document, published on the internet. Detailed reports on about 30 species of timber trees from Central America.
  2. [2]Tropical and Subtropical Trees - A Worldwide Encyclopaedic Guide. — Barwick. M. · Thames & Hudson, London · 2004 · ISBN 0-500-51181-0 ↩︎A superb book, very concise and well written, giving a wealth of information on 400 or more species including descriptions, habitat, cultivation details and plant uses. A wealth of colour photographs bring each plant vividly to life.
  3. [3]Tropical Tree Seed Manual — Vosso. J. Editor. · USDA Forest Service. · 2002 · http://www.rngr.net/Publications/ttsm ↩︎An extremely good guide, it can also be downloaded in its entirety from the address shown above.
  4. [4]Annals of the Missouri Botanical Gardens Vol. 52 — Missouro Botanical Garden · 1965 ↩︎An excellent botanical publication, available for download from the Internet. Amongst other things, this issue contains parts of the Flora of Panama.
  5. [5]A Century of Trees of Panama. — Pittier H. Mell C.D. · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎A work that was very difficult to get published according to the correspondence contained at the start!. A treatment of 100 different species with descriptions and details of uses. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
  6. [6]Food Plants in the Americas: A Survey of the Domesticated, Cultivated, and Wild Plants Used for Human Food in North, — Kermath B.M.; Bennett B.C.' Pulsipher L.M. · 2014 ↩︎A pre-publication draft of an amazing, on-going work first started in 1985. It contains information on more than 3,900 taxa from the Americas - from Arctic regions to the Tropics