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Guarea guidonia
Meliaceae FAMILY

Guarea guidonia

Guarea guidonia

Edibility
0/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

The juice of the plant is a corrosive poison which can be counteracted by an infusion of the buds of Jatropha curcas[1]. The leaves are considered to be toxic to cattle[2].

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthSlow

Prefers a sunny position[2]. Newly planted young trees are fairly slow-growing[2]. Plants can flower and produce fruit for most of the year[3].

Propagation

Seed - it has a short viability and should not be allowed to dry out, nor should the aril surrounding the seed be removed[2]. Sow the seed as soon as it is harvested in a lightly shaded position, either in a nursery seedbed or in individual containers. Germination rates are usually low, with the seed sprouting within 30 - 50 days[2]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Guarea+guidonia>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]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
  2. [2]Brazilian Trees. Volume 1. 4th Edition. — Lorenzi. H. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil. · 2002 · ISBN 85-86714-17-8 ↩︎Information on 350 species of Brazilian trees. Stunning photographs of each species, brief details on the plant, its uses and how to grow it from seed. A superb work, with the minor irritation that the translation from Portuguese is not of the best.
  3. [3]Common Trees of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands — Little E.L.; Wadsworth F.H. · USDA, Forest Service; Washington. · 1964 ↩︎Contains detailed information, and usually an illustration, on 250 tree species, including both native and exotic species.
  4. [4]Tree Species of Panama — http://ctfs.arnarb.harvard.edu/webatlas/mainframe.php?order=s ↩︎Factsheets on all the tree and shrub species of Panama, giving identification guide, brief guide to the species and some uses. A vast, but rather incomplete work as of 15/07/09.
  5. [5]Mansfeld's Database of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants — http://mansfeld.ipk-gatersleben.de/pls/htmldb_pgrc/f?p=185:3:4292127278597336 ↩︎Terse details of a huge range of useful plants.
  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]Non-timber forest products of the North-West District of Guyana — van Andel T.R. · Tropenbos-Guyana Programme; Georgetown, Guyana · 2000 · ISBN 90-393-2536-7 ↩︎A very detailed study of the peoples and the plants they use, it includes a field guide to almost 500 species of useful plants.