PlantPeers
Back to Catalog
Humiria balsamifera
Humiriaceae FAMILY

Humiria balsamifera

Humiria balsamifera

Edibility
2/5
Medicinal
2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Cultivation Details

HabitEvergreen Tree
GrowthMedium

Grows best in a sunny position[1]. Prefers a light, sandy soil[2]. Established plants are drought tolerant[1]. Young plants have a moderate rate of growth[1].

Propagation

Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe in a partially shaded position in a nursery seedbed. A low germination rate can usually be expected, with the seed sprouting within 60 - 90 days[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Humiria+balsamifera>

Pollinators

Data unavailable

References

  1. [1]Brazilian Trees. Volume 2. 4th Edition. — Lorenzi. H. · Instituto Plantarum De Estudos Da Flora; Brazil. · 2002 · ISBN 85-86714-15-1 ↩︎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.
  2. [2]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.
  3. [3]Tropical Timbers of the World. Ag. Handbook No. 607. — Chudnoff. Martin. · USDA Forest Service. Wisconsin. · 1984 ↩︎Terse details on the properties of the wood of almost 400 species of trees from the Tropics.
  4. [4]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.
  5. [5]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
  6. [6]Isolongifolenone: A Novel Sesquiterpene Repellent of Ticks and Mosquitoes — Zhang A.; Klun J.; Wang S.; Carroll J.; Debboun M. · Journal Med. Entomol. 46(1): 100Ð106 (2009) · 2009 ↩︎A research paper from the Journal of Medical Entomology, detailing the effectiveness of a compound from the species Humiria balsamifera in repelling mosquitoes and ticks. Also freely available as a downloaded PDF file from the internet.
  7. [7]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.