Fabaceae FAMILY

Prioria copaifera

Edibility

3/5

Medicinal

2/5

Safety & Hazards

None known

Botanical Description

Prioria copaifera is an evergreen tree that can grow up to 50 metres tall with a deep, very dense crown that allows almost no light to pass through[ 333 Title Tree Species of Panama Publication Author Website http://ctfs.arnarb.harvard.edu/webatlas/mainframe.php?order=s Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description 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. ]. One of the spectacular forest trees of Panama, it has a clear straight bole up to 75cm in diameter with exceptional specimens to 150cm, the bole is unbuttressed and generally unbranched until near the top[ 315 Title Flora of Barro Colorado Island Publication Author Croat. Thomas B. Website http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bioinformatics/croat/home Publisher Stanford University Press Year 1978 ISBN 0-8047-0950-5 Description A very good flora of an area in Panama. Written some years ago, so some of the names have been changed. The book is out of print, but the whole flora is now available on the web. , 333 Title Tree Species of Panama Publication Author Website http://ctfs.arnarb.harvard.edu/webatlas/mainframe.php?order=s Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description 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. ]. This is one of the most commonly harvested timber trees of Panama, owing to its large size and its tendency to form nearly monospecific stands in swamps along rivers[ 333 Title Tree Species of Panama Publication Author Website http://ctfs.arnarb.harvard.edu/webatlas/mainframe.php?order=s Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description 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. ]. This tree also furnishes the resin known in commerce as Copaiba balsam (balsamo de copaiba), which has various uses in medicine and pharmacy[ 369 Title Flora of Costa Rica Publication Author Standley P.C. Website http://www.archive.org/ Publisher Field Museum of Natural History; Chicago Year 1938 ISBN Description Rather dated, but an excellent treatment of the area. Available for download from the internet. ]. The edible seeds are gathered from the wild for local use and are sold in local markets under the name 'cativa'[ 2 Title Sturtevant's Edible Plants of the World. Publication Author Hedrick. U. P. Publisher Dover Publications Year 1972 ISBN 0-486-20459-6 Description Lots of entries, quite a lot of information in most entries and references. ].

Habitat & Origin

Origintropical

Native RangeNorthern S. America - Colombia; C. America - Panama to Nicaragua; Caribbean - Trinidad.

HabitatA canopy tree of rainforests, often found in swampy ground[ 333 Title Tree Species of Panama Publication Author Website http://ctfs.arnarb.harvard.edu/webatlas/mainframe.php?order=s Publisher Year 0 ISBN Description 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. ]. Found mainly along the margins of rivers and swamps, especially the inland side of mangrove swamps, it can form nearly pure stands in flooded areas[ 315 Title Flora of Barro Colorado Island Publication Author Croat. Thomas B. Website http://biogeodb.stri.si.edu/bioinformatics/croat/home Publisher Stanford University Press Year 1978 ISBN 0-8047-0950-5 Description A very good flora of an area in Panama. Written some years ago, so some of the names have been changed. The book is out of print, but the whole flora is now available on the web. , 337 Title Tropical Tree Seed Manual Publication Author Vosso. J. Editor. Website http://www.rngr.net/Publications/ttsm Publisher USDA Forest Service. Year 2002 ISBN Description An extremely good guide, it can also be downloaded in its entirety from the address shown above. ].