Simarouba glauca
Simarouba glauca
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
A plant of the moist, lowland tropics, where it is found at elevations up to 800 metres[1]. It grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature ranges between 22 - 29°c, but can tolerate a range of 18 - 34°c[1]. It prefers a mean annual rainfall in the range 2,000 - 3,000mm, but tolerates 1,200 - 4,000mm, growing in areas with a distinct dry season and where there is no dry season[1]. Shade tolerant[1]. Prefers sandy soils in the wild[2]. In the wild, it is found on rocky, shallow calcareous soils of mountain slopes and ridges, as well as on the deeper soils of the ravines and alluvial plains[1]. The plant develops a shallow root system, often suitable to mountain soils[1]. Prefers a pH in the range 6 - 8, tolerating 5.5 - 8.5[1].
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe, it has a viability of only a few months[3]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Simarouba+glauca>
Pollinators
Bees
References
- [1]Ecocrop — http://ecocrop.fao.org/ecocrop/srv/en/home ↩︎Basic information on a wide range of useful plants, plus details of environmental needs where available.
- [2]South American Timbers: the Properties, Uses and Characteristics of 190 Species. — Bolza. E. & Christensen. F.J. · Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization · 1979 · ISBN 0 643 02582 0 ↩︎A very useful guide.
- [3]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.
- [4]Flora of Guatemala — Standley P.C. & J. A. Steyermark · 1946 - 1976 · http://www.archive.org/ ↩︎A superb reference, though somewhat dated. Gives lots of plant uses as well as information on plant habit and habitat. The entire flora (13 volumes) can now be downloaded from http://www.archive.org/
- [5]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.
- [6]Raintree Nutrition - Tropical Plant Database — http://www.rain-tree.com/plants.htm ↩︎Detailed information on the medicinal uses of more than two hundred rainforest plants, mainly from S. America, with basic descriptions of the plants, their other uses etc.
- [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.
- [8]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.