Symphonia globulifera
Symphonia globulifera
Safety & Hazards
None known
Cultivation Details
Boarwood is a tree of moist, tropical areas where it can be found at elevations from sea level up to 2,600 metres[1]. It grows best in areas where the mean annual temperature is 23 to 27°c and the mean annual rainfall is 650 - 5000 mm[1, 2]. Prefers a sunny position[3]. Plants can grow in wet and seasonally inundated soils[3]. The survival rate in plantations may be over 80%, but early growth is slow[1]. In a forest improvement trial at 2,000 metres elevation in Rwanda surviving Symphonia globulifera showed a diameter growth of 0.8 cm/year and length growth of 0.7 m/year and good bole form 32 years after planting[1].
Propagation
Seed - best sown as soon as it is ripe, when it germinates in less than 30 days in natural conditions at temperatures around 25 - 30°c[1, 2]. The seed requires shade for germination, and in closed forest propagation is by seed only; in open areas propagation is exclusively by root suckers[1]. Young seedlings are shade tolerant, but require more light to grow and develop as they grow larger[2]. The seed dies quickly upon dehydration, and all seeds die at temperatures below 12°c[1]. Germinated seeds can be stored at 15°c under humid conditions for about a year and seedlings kept at this temperature develop slowly but resume normal growth when transferred to 25°c[1]. Cite as: Tropical Plants Database, Ken Fern. tropical.theferns.info. 2026-02-20. <tropical.theferns.info/viewtropical.php?id=Symphonia+globulifera>
Pollinators
Data unavailable
References
- [1]Protabase - Plant Resources of Tropical Africa. — http://www.prota.org ↩︎An excellent on-line database with detailed information on over 3,200 species of useful plants of Africa.
- [2]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.
- [3]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.
- [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]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]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
- [7]Botanical Museum Leaflets Vol 28 — Harvard University; Cambridge, Mass. · 1981 · http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org ↩︎An article on the Ethnopharmacological uses of plants in northwestern S. America, amongst many other articles. It can be downloaded from the Internet.
- [8]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.
- [9]Tropix 7 — CIRAD · http://tropix.cirad.fr/en ↩︎An on-line guide to the timbers of 245 species of trees.