English: Jamaica Bark; Orinoco Simaruba Oil; Mountain damson.
Synonym: Simarouba officinalis; Simarouba glauca; Simaruba amara.
Region: West Indies, tropical America; south America, Brazil, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Guyanas; Central America, Panama to Guatemala; Caribbean, Trinidad, Leeward Islands.
Habitat: understorey tree in moist thickets or wet forests, lowland tropics; elevations up to 850 metres; rain and savannah forests; in both dense, primary forest; more open and secondary growth areas; prefers a distinct dry season; shade tolerant; prefers sandy soils; on rocky, shallow calcareous soils of mountain slopes and ridges; on the deeper soils of the ravines and alluvial plains; tolerates full sun; shade tolerant.
Content: triterpenes called quassinoids, ailanthinone, glaucarubinone, holacanthone, antiprotozoal, anti-amoebic, antimalarial,
anti-cancer; seeds contain 60 to 75% edible oil, rich in nitrogen (8%), phosphorus (1.1%) and potash (1.2%)
Use: medicinal; seed oil for bakery products, vanaspati, vegetable oil, margarine, industrial purposes, bio-fuels, soaps, detergents, lubricants, varnishes, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals; seed shells for particleboard, activated charcoal, fuel; edible fruit; fruit pulp for beverages; wood for sounding board for string instruments, interior construction, turnery, boxes, crates, matches, furniture, veneer, plywood, pattern making, millwork, particleboard, fibreboard; bark; erosion control, improving soil, microbial life, groundwater availability; provides food for the native fauna; oilcan for manure, vermicompost; woodland gardens.
BotanyLarge, evergreen tree; broad crown, evergreen, dense canopy; to 42 metres tall; fast-growing.
Root: shallow, well-developed root system, suitable to mountain soils.
Stem: straight, cylindrical, unbuttressed; 50 to 60 cm in diameter; strongly tapered; frequently unbranched for 20 to 30 metres; heartwood is whitish, cream, with yellow or greenish cast, not differentiated from the sapwood, texture is medium to coarse, uniform, the grain usually straight, lustre is rather high, no odour, bitter quinine-like taste, very light in weight, very soft, not very strong, somewhat brittle, not durable outdoors, susceptible to dry-wood termite attack, prone to blue stain, seasons rapidly, with little chance of distortion or checking, works easily, easy to finish, nailing and screwing are poor; gluing is correct.
DD: Oxygenium.