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Copaifera officinalis
Also called Copaiba Balsam
In Singapore: Copaiba Balsam, 柯伯膠樹 (Grown in Singapore)
Copaiba is a large tropical forest tree in the pea family, grown mainly for the oleoresin (balsam) tapped from its trunk. It needs warm, humid conditions and is usually grown outdoors in frost-free climates.
Copaifera officinalis, the copaiba balsam, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela. It has been introduced to Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Sierra Leone, India, and Sri Lanka. Like other members of its genus, its trunks are tapped for its oleoresin, sometimes termed balsam of copaiba or, when refined, copaiba oil, which has industrial, artisanal, and medicinal purposes. Its oleoresin exhibits better bactericidal activity against common pathogens than that of Copaifera langsdorffii.
[Contains information from Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Heritage Trees from data.gov.sg (National Parks Board), made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0]
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Copaifera officinalis by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts and the care summary drawn from them are shared under the same licence.
The care summary was written by AI (Claude, Anthropic) from the sources on this page, with general growing knowledge where they are silent. Check before relying on it.
Life form, climate and native range: World Checklist of Vascular Plants, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (CC BY 3.0), reformatted; see Plants of the World Online.
