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Dacryodes excelsa
Also called Candlewood
Dacryodes excelsa is a tree native to Puerto Rico, with a habitat that extends into the Lesser Antilles in the Caribbean region. Its English vernacular names include gommier and candlewood. Its Spanish common name is tabonuco.
Wood from the Dacryodes excelsa can be used for furniture, cabinetry, and general construction, as well as for constructing fishing vessels. In Puerto Rico, the island's first inhabitants used resin from the tree to make candles and torches, to caulk boats, as incense, and for medicinal purposes. The Puerto Rican parrot, an endangered species, feeds on the tree's seeds. In Dominica, the Kalinago historically used wood from the tree to build dugout canoes, and a tradition that continues today. In Guadeloupe, the island's indigenous people also used these trees to build their canoes (kanawa).
Dacryodes costata · Dacryodes dungii · Dacryodes elmeri · Dacryodes expansa · Dacryodes incurvata · Dacryodes laxa · Dacryodes longifolia · Dacryodes macrocarpa · Dacryodes nervosa · Dacryodes patentinervia · Dacryodes rostrata · Dacryodes rubiginosa
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dacryodes excelsa by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0; the excerpts are shared under the same licence.
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.
