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Dipteryx odorata
Also called Tonka Bean, Dutch Tonka Bean, Tonga Bean, Tonka
Dipteryx odorata is a large Amazonian forest tree in the pea family, prized for its timber (Brazilian teak) and its fragrant seeds, known as tonka beans. It needs a warm, humid tropical climate and well-drained soil, and is rarely grown as a houseplant.
Dipteryx odorata (commonly known as "cumaru", "kumaru", or "Brazilian teak") is a species of flowering tree in the pea family, Fabaceae. The tree is native to Northern South America and is semi-deciduous. Its seeds are known as tonka beans, sometimes spelled tonkin beans or tonquin beans (not related to Tonkin). The seeds are black and wrinkled and have a smooth, brown interior. They have a strong fragrance similar to that of sweet woodruff due to their high content of coumarin.
The word tonka is taken from the Galibi (Carib) tongue spoken by natives of French Guiana; it also appears in Tupi, another language of the same region, as the name of the tree. The old genus name, Coumarouna, was formed from another Tupi name for the tree, kumaru.
Today, the main producers of tonka beans are Venezuela and Nigeria. The cumaru tree is a light-demanding calcifuge tree which grows on poor, well-drained soils. The best growth is reached on fertile soils rich in humus. In the native region there is a mean annual temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) and about 2,000 mm (80 in) rainfall per year, with a dry season from June to November. In general, it has a very low plant density, but depending on the agricultural use, the density and the age of the trees diversify. In seed production systems, the plant density is higher and the trees are older than in timber production systems. The tree flowers from March to May, and the fruits ripen from June to July. So, the fresh fruits are picked up in June and July, and fallen pods are harvested from January to March or sometimes earlier. The hard outer shell is removed and the beans are spread out for two to three days to dry, after which they can be sold. The major producer is Venezuela, followed by Brazil and Colombia.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Dipteryx odorata 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.
