Guazuma ulmifolia is a medium-sized, fast-growing tree of seasonally dry tropical areas, found in pastures and disturbed forest from Mexico through Central and South America and the Caribbean. It grows best in full sun with well-drained soil and is hardy only in frost-free climates.
Family
Malvaceae (Mallow family)
Grows as
Tree
Light
Full sun
Water
Water regularly when young, then tolerate drought once established; reduce watering during the dry season.
Soil
Well-drained soil, tolerant of poor and infertile soils.
Temperature
20–35 °C; protect below 10 °C
How easy
Easy
Native range
Mexico to Trop. America
Climate
seasonally dry tropical
About
Guazuma ulmifolia, commonly known as West Indian elm or bay cedar, is a medium-sized tree normally found in pastures and disturbed forests. This flowering plant from the family Malvaceae grows up to 30m in height and 30–40 cm in diameter. It is widely found in areas such as the Caribbean, South America, Central America and Mexico serving several uses that vary from its value in carpentry to its utility in medicine.
Where it grows
Guazuma ulmifolia is normally found in the Caribbean, Mexico, Central America and Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay, Argentina, and Brazil. They are native to Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, the Bahamas, Barbados, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, and the Virgin Islands (US).
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Guazuma ulmifolia 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.