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Platypodium elegans, the graceful platypodium, is a large leguminous tree found in the Neotropics that forms part of the forest canopy. It was first described by Julius Rudolph Theodor Vogel in 1837 and is the type species of the genus. The tree has been known to grow up to 30 metres in height and have a trunk with a diameter up to 1 m at breast height. Its trunk has large holes in it, sometimes making it possible to see through the trunk. The holes provide a habitat for giant damselflies and other insects both when alive and once the tree has died and fallen over. It has compound leaves each of which is made up of 10–20 leaflets. Three new chemical compounds have been isolated from the leaves and they form part of the diet of several monkeys and the squirrel Sciurus ingrami.
Platypodium elegans is found in the rainforests and savannah of the Neotropics, ranging from Panama in the North, to Paraguay in the South. It is also found in Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela. It is not found in the central and northern parts of Brazil, but is found in the cerrado, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais and around São Paulo. On Barro Colorado Island (BCI) P. elegans is found at a moderate abundance in both old and young forest, each hectare may contain several mature trees, but it is not unusual to find isolated individuals. Generally, only large individuals are found, with saplings being rare, except in forest gaps.
Platypodium elegans is not known to have any uses in traditional medicine. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute herbarium report its wood is used for timber, being described as "white, knotty, light and fragile". Pittier remarked in 1931 that the wood is little used in Panama however since the mature trunks are normally hollow and filled with an oily liquid.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Platypodium elegans 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.
