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Simarouba glauca
Also called Paradise Tree, Bitterwood, Dysentery Bark, Bitter Ash, Bitter Damson
Simarouba glauca is a flowering tree that is native to Florida, South America, and the Caribbean. Common names include paradise-tree, dysentery-bark, and bitterwood. The tree is well suited for warm, humid, tropical regions. Its cultivation depends on rainfall distribution, water holding capacity of the soil, and sub-soil moisture. It is suited for temperature range of 10 to 40 °C (50 to 104 °F), and can grow at elevations from sea level to 1,000 m (3,300 ft). It grows 40 to 50 ft (12 to 15 m) tall and has a span of 25 to 30 ft (7.6 to 9.1 m). It bears yellow flowers and purple elongated oval fleshy fruits.
It can be propagated from seeds, grafting, and tissue culture technology. Fruits are collected in April and May, when they are ripe, and then dried in sun for about a week. Skin is separated, and seeds are grown in plastic bags to produce saplings. Saplings 2 to 3 months old can be transplanted to a plantation.
The wood is generally insect resistant and is used in the preparation of quality furniture, toys, matches, and as pulp (in paper making). It also can be used for industrial purposes in the manufacture of biofuel, soaps, detergents, lubricants, varnishes, cosmetics, and pharmaceuticals.
Text excerpted from the Wikipedia article Simarouba glauca 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.
