Chlorocardium
| Chlorocardium | |
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| Genus: | Chlorocardium Rohwer, H.G.Richt. & van der Werff
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Chlorocardium is a genus of the family Lauraceae. It contains only two species: Chlorocardium rodiei and Chlorocardium venenosum. It is native to northern South America.
Overview
They are trees up to 40 m high, mostly 30 m high, hermaphrodites. They are slow grow canopy evergreen trees and have a valuable timber. The leaves are lauroid type and the wood and bark are pleasantly scented. They are present in Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, the Brasil borderline and the Guiana Shield: in Venezuela: Amazonas, Bolivar and Delta Amacuro; Guyana, Surinam and French Guiana.
The species are heavily used by the timber industry. This causes a shortage of mature trees. Their timber are of great commercial value and too much exploited, only their strong resilience has prevented the extinction, for example following logging the contribution of sprouts to the long-term survival of Chlorocardium rodiei is hight. Fifty-five to 70% of the stumps produced sprouts. The proportion of stumps that sprouted was lower for the hollow stumps than for the intact ones and the number of sprouts produced per stump was reduced. The number of sprouts and the diameter of the largest sprout showed a significant positive correlation, suggesting that the maintenance of the inherited stump root system is shared among the sprouts so that the costs per sprout are reduced.[1] Besides, Chlorocardium rodiei is used to reduce fever and Chlorocardium venenosum is used as a poison for hunting.
Ecology
They grow in evergreen tropical forest and grow also in evergreen tropical laurel forests. They does not form large stands but rather small groups of trees with a density of up to one individual per five hectares. The ecological requirements of the genus, are those of fog moisture precipitating almost continuously in a natural habitat cloud-covered for much of the year. These genus species are found in tropical forests, subtropical temperate evergreen, montane evergreen forests, which is a type of rainforest or Cloud Forest. An ecosystem of great exuberance characterized by high humidity, no seasonal changes and with a wide variety of botanical and zoological species but also highly fragile against external aggressions. The temperate evergreen and evergreen forests are typically multispecies with evergreen and hardwood trees, reaching up to 40 meters in height. The forests are made up of laurel-leaved evergreen hardwood trees, harbouring a rich biota of understorey plants, invertebrates, birds and mammalians.
The trees are used by the timber industry. The fruit, a berry, is an important food source for birds. In some species the seed dispersal is carried out by monkeys, chipmunks, or fishes.
The common name in Guyana is Greenheart.
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