Gustavia superba
| Gustavia superba | ||||||||||||
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Gustavia superba , illustration |
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| Gustavia superba | ||||||||||||
| ( Kunth ) O. Berg |
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Gustavia superba is a tree in the potted fruit tree family from Colombia , Ecuador, and Panama . He is known as Membrillo or Paco .
description
Gustavia superba grows as an evergreen tree to about 15 meters or a little more high. The trunk diameter reaches up to about 20–35 centimeters.
The simple, very long and alternate, short-stalked, soft-leather leaves are bare. The petiole on young leaves is much longer, those of the older ones are only short. They are heaped at the branch ends and up to 1 meter long and up to 25 centimeters wide. The eilanzettlichen to obscure eilanzettlichen leaves are more or less distant to irregular, longer or shorter serrated and pointed to acuminate or tailed.
When leaves and bark are shredded or when branches and other waste rot over a longer period of time, a very unpleasant odor is often created.
There are schirmrispige and short-stemmed, wenigblütige inflorescences formed the (over) or axillary astständig appear ramiflor. The large, long-stalked, hermaphrodite flowers, initially pleasant, later with a putrid scent, have a double flower envelope . The thick flower stalks are up to 8 centimeters long and divided in the lower part with a "joint". A bract and two small, overgrown bracts are formed. The four-part calyx is almost entirely fused with minimal tips. There are 6–10 white to more or less purple or pink, obovate, up to 6–7 centimeters long petals. The flower cup is inverted conical. The very many stamens, which are fused in a ring in the lower part and which are curved in towards the center, are white-purple to yellow-reddish. The multi-chambered ovary is inferior with very short pencil .
The multi-seeded, often unpleasant-smelling, non-opening, greenish to yellowish, more or less brownish-spotted, sometimes slightly warty, weakly to slightly ribbed, berry-like fruits ( false fruit , pyxidium, raspberry) are up to 9-12 centimeters in size. They are rounded and flattened at the top with a slightly raised ring and a slightly sunken lid (operculum). The brown and angular, irregularly shaped, smooth seeds are up to 3–6 centimeters in size. A minimal aril is developed around the funiculus .
use
The fruits or the orange pulp are edible raw or mostly cooked. You are very much appreciated in Colombia.
The wood is quite hard and heavy, it is used for some applications. The fresh wood has a bad smell.
The tree is often cultivated for its large, showy, and fragrant waxy flowers.
literature
- Thomas B. Croat: Flora of Barro Colorado Island. Stanford Univ. Press, 1978, ISBN 0-8047-0950-5 , pp. 644-647.
- Jules Janick, Robert E. Paull: The Encyclopedia of Fruit and Nuts. CABI, 2008, ISBN 978-0-85199-638-7 , pp. 452 f.
- Heinz Brücher : Useful Plants of Neotropical Origin. Springer, 1989, ISBN 978-3-642-73315-4 (reprint), p. 232.
Web links
- Gustavia superba at Useful Tropical Plants.
- Gustavia superba at NYBG.