Sandbox tree

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sandbox tree
Sand box tree (Hura crepitans)

Sand box tree ( Hura crepitans )

Systematics
Eurosiden I
Order : Malpighiales (Malpighiales)
Family : Spurge Family (Euphorbiaceae)
Subfamily : Euphorbioideae
Genre : Hura
Type : Sandbox tree
Scientific name
Hura crepitans
L.

The sand box tree ( Hura crepitans ) is a plant species in the genus Hura, which has only two or three species, in the family of the milkweed family (Euphorbiaceae). It is a neotropical plant species. Common names in different languages ​​are, for example, in English: Sandboxtree, Monkey's dinner bell, Monkey's pistol; Spanish Ceiba amarilla, Javillo, Catahua, Salvadera.

description

Treetop of Hura crepitans in Vietnam

Appearance and bark

The sand box tree grows as an evergreen tree that can reach heights of up to 40 meters and trunk diameters of up to 2 meters in wild locations. The caustic, white milky sap of the sand box tree is very poisonous. The smooth brown to gray bark of the trunks and main branches is covered with 1 to 2 cm long, conical spines. The branches have a bare bark with lenticels .

leaf

illustration

The alternate leaves arranged on the branches are divided into a petiole and a leaf blade. The 4 to 20 cm long petiole has two glands in the upper area. The simple, paper-like leaf blade is 5 to 29 cm long and 5 to 17 cm wide and egg-shaped with a heart-shaped blade base and a tailed to pointed upper end. There are 10 to 13 (up to 16) lateral nerves on both sides of the raised central rib on both leaf surfaces. On the underside of the leaf, the midrib is softly hairy and the top of the leaf is glabrous. The leaf margin is more or less lightly serrated. The early falling, downy hairy stipules are lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate with a length of 10 to 15 and a width of 2 to 3 mm.

Inflorescence and flower

The sand box tree is single sexed ( monoecious ). The flowering time is in May. On a (1.2 to) 7 to 10 cm long inflorescence stem in an ovoid-conical shape with a length of (1.6 to) 4 to 5 cm and a diameter of (0.8 to) 1.5 to 2 cm, catkin-shaped inflorescence there are male flowers and usually a female flower at its base. There are no petals. The approximately 2 mm long stalked, mostly dark red, male flowers have a 2 to 3 mm long calyx tube . The stamens and connective are fused into a 4 to 12 mm long synandrium, which is the longest in the flowers located at the base of the inflorescence; the anthers are rarely in only one, usually in two to three rows. Most of the female flowers stand individually on 1 to 1.7 cm long flower stalks in the leaf axils. The female flowers have a long 4 mm to 6 (to 8), truncated calyx, of the upper permanent ovary wrapped. The 2 to 5 cm long stylus tube ends in a dark purple and umbrella-shaped scar disc, which has a diameter of 1.5 to 2.5 cm and about 11 to 14 or more spread, blunt scar lobes.

Fruit and seeds

fruit
Partial fruit

The hanging fruit stalk is up to 6 cm long. With a length of 3 to 5 cm and a diameter of 5 to 18 cm, the relatively large, roundish, pumpkin-shaped split fruit flattened at the top turns reddish-brown and dries out during the ripening process, which creates tension and flattens it into the laterally flattened , crescent-shaped and solitary partial fruits (cocci) disintegrate. When the split fruit is ripe, it explodes with a bang, whereby the woody partial fruits can be catapulted over 250 km / h and up to 45 meters. Raw, the flat, disc-shaped seeds are poisonous to humans and most animals. They have a diameter of about 2 cm. The fruits ripen in August.

A vegetative propagation of the tree via cuttings is also possible.

Occurrence

The home of the sandbox tree is in the Neotropics: Central and South America and the Caribbean islands . The natural distribution area extends from Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama via Anguilla , Antigua and Barbuda , Barbados , Cuba, Dominica, Guadeloupe , Hispaniola , Jamaica , Martinique, Puerto Rico, St. Lucia , St. Vincent and the Grenadines to French Guiana, Guyana, Suriname , Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador (Loja, Morona-Santiago) to Peru.

It is an invasive plant in Australia (especially in the Northern Territory) and Tanzania . It is also a neophyte in West Africa , but where it is not invasive. The sand box tree is planted in China.

It prefers wet, fertile soil and partially shaded to sunny locations.

Systematics

The first publication of Hura crepitans was made in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum , 2, S. 1008. As lectotype in 1983 Linnaeus: Hort. Clifford. , 1738, p. 486, plate 34 by Wijnands in Bot.Commelins , p. 103. Synonyms for Hura crepitans L. are: Hura brasiliensis Willd., Hura crepitans fo. oblongifolia garbage. Arg., Hura crepitans fo. orbicularis garbage. Arg., Hura crepitans fo. ovata garbage. Arg., Hura crepitans var. Genuina garbage. Arg., Hura crepitans var. Membranacea garbage. Arg., Hura crepitans var. Strepens garbage. Arg., Hura senegalensis Baill., Hura strepens Willd.

Past and present usage

The sandbox tree has a white milky sap that was used by fishermen as a fish poison . It was also used as an arrow poison by the Caribs . The leaves and root bark are used as remedies.

Furniture can be made from the poor quality, relatively light wood that is sold under the trade names Possumwood , Hura or Habillo .

The sandbox tree is planted as an ornamental plant and for the production of drugs . The milk juice is extremely toxic . The fruits were previously used as vessels in which fine, dry sand was kept, which was used as sand to dry ink when blotting paper was not used, hence the common name sandbox tree and sand box tree. The dolphin-shaped partial fruits are sometimes used in necklaces.

Some species of animals eat the seeds despite their toxicity. The great soldier macaw in particular eats seeds from this tree.

swell

  • Bingtao Li & Hans-Joachim (Hajo) Esser: Hura in der Flora of China , Volume 11, 2008, p. 288: Hura crepitans - Online. (Section Description, Distribution and Use)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Hura crepitans in the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), USDA , ARS , National Genetic Resources Program. National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, Beltsville, Maryland.
  2. ↑ JM Roig y Mesa: Dicconario Botánico de nombres vulgares cubanos. (2014).
  3. ↑ Swaine & Beer: Explosive Seed Dispersal in Hura crepitans L. (Euphorbiaceae). In: New Phytologist. 78, 1977, pp. 695-708, doi : 10.1111 / j.1469-8137.1977.tb02174.x .
  4. ↑ Sand box tree. In: http://www.plantacionesedelman.com/hura-crepitans/ . Retrieved March 28, 2016 .
  5. ^ Hura crepitans at Tropicos.org. Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis
  6. ↑ Data sheet for commercial timbers from DELTA.
  7. ↑ Bingtao Li & Hans-Joachim (Hajo) Esser: Hura in the Flora of China , Volume 11, 2008, p. 288: Hura crepitans - Online.
  8. ↑ Sand box tree. In: http://www.plantacionesedelman.com/hura-crepitans/ . Retrieved March 28, 2016 .

Web links

Commons : Sandbüchsenbaum  - Collection of images, videos and audio files