Luehea speciosa

Luehea speciosa
Luehea speciosa flowering leafy branch
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Embryophytes
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Eudicots
Clade: Rosids
Order: Malvales
Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Luehea
Species:
L. speciosa
Binomial name
Luehea speciosa
Synonyms[1]
List
  • Aubletia ulmifolia (Kunth) F.Dietr.
  • Apeiba ulmifolia Kunth
  • Brotera maritima Vell.
  • Luehea alternifolia (Mill.) Mabb.
  • Luehea densiflora A.St.-Hil.
  • Luehea ferruginea Turcz.
  • Luehea laxiflora A.St.-Hil.
  • Luehea rufescens Benth.
  • Luehea speciosa var. laxiflora K.Schum.
  • Luehea tarapotina J.F.Macbr.
  • Cedrela alternifolia (Mill.) Steud.
  • Swietenia alternifolia (Mill.) Steud.
  • Cedrus alternifolia Mill.

Luehea speciosa, with no commonly used English name, is an attractive tree species native mostly to tropical regions of the New World. It belongs to the family Malvaceae.[1]

Description

Here are distinctive features of Luehea speciosa:[2]

  • The tree grows up to 25 m (82 ft) with a trunk diameter at chest level of 70 cm (28 in).
  • Deciduous leaves with petioles up to 12 mm (1⁄2 in) have egg-shaped to elliptic blades up to 24 cm (9.4 in) long and half that wide, with sharp tips and somewhat rounded bases. Blade margins are sawtoothed and both surfaces bear hairlike "star-shaped" trichomes, which grow more densely on the undersurface.
  • Flowers on pedicels up to 3.5 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long bear slender sepals up to 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long and conspicuous, pale-yellow petals up to 3.5 cm (1+1⁄2 in) and 1.5 cm (1⁄2 in) wide. Many stamens group in 5 or 10 clusters, surrounding a style up to 2.5 cm (1 in) long.
  • Somewhat woody, densely hairy, capsule-type fruits up to 4 cm (1+1⁄2 in) long and 1.5 cm (1⁄2 in) wide are conspicuously 5-angled with rounded ridges. Seeds are very numerous, winged, flattened and about 10 mm (3⁄8 in) and 4 mm (3⁄16 in) wide.

It can be hard to distinguish Luehea speciosa from Luehea candida, which occurs over much of the same distribution area, and in similar habitats. Leaves of Luehea speciosa tend to have their edges broadly curved downward, while leaves of L. candida are flat.[3] Also, in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Luehea speciosa flowers all year round except in August and September,[4] while Luehea candida flowers from March to September.[5]

Distribution

Luehea speciosa occurs in southern Mexico, Cuba, all of Central America, and in South America south into Peru, Bolivia and northern Brazil.[6]

Habitat

In Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula, Luehea speciosa inhabits dry forests and moist forests, including forests regularly flooded.[4] In Costa Rica it occurs commonly in various forest types and often is seen along roadsides.[3]

Human uses

In construction

In the Mexican state of Veracruz, the wood of Luehea speciosa is considered hard to work with, but is used in general construction, as with making furniture parts, for floors and for making plywood.[7]

Ecological restoration

Luehea speciosa is appropriate for use in soil conservation in tropical forests experiencing extended dry seasons.[7] Commonly it is planted in mixed tropical woodlands and agroforestry systems.[8]

Miscellaneous other uses

Among the Mayan people of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula it is a multi-purpose tree. Beyond uses mentioned above, its leaves are considered as forage for livestock, it is used in traditional medicine, including as an antiemetic, its flowers produce nectar and pollen for honeybees, its wood is burned as firewood and used as fenceposts, it is a valued shade tree, and resin from the tree is sought.[9]

Taxonomy

Luehea speciosa was formally named and described in 1801 by Carl Ludwig Willdenow, from a plant collected by "Herr Bredemeyer", who found the tree "... on the summit of the high mountains between Guyana and Caracas, on stony, loamy soil."[10] The mentioned Herr Bredemeyer was Franz (Johann Christian) Bredemeyer, an Austrian botanical collector and gardener known by Willdenow, who in 1786–1788 collected plants around Caracas and the Coastal Cordillera as part of an Austrian state-sponsored expedition. Willdenow named the genus Bredemeyera after him.[11] Thus Bredemeyer collected plants in Venezuela well before Alexander von Humboldt and Aimé Bonpland were there during their American Expedition of 1799–1804

Etymology

The genus name Luehea honors Carl Emil von der Lühe,[12] a German poet-jurist and botanist, Danish chamberlain and bailiff, and imperial government councilor in Lower Austria.[13]

The species name speciosa is the feminine form of the Latin adjective speciosus, meaning "beautiful" or "splendid".[14]

References

  1. 1 2 "Luehea speciosa Willd". Plants of the World Online. United Kingdom: Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  2. ↑ Croat, Thomas. "Luehea speciosa Willd. in Flora of Barro Colorado Island". Herbario Virtual Austral Americano. Tempe, Arizona, USA: Arizona State University. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Guadamuz, A.; Perez, D.; Chavarria, F.; et al. (1998). "Luehea speciosa guácimo macho (Tiliaceae)". acguanacaste.ac.cr (in Spanish). Costa Rica. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  4. 1 2 "Taxón: Luehea speciosa Willd". Flora de La Península de Yucatán (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Taxón: Luehea candida (Moc. & Sessé ex DC.) Mart". Flora de La Península de Yucatán (in Spanish). Mérida, Yucatán, México: Centro de Investigación Científica de Yucatán, A.C. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  6. ↑ Hassler, Michael (May 20, 2026). "search results for Luehea speciosa Willd". worldplants.de. Germany: World Plants. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  7. 1 2 "Papachote / Luehea speciosa" (PDF). ¡Siembra biodiversidad! (in Spanish). Pronatura Veracruz. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Luehea speciosa". BioGardens.org. Smitteck GmbH. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  9. ↑ Casanova-Lugo, F; Gutiérrez-López, A; Jiménez-Hernández, H.; et al. (2025). "Especies arbóreas forrajeras de la península de Yucatán: una opción para diversificar los agroecosistemas" (PDF). Ecosistemas y Recursos Agropecuarios (in Spanish and English). 12 (1). Villahermosa, Tabasco, México: Universidad Juárez Autónoma de Tabasco. doi:10.19136/era.a12n1.4138. Retrieved May 25, 2026.
  10. ↑ Willdenow, C.L. (1801). "Drei Neue Pflanzen-Gattungen". Neue Schriften Gesellschaft Naturforscheder Freunde zu Berlin (in German). Vol. 3. Berlin: Gesellschaft Naturforscheder Freunde zu Berlin. p. 410.
  11. ↑ Lindorf, Helga (January 2004). "Notices on the Austrian Expedition in a Venezuelan Document Dated 1787 and Comments on Botanical Names Linked to the Collectors". Acta Botanica Venezuelica. 27 (1). Caracas, Venezuela: Universidad Central de Venezuela.
  12. ↑ "CHAPTER IX. Orthography and gender of names SECTION 1. Orthography". iapt-taxon.org. International Association for Plant Taxonomy. 2012. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
  13. ↑ "Biographisches Lexikon des Kaisertums Österreich - Sechzehnter Te... (1867)". literature.at (in German). Insbruck, Austria: Austrian Literature Online ALO. Abteilung für Digitalisierung DEA.
  14. ↑ Read, G.; Fauchald, K. (eds.). "Amblyosyllis speciosa Izuka, 1912". World Register of Marine Species. Retrieved May 26, 2026.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.