Ilex lamprophylla

Ilex lamprophylla. Family: Aquifoliaceae

Tree 5-10 m high. Twigs glabrous, green, stipules minute.

Leaves simple, alternate, lanceolate-elliptic, 4.5 to 11.5 (-13) by 2 to 5.7 (-6.6) cm, apex acute to acuminate, crenate to crenulate edge or serrated at times, glabrous.

 

Inflorescences axillary, fasciculate, the male with many female flowers and containing from 2-7 or sometimes solitary flowers. White flowers green, 2.2 to 2.5 mm long. Fruits drupes type, 3.5-6 by 2.5-5 mm, globose, reds to blacks when mature.

Diagnosis: Characterized by its leaves with serrated edges and crenulate and ribbed when dry fruits.

 

Distribution: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Panama.

In Costa Rica, along the mountain ranges of Guanacaste, Tilarán, Central Volcanic and Talamanca, from 1500-3080 m altitude.

 

Common Names: Azulillo (bunting?!)

Quercus costaricensis

Quercus costaricensis. Family: Fagaceae

Trees or shrubs 3-25 m tall, stems bark black to black brown, Bark: sparse lenticels or smooth, furry when young, then glabrous.

Phenology:  Flowers observed from January to April. The fruits are produced from January to September.

Male catkin 4 to 8 (9.5) cm long, green floral green cream; female cones 2 to 4.5 cm long.

 

 

Only found at high elevations, often in the upper montane forests, up to 3100 meters elevation.

Fruits solitary, paired to several per inflorescence, the cup of 10-15 by 13-31 mm, brown, very sparsely puberulent to glabrous; acorn ~20-32 by 20-30 mm, with one terminal apex 1.5 to 2 mm long, broadly oval to ovoid.

Petiole sheets 0.2 to 0.5 cm long sheet of 3 to 10 (14.5) by 2.2 to 6,3 (7) cm, elliptic, obovate-elliptic to ovate-elliptical of obtuse to rounded apically, obtuse, obscurely cordate to rounded basally, entire conspicuously moderate revoluta, from glabrous to glabrada in the beam, of thick tomentulosa to glabrada on underside; quickly deciduous stipules.

Common Names: Roble, encino, roble encino, oak

Naucleopsis naga

Naucleopsis naga Family: Moraceae

Fig family!

About 20m in height

Leaves: Simple, Alternate. Lanceolate to elliptical. Very sharp leaf blades with and reticulated tertiary veins.

Reddish sap and extremely bitter, slightly grooved petioles adaxially, for annular scar on the twig is falling stipules, , and by enlargement of the perianth and pseudobrácteas, recurved spines resembling the syncarp.

Fruits: achenes: a type of simple dry fruit produced by many species of angiosperms. Achenes are monocarpellate (formed from one carpel) and indehiscent (they do not open at maturity). Achenes contain a single seed that nearly fills the pericarp, but does not adhere to it

 

 

Biophysical Constraints:
Altitude: In Costa Rica, 0-800 masl (sometimes up to 1500 m)
Mean annual temperature:
Soil type:

Wet rainforest

Species Distribution:

Costa Rica, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panamá)

Distribution of butterfly in Costa Rica that uses it as a host

 

Schefflera rodriguensiana

Schefflera rodriguensiana. Family: Araliaceae

Tree or shrub 3-10 m high. Aral- like leaves: octopus/ umbrella tree

Leaves palmately compound, with 5-8 (-10) leaflets, 5-18 by 4-12 cm, ovate, ovate-elliptic to elliptic, acuminate apically, glabrous, petiole 13 to 40 cm long.  (CRAZY LONG!)

(Different species of Schefflera, but best example I could find of petiole varying lengths)

Inflorescences paniculate, bracts (2 -) 7-22 mm long, pedicels 4-5 mm long, heads with 6-22 flowers, each with 2 or 3 styles. Fruits of 3.5-4 by 3.5-4 mm, subglobose to slightly flattened, forming a stylopod styles conoid.

Distribution: Costa Rica and Panama in  mountain ranges at elevations of (1.100) 1800-3200 m.

Phenology: Flowering has been observed in the months of January, May, June, August and October

Common Name: Cacho Deer

Guarea rhopalocarpa

Guarea rhopalocarpa. Family: Meliaceae

Mahogany family!

Leaves: alternate, usually pinnate leaves, with 4-6 pairs of leaflets (and a terminal leaflet)

Large trees 20–45 m tall, with a trunk over 1 m trunk diameter, often buttressed at the base

Distribution:

The flowers are in loose inflorescences, each flower small with 405 petals. Flowers apparently bisexual (but actually mostly cryptically unisexual)

Fruit is a 4/5 valved capsule (or nutlet!) that contains several seeds, each surrounded by a fleshy aryl.

Fruits dispersed by parrots and monkeys.

Trunk has large swollen bumps, from which inflorescences and fruit emerge

Weinmannia pinnata

Weinmannia pinnata. Family: Cunoniaceae

-Trees or shrubs of 2.5 – 12 m tall, twigs puberulent.

Compound leaves (5) 7-13-foliolate, winged rachis, leaflets 0.8 – 2.5 0.3 – 1.1 cm long, elliptic to narrowly obovate, puberulous to glabrous, rarely obtuse to acute at apex, obtuse to cuneate basally, dull to bright, edge serrulate, petiole 4-12 mm long.

Species with highly variable morphology, which reports directly to the ecological conditions to which he is exposed.

Distribution: Mexico to Venezuela, Bolivia and Peru

Inflorescence terminal 3 – 9.5 cm. Capsule ovoid to nearly 3 mm, sparsely puberulent (tiny hairs) to glabrous

Common names: Parrot, myrtle, white myrtle.

Very common species at high altitudes, where it forms fairly homogeneous populations. Field observations suggest that this is an important species in erosion control and restoration of degraded areas, as quickly colonize these areas.

Protium ravenii

Protium ravenii. Family: Burseraceae. Tribe: Protieae.

Family Burseraceae is closely related to Anacards, similar turpentine smell

Distribution: From Nicaragua to Panama, 50-1200 meters above sea level

Flowers seen in January, March, May, September. Fruits in March and between July and October.

 

Uses: The wood is used for firewood, and burns even when green, giving a BLUE flame!

Tree 5-13 m tall, glabrous twigs, lenticels.

Inflorescence up to 21 cm long. Cream to yellowish flowers. Fruits orange reddish brown, 1.5 to 3 cm, brown with white aril seeds.

Leaves: leaflet # varies from trifoliolate to unifoliate and  imparipinnate.

Protieae is has a 2-5-parted drupe

Relationships: Aryl surrounding the fruit is eaten by parrots

 

Cuts in the fruit, the trunk and branches produces a whitish sap, very aromatic (canfin.)

Alchornea latifolia

Alchornea latifolia. Family: Euphorbiaceae

Simple, alternately spiraled leaves. Big, elliptical to oval leaves. Trinervate, with two to four base glands, and grouped at the end of branches

Range: From southern Mexico to Panama and the West Indies

Evergreen, medium-sized tree 15 to 20 m in height and 60 cm in diameter

Umbellated crown with dense and heavy foliage

The interior bark is whitish and slightly bitter; the exterior bark is smooth or finely fissured and reddish brown with whitish spots. Branches have orange-ish lenticels.

-Long petiole, 4 to 6 cm, cylindrical to elliptic, glabrous, with scattered hairs. It has an obtuse or slightly rounded base, more or less serrated around the edge, with scattered stellate hairs on both sides and hairs

Common names: Achiotillo, amargoso, envuelve cera, quesillo, sombra, tapatamal, ternera

Socratea exorrhiza

Socratea exorrhiza. Family: Arecaceae

Walking Palm!

 

Called Walking Palms because of their prominent stilt-like roots

If the light is better on one side of the palm, the roots will grow into the lighted area and roots on the low light side tend to die off.

Monoecious palms native from Central America to the Amazon Rainforest.

Reaches 10-25m in height.

Roots above ground, with small, white, conical spines

Ramified inflorescence with white flowers

Fruits turn yellowish green when ripe.

The dark green, pinnate leaves will reach up to 6 feet (2 m) in length, with the tubular sheaths forming a conspicuous crownshaft

Pentaclethra macroloba

Family: Fabaceae, Sub-family: Mimosoideae

Pentaclethra macroloba is the most abundant tree species within the boundary of the La Selva Biological Station, in the lowlands of Costa Rica. In humid tropical forests it is one of the dominant canopy trees reaching 30-35 m, often found growing near rivers and in swampy areas

-Compound, biparipinnate, to 30 cm long, with numerous small leaflets. Feathery looking.

Flowers hermaphrodite, small, crowded in 15-20 cm long, dense racemes. There are almost 200 flowers per raceme but only 1-5 flowers develop into fruits. Flowers are pom-pom esque- small petals and numerous prominent stamens.

Fruit dehiscent pod, 20-50 cm long by 4-6 cm wide, dark brown, 3-8 seeds per pod. Seed asymmetric, lack endosperm and differ from a typical mimosoid seed; seed coat brown with longitudinal stone cells forming fine lines on the surface

Biophysical Constraints:
Altitude: 0-600 masl (meters above sea level)
Mean annual temperature: 20-35ºC Mean annual rainfall: more than 2500 mm
Soil type: Light to heavy acidic soils

Species Distribution:

Native: Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Guyana, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Surinam, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela

Exotic: Congo

Common Names:

Creole (koeroebaharo,trysil,koloballi,koorooballi); English (oil bean tree); Portuguese (pracaxy,paroacaxi,paranacachy,parachy); Spanish (gavilán,carbonero,palo de aceite,quebracho,sangredo,mulato); Trade name (fine leaf)

Products/Uses:
Food: Oily seeds are edible and can produce a cooking oil (owala oil), and can be used in soap

 Timber: It can be used in heavy construction, railway sleepers, furniture, house frames, scaffolding and floor beams

Poison: Both seeds and bark contain a toxin, and long contact with sawdust and bark may cause allergy

Medicine: Seeds and bark oil help against snakebites, ulcers and insect bites. Also, bark used as a remedy for dysentery