Trees of Cloudbridge
Cedrela tonduzii (Cedro
dulce, sweet cedar)
Description: This is a tall tree of the mountain forests of Central America. It can reach heights of 30-45m and diameters of
80-100cm. Some have been reported to reach a diameter of 180cm. The
tree crown, which tops a straight trunk, is open, with thick upward-sloping branches starting low on the trunk.
Natural history: "The
genus Cedrela was described more than 250 years ago by Patrick Browne in
his treatise on the natural history of Jamaica.The aromatic odor of the wood gave
rise to cedar, a name used by the Spaniards to name the genus because of its
similarities to the true cedars of the Old World. The
generic name is a diminutive of Cedrus, which means small cedar."
Distribution: “Found in a small area in Central America from Chiapa,
Mexico to Panama. It thrives in humid to very humid tropics at
premontane and lower montane areas. Specifically, it is found on the slopes of the Talamanca and Central
Volcanic mountain ranges. It grows well
in areas with moderate declivity and may be riparian. The species grows in
fertile soils, with good or moderate drainage. The elevational range varies
from 1000 to 2800 m. In its area of distribution, the temperature range is 6 to
20 °C, and the annual rainfall is 2400 to 8000 mm.”
How
to recognize: The tree has distinct, gracefull arched branches of uniform, light green leaflets, as in the photo.
Uses: “The wood has excellent working properties; it is easy to saw, brush,
lathe, and sand The wood is currently used to make high-quality furniture,
cabinets, casts, and instruments. It is also used in carpentry, interior and
general construction, and veneers. The boiled bark provides a maroon dye that
may be used to stain cotton fibers.” Hypsipyla
grandella larvae damage young shoots and fruits. Certain insects are
predators of the young shoots causing stem bifurcation, and several
beetles may be predators of the seedlings. This
susceptibility limits the tree’s use in single-species plantations.
Sources and Links:
http://www.rngr.net/Reforestation/Publications/TTSM/Folder.2003-07-11.4726/PDF.2004-01-12.5051 (passages in quotes).
http://mobot.mobot.org/cgi-bin/search_vast?onda=N20400405
http://www.inbio.ac.cr/bims/k03/p13/c045/o0133/f01655/g008266/s025306.htm
Scientific Information:
| Division: |
Magnoliophyta (Flowering plants)
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| Class: |
Magnoliopsida (Dicots)
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| Family: |
Meliaceae (Mahogany family)
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| Species: |
Cedrela tonduzii
|
Photo
Identification Guide: Cedrela
tonduzii
(Cedro dulce, sweet cedar)
| Leaves. “Leaves are spirally arranged, large, compound, pinnate, light green,
glaucous abaxially; petioles are greenish brown, pubescent, terete,
lenticellate at the proximal end. Leaves have five to nine short-petiolulated
leaflet pairs; leaflets are lanceolate or oblong-lanceolate, with entire
margins; acuminate, acute or obtuse apexes; and oblique bases; leaflet blades
are membranaceous or slightly coriaceous, abax- ially tomentose or pilose; the
upper surface is glabrous or pubescent along the midvein, hypostomatic, with
stomata of the paracytic type (rubiaceous). Venation is eucamptodromous;
midvein is thick, straight; secondary veins are opposite, semiopposite, and
sporadically alternate.” 10-12 leaflet pairs.
|
|
| Flowers. “Flowers are grouped in large, ramified, terminal or subterminal
panicles, 15 to 30 cm long, generally smaller than the leaves. The number of
flowers and inflo- rescences varies from one tree to another in the same area.
Floral anthesis is not synchronized between inflorescences of the same tree and
phenologic synchrony is moderate among individuals of a population. Flowers are unisexual with vestiges of the
opposite sex, actinomorphic, synsepalous, apopetalous, pentamerous,
short-petiolated, and pubescent. Male flowers have long stamens and yellow,
apiculate, fertile anthers; female flowers have small, brown, nonfunctional
anthers." Pollination is thought to occur via moths. The tree blooms in April and May and
sometimes June.
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|
| Fruit and Seeds. “The fruit is a pendulous capsule,
pentasepticide, elongated, obovoid, with conspicuous lenticels, 5 to 10 cm
long. It is green during development and brown when mature. Fruits mature and
dehisce, liberating the seeds, in June and July. Fruit abscission takes place
several weeks after dehiscence. There are 25 to 30 fertile seeds per fruit.
Seed dispersal is anemochorous; they are mobilized according to wind direction.
The seed is winged, brown or reddish brown, and 3.0 to 5.5 cm long including
the wing.”
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|
| Trunk and Bark. The bole is straight and symmetrical. The bark is rough; vertically fissured; and brown, reddish brown, or
dark grayish brown, depending on the light intensity to which it is exposed.
The bark exfoliates in small, irregular plates. The
branchlets have sporadic small lenticels. Sapwood is yellowish gray in green condition;
heart- wood is bright, reddish orange. Sapwood turns grayish orange after air
drying, heartwood changes to bright red.
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|
Saplings. The saplings put out long leaves with 5-7 pairs of opposite, pale green leaflets.
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Cloudbridge: Bridging
a Costa Rican cloud forest